WSU students studying guitar will put on a free concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Kimbrough Concert Hall for anyone to attend.

Instructor of guitar Brad Ard said that two main reasons were prevalent behind creating “Guitar Night;” to draw light to the fact that WSU now has a guitar department, and to show off the talented students in it.

Each student gave input into the songs they wanted to perform, including a jazz and a classical piece, Ard said. The concert will end with the students coming together and performing a few songs as an ensemble, he said.

“We had a lot of freedom to work with, so that was cool,” said Andrew Dodge, a junior studying guitar and music education.

Despite falling in love with guitar at the age of 12 after hearing Metallica, Dodge said he won’t be playing any of their songs during the concert, but audience members will hear him play pieces like “Fantasia” and “Wave,” by Carlos Jobim.

Since this is the first time the event has happened, Ard said he had the students set their own goals for what they wanted out of the performance.

“These guys want to go out and perform and be perceived as accomplished musicians, so I’ve put challenges out there and they’ve met them,” Ard said.

With events like this, the hope is that students from every area of study at WSU will attend, so everyone can see the diversity of talent and accomplishments on campus, he said.

“When these guys graduate, they’ll be able to stand toe-to-toe with the best of them,” Ard said. “I have no doubt that they’ll succeed.”

Reporting by Dustin VandeHoef