Musicians at Appalachian State University will offer a variety of marches, carols and a few original compositions in the coming weeks.

Cracking a Guitar Nut
The Appalachian Guitar Orchestra performs Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Admission is free.
Dr. Douglas James is the director.
The guitar orchestra will perform selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a,” Antonio Manjon’s “Leyenda” with guitar soloist Jack Nugent, Archangelo’s “Christmas Concerto” and Leroy Anderson’s “Sleighride.” Nugent is a senior music performance major.
Dayton S. Cole and Andy Page will perform Cole’s original composition “No Regrets.” Cole is a sophomore music industry studies major. Page is an instructor in the Hayes School of Music.

Suddenly Sousa
The Appalachian Concert Band presents “Marches, Songs and Dances” Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.
Dr. John Stanley Ross is the music director and conductor.
The program opens with the rousing “The Gallant Seventh” by John Philip Sousa. The composition is considered one of Sousa’s best works.
The band also will perform Percy Grainger’s “The Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol,” which is based on singing of Christmas mummers called “Tipteers.”
Eric Ewazen’s “Celtic Hymns and Dances” draws inspiration from melodies found in the medieval and renaissance era.
Also on the program is “Nimrod” from Edward Elgar’s and Alfred Reed’s “Enigma Variations.”
Elgar named the 13 variations in the composition for friends. Nimrod is the name of a hunter in the Old Testament. Elgar wrote the piece for August Jaeger. In German jager means hunter.
The concert concludes with Richard Wagner’s “Huldigungsmarsch,” a march written in homage to King Ludwig II.