The Music Department at William Paterson University has brought back its Midday performances in the Shea Center, where the community can enjoy different genres of music during common hours on Thursdays. 

Midday performances are held by students, faculty, and, on special occasions, outside performers, according to Carlos Navarro, a junior classical music education major. The first Midday event was held Sept. 4, and these events will go on until Dec. 11, which is the Overflow Midday date. 

“It gives me an opportunity to just share my musical creativity with students and faculty,” Navarro said. “Also, it’s even nice just listening to others, too. Most of the time, we just see each other, but we never really get to hear each other’s musicality and how we play, and how we speak through the instruments.” 

Musical studies Freshman, Noellie Benitez, admired the opportunity to discover and appreciate different types of music. 

“I always have the saying that as a musician, you don’t have to like every kind of music, but you should learn to appreciate and understand different types of music. So, especially for the Jazz Midday and for the New Music Midday, it definitely gave me a different perspective on different music that I can discover here at William Patterson.”

Every Midday calls for a new group performing each week. Previous performances included the Miles Brown Trio, a jazz group, and a “new music ensemble” featuring faculty members performing a unique genre of music, according to Navarro. 

The last Midday involved a classical performance by The Hobart Trio, a faculty ensemble. 

The next event will showcase a jazz performance by students from the Music Department. 

For information on future Midday events, you can view the schedule made by Payton MacDonald, the chairman of the Music Department, according to Navarro.