BROOKINGS – The Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center’s Larson Memorial Concert Hall will be the site for two concerts this week. Both concerts are free to attend on the South Dakota State University campus.

The SDSU Wind Symphony opens its 2019-20 season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with a concert representing Americana old and new.

“Variations on America” is a celebration of many generations of American composers, from the early history of the wind band to composers of today. The abstract classics by composers such as Charles Ives and Vincent Persichetti contrast with more evocative representations of places and emotions as set by Cynthia Van Maanen and Roshanne Etezady.

In addition, David Reynolds, director of SDSU’s School of Performing Arts and professor of music, will be the featured soloist for the premiere of the wind ensemble arrangement of Joshua Hobbs’ “Keystone Landscapes.”

The SDSU Civic Orchestra will perform “Beethoven Stayin’ Alive,” at 4 p.m. Sunday. The concert kicks off a celebration of the composer’s 250th birthday for the 2019-20 season.

Sunday’s concert features performances of “A Fifth of Beethoven” made famous by the Walter Murphy Band and used in the movie “Saturday Night Fever.” The string section will perform the Scherzo from Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 2.” Michael Walsh, professor of clarinet in the School of Performing Arts, will be featured as soloist in Carl Maria von Weber’s “Concerto No. 2” for clarinet and orchestra. The program finishes with highlights from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”