Graduation is right around the corner and many seniors are wrapping things up and getting ready to receive their degrees. One such senior is planning his senior project for everyone to enjoy.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. Brian Shaw, a senior jazz studies major, is giving his senior recital in the Dvorak Concert Hall in Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Shaw will be playing the trumpet and will be accompanied by various professors that have taught him along the way. Seating for the audience will be on stage for his performance for a more up close and personal performance.

“We’re reversing things to make it more intimate,” said Shaw.

Those playing with Shaw include Mark Maegdlin who plays piano and Mark O’Connor who plays the saxophone. Both men are professional musicians from Chicago and both are Eastern Alumni, Shaw said. “They will be accompanying me and soloing,” he said.

Also included in those accompanying him are Jon Schwabe, a bass player and a professor at the University of Northern Iowa; Kevin Hart of Peoria; a drum player; Tom Birkner, a vocalist and trumpet player and the band director of Belleville High School near St. Louis; Sam Faguly, the director of Eastern’s jazz studies department and a saxophone player; and Michael Stryker, an instructor of jazz here at Eastern and a piano player.

Shaw wrote two of the arrangements he plans to play with the help of his accompanists. One is an arrangement of “My Funny Valentine” and the other is an original piece. Birkner will be doing the vocals for “My Funny Valentine” and the EIU Jazz Band will be playing with Shaw in his original piece, Shaw said.

The other pieces will be done in a small group format featuring the various accompanists, Shaw said.

“It’s been a lot of work organizing this, putting together the music and practicing,” he said, “but it’s part of the experience. The experience is not just giving the performance.”

Shaw said getting to play with his former instructors was a special opportunity. “It’s great to get to play and share the stage with people who have taught me through the years,” he said.