Eastern’s music department is kicking off the year with two free ensemble concerts featuring music from other cultures.

A percussion ensemble is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today in the Dvorak Concert Hall of the Doudna Fine Arts Building.

Also, a wind ensemble will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Dvorak Concert Hall.

Music professor Johnny Lane will direct 21 music majors for an evening of lively percussive music, said Terence Mayhue, assistant professor of percussion.

The program will include music by composer Lynn Glassock. Some titles include “The Crystals,” “Factions,” “Layers” and “Millennium,” said Mayhue, who will be featured in “Factions.”

He said he will also conduct the Latin and world percussion ensembles, which combine Latin styles with modern pop styles.

“We play some well known things, like Michael Jackson’s `Thriller,'” Mayhue said.

The Midwestern Funk Factory, part of the Panther Marching Band, will also perform some cadences written by Lane and directed by Mayhue.

“There is something for everyone here. It used to be a closed concert, but now that it is free more people can come and enjoy it,” Mayhue said.

The wind ensemble, comprised of 45 students, will be under the direction of Lawrence Stoffel, who said the program entitled “Midwest Melody Shop” is “very tuneful.”

The music that will be played is very fun and ear-friendly, Stoffel said.

“No doubt you will find yourself whistling and humming as you leave the concert,” Stoffel said. “Membership to the ensembles is fairly selective and the groups are small, but not everyone in the groups are music majors.”

The two concerts are open to the public.