Swinging jazz takes the spotlight in February as the UNCA Music Department continues its spring concert season. The concerts are open to the public.

A Big Band Swing Dance will be held from 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, at UNCA’s Justice Center, with music provided by the popular 18-piece UNCA Community Jazz Band. Eliot and Meredith Zaiken will offer beginner swing dance lessons at 6 p.m. with intermediate lessons to follow at 6:30 p.m. Please wear soft-soled shoes. A $5 donation to benefit the music department will be suggested at the door.

The UNCA Concert Band will join the UNCA Jazz Lab Big Band for a "Crossing Genres Concert" at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, in UNCA’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The Concert Band, made up of students, faculty and friends, will perform works by Ticheli, Ungar, Rossini, Rimsky-Korsakov and King. The Jazz Lab Big Band will perform original compositions and arrangements by faculty and students. A $5 donation to benefit the music department will be suggested at the door.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, tenor James Maroney and pianist Lillian Buss will appear together in concert at UNCA’s Humanities Lecture Hall. Maroney and Buss, both Western North Carolina music professors, will perform Franz Schubert’s 20-song cycle master piece "Die Schone Mullerin." The performance will be interspersed with commentary. A $5 donation to benefit the music department will be suggested at the door.

For more information, contact the UNCA Music Department at 828/251-6432.