This weekend, two important events will coincide for the School of Music.

The School’s annual showcase performance is set to take place this evening, and is featured as one of the University’s official Homecoming events.

Returning alumni will see the efforts of the newest generation of musicians here on campus.

The annual event is put together by the staff and students of the School of Music.

Katherine Knowles, who began playing music in a grade seven arts program, knew the cello was her instrument of choice the moment she heard it.

“[I think] a lot of alumni will be excited to come see their old ensembles and see how things have changed,” Knowles, BMus ’14, said.

She said a shared passion to play music brings the students closer together.

“It’s a really small program so we get to know everybody pretty well, especially within particular years,” Knowles said, “You [end up making] close friends.”

Featured in the showcase are performances by a variety of groups such as the choral, jazz and wind ensembles as well as a symphony orchestra.

There’s no set theme for this year’s showcase. Instead, it’s all about the alumni celebrating and honouring the efforts of the new School of Music, according to Rebecca Fisher, a student in the choir.

It’s a celebration of the different genres of music.

There’s bound to be something that resonates with each and every member of the audience, she said.

“You get a little bit of everything,” Fisher, BMus ’14, said. “You have some jazz, then some gospel, some more inspirational pieces and even some more modern ones.”

Fisher said she discovered her passion for voice when she started singing in a choir at age five, which led to her taking singing lessons in grade nine.

By the end of her high school career, she said she knew that it was voice that she wanted to pursue in her undergraduate career.

Saxophone player Lloyd McArton, BMus ’15, found his passion for the sax after some encouragement from his father.

McArton said the showcase promises to offer newer perspectives than the norm.

“[The showcase] will provide a different side of things than people are used to,” he said. “We will leave [the audience] contemplating their lives.”

The showcase takes place Friday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be $5 for students/seniors and $10 for adults at the door.