For music lovers, this weekend will provide a number of free on-campus concerts that will provide access to a variety of musical forms and styles. Tonight, the Macalester Jazz Ensemble will take the stage, followed by a performance by the Minnesota Chinese Music Ensemble (MCME) on Sunday. For those who aren’t leaving for Fall Break, the principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra will perform on Wednesday.

The Macalester Jazz Ensembles Extravaganza will showcase the many faces of jazz at Macalester—from the exciting big band sounds of Mac Jazz to the blues, ballads and be-bop of the Jazz Workshop Ensemble. Carleton Macy directs Mac Jazz and Joan Griffith is director of the Mac Jazz Workshop.

The first half of Friday night’s extravaganza will consist of five instrumental combos, each performing a selection of pieces—including several originals written by Macalester students. Each group includes different combinations of instruments; a newly formed a capella vocal jazz ensemble will also be featured.

The second half of the show will consist of six numbers performed by Mac Jazz, including pieces by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Nat King Cole/Irving Mills, Don Sebesky and John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie. Every piece will spotlight different student soloists.

Sunday’s performance features the MCME, which performs music ranging from classical selections to contemporary folk songs; the group has offered free annual concerts to the public since 1987. The Ensemble also collaborates with Western music groups, commissioning and performing works composed for both Chinese and Western instruments. Macalester is closely connected with the ensemble, with music professor Carleton Macy directing the group and several students and graduates participating as members.

The program on Sunday will premiere two new works by resident master composer Zhang Ying, a professional musician from Beijing. His new works, “Thousand Mile Horse” and “Goats at the Great Wall,” were commissioned by the American Composer’s Forum and the Jerome Foundation. In these works, Zhang explores new sounds with the use of unusual double reed and chime instruments.

The concert will also feature er hu soloist Chen Hua. The er hu is a two-string bowed instrument that was first introduced during the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 A.D.). This ancient instrument is still popular in China as a medium for both traditional and contemporary music.

Dancers from the Chinese American Dance Theater will also perform three dances with the MCME.

Finally, Macalester and the Powell Flute Company have co-sponsored a performance by flutist Paul Edmund-Davies, the principal flutist for the London Symphony Orchestra. Edmund-Davies made his Wigmore Hall Debut in 1978 and joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1984. He has performed widely in many venues and with a number of renowned musicians.

Edmund-Davies will give a master class, open to all, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the concert hall on Wednesday. He will perform with pianist Susan Garrelts at 7 p.m. in the concert hall.