Two nights of band music are in store for music lovers at the University of Rhode Island on the weekend of October 19-20. The 90-member URI Concert Band, directed by Brian Cardany, will offer their fall concert on Friday evening at 8 p.m. and on Saturday starting at 7 p.m. a variety of URI-based bands and ensembles will go head-to-head in a “Battle of the Bands” to raise funds for the URI chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Both events will be held in the URI Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston.

Admission to the Concert Band’s concert is $10 general public, $5 students, with tickets available at the box office on a first-come basis starting 45 minutes before the concert. The program will include Emperata Overture by Claude T. Smith, Air for Band by Frank Erickson, and two pieces by Roger Cichy, The Dragoon Trail and T. Rex: A Dinosaur Named Sue, along with Polly Oliver by Thomas Root, and Courtly Airs and Dances by Ron Nelson. Cichy is a RI composer, and also a past band director who was Director of Bands at URI in the 1980’s. Nelson also has local connections as former faculty at Brown University.

Because the “Battle of the Bands” is a fund-raiser, admission for this event is a flat $10, with no discounts. Bands participating to-date include Charge the Atlantic, Dylan Sevey and the Gentlemen, Scarlet, and more. The event will be judged based on crowd applause at the end of the show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and bands begin at 7 p.m. The money raised will go towards setting up events for music students through the URI NAfME chapter.

NAfME is dedicated to advocacy and furthered education of music in schools. The URI Chapter has conducted many workshops in which professionals provide insight into the music education world in their field of expertise. This group allows members to take advantage of furthering their own knowledge as well promotes the importance of the arts to ensure that music education remains a staple in our schools.

The URI Concert Hall is handicap-accessible, and parking is available in the lot behind the Fine Arts Center, off Bills Road.

For more information contact the URI Department of Music, 874-2431, or check the website www.uri.edu/music.