The American River College music department will hold its annual spring concert in the student center dining hall on April 27. The show, “A Tribute to the War Years,” will honor the school’s veterans.
Directed by Dyne Eifertsen, the groups performing will include the studio jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz collective bands in the style of a United Service Organization, or USO show. The dining hall will be converted into a dance floor for the event.
The event originally started as a small concert six years ago. It was held in the band room, while the Student Center was still under construction.
“It wasn’t really appropriate for the theater since we wanted a dance area, so we just crammed everybody in the band room, and it actually worked out pretty well,” Eifertsen said.
As the event became more popular over time the venue was eventually moved to the Student Center dining hall four years ago to provide more space for performers and spectators.
The show for this year will have some changes, with the veterans having a more direct role in the concert.
“Veterans have always been free [to enter] but now we are actually going to have some of our veterans attending the show representing each of the branches,” Eifertsen said.
A song will be performed by the studio jazz band which is a medley of the theme songs for the different military branches, where the veterans will come up to represent their branches.
Saxophonist Alex Bowie said that he and the other ensemble members are excited for the opportunity to show off their hard work.
“I’m looking forward to playing for the veterans as well as playing a piece written by Jarod Wheeler, one of our ensemble members,” Bowie said.
The concert will start at 7 p.m. Price of admission is $10 general, $8 student and free for veterans and seniors. Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by the Culinary Arts department.
