The MTSU Jazz Combos will perform a free and open concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.

“Our upcoming jazz combos concert will feature an array of talent primarily from the jazz studies concentration, although several of the students are music majors of other concentrations,” said Don Aliquo, coordinator of jazz studies.

The combos are coached by the MTSU jazz faculty, and each group will perform two numbers that showcase the particular talents of each group. Aliquo said the musical selections are chosen from the vast catalogue that is part of the jazz tradition, but groups often compose and arrange their own pieces to present at this concert.

“The primary focus of jazz combos curriculum is to develop the jazz improvisational skills of the players that is a major part of a successful jazz performance,” Aliquo explained.

The jazz studies program at MTSU, he noted, is a vital and rapidly growing facet of the MTSU School of Music, offering a course of study leading to a Bachelor of Music or Master of Arts in jazz studies.

“The audience can expect to hear anything from blues to ballads to newer jazz/rock-oriented pieces,” Aliquo said.

This concert is free and open to the public.

For more information on this and other events in the music school at MTSU, please call 615-898-2493 or visit mtsumusic.com.