VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University Music Scholarship Alliance will host Pops in the Park, 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11. 

General admission tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for students, senior citizens, and military personnel; and free for children ages 12 and younger, university officials said.

Pops in the Park will feature entertaining performances by the Steel Drum Band, The Spotlighters, and faculty and student jazz ensembles, all from VSU, as well as special guests Jaron McCarr and Andrew Hill.

A native of Savannah, McCarr began studying music at an early age, first on piano then trombone. His passion for music led him to earn a bachelor of music in jazz performance from VSU and a master of music in jazz studies from Northern Illinois University, according to university officials. 

He has performed with such regional and national artists as Teddy Adams, The Equinox Jazz Orchestra, Sean Jones, The Eric Jones Trio, Vincent Gardner, David Pabón, The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, etc. He performs throughout the Southeast and teaches privately.

Hill serves as assistant director of bands and director of the Jazz Ensemble at Valdosta High School. He is a trombone player and trained singer who earned a bachelor of music education in 2003 and a master of music education in 2004, both at VSU, university officials said. 

He has performed with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and the Valdosta Symphony Chorus. He earned the opportunity to perform with the Tommy Dorsey Big Band; toured Italy with the VSU Chamber Singers; played the role of Dr. Bartolo in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro”; won the 2004 Valdosta Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition; and toured Europe and Mexico with the Abraham Baldwin College Jazz Ensemble as an alumni trombone soloist, they said. 

He is a member of the Sine Nomine Singers of Valdosta, which toured Poland in 2013 and Scotland in 2015; a charter member of the Azalea Winds of Valdosta; manager and lead singer of the Tifton-based Gospel Starlights; and minister of music at Greater St. Luke Baptist Church in Ashburn.

Pops in the Park attendees will have an opportunity to bid on a collection of original drumhead-inspired artwork provided by VSU’s Department of Art and Design. The unique works of art will be available for viewing throughout the evening and include drawings, paintings, sculptural forms, etc. 

Proceeds from Pops in the Park will benefit scholarships for students studying in the Department of Music and the Department of Art and Design at VSU.

Organizers invite Pops in the Park attendees to bring their outdoor folding chairs, picnic dinners and blankets and enjoy an evening of musical performances at the Fine Arts Building Amphitheatre. 

Tables for up to eight may be reserved for $150.

Call the College of the Arts Outreach Office, (229) 333-2150, to purchase tickets or make a table reservation. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Call (229) 333-5804 for more information.