A musical celebration of freedom and diversity will fill McAfee Auditorium tonight.

The Eastern Wind Symphony with special guest the Villa Grove High School concert band will play a free show at 7 p.m. in the McAfee south auditorium.

The 34 Villa Grove High School Concert Band members will play three selections under their conductor Adam Smith, who is an alumnus of EIU.

The Eastern Wind Symphony will perform four songs, one titled “Cajun Folk Songs” by Frank Ticheli, will be performed with the Villa Grove High School Concert Band.

Other songs performed by the Eastern Wind Symphony will be “Pustza” by James Van Der Roost, which is a celebration of the gypsy lifestyle of living freely and simply. Another selection is “Symphony No. 1” by Daniel Bukvich, which is a harrowing and chilling song written about the Allied attacks on Dresden in Germany during World War II.

Milton Allen, conductor of the EIU Wind Symphony, said that the songs were all themed in simplicity and freedom.

“‘Symphony No. 1’ is a reminder of the price of living simply and living freely,” he said.

Allen is also the director of the show tonight and is excited about what they can do with the new program.

He said the EIU music department is hoping on inviting many special guests to play with the 43 members of the Eastern Wind Symphony. The program is designed to showcase talented musicians from all over Illinois.