What: The first Thursday Night Music at UNT on the Square - Summer Edition, presented by the University of North Texas Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and the UNT College of Music

When: 8– 9 p.m. June 18, 25 and July 2, 9, 16, 23

Where: UNT on the Square, 109 N. Elm St., on Denton's historic courthouse square

Cost: Free

More information: Call 940-359-8257 or find more information, including directions, online at untonthesquare.unt.edu

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The University of North Texas' Thursday Night Music at UNT on the Square will feature a series of summer concerts for the first time. Thursday Night Music - Summer Edition begins June 18 and runs through July 23.

Thursday Night Music takes place in an informal setting where listeners are free to come and go as they please. Concert times are 8 to 9 p.m. and will take place at UNT on the Square, 109 N. Elm St.

The summer concerts will feature UNT students and faculty members performing jazz and related genres of music.

Performances include:

• June 18 – Amanda Ekery, vocal jazz
• June 25 – Wesley Case and Fred Hamilton, jazz guitar
• July 2 – Morgan Wallace, rock singer and songwriter
• July 9 – Elliot Scozarro, jazz
• July 16 – Sergio Pamies, instrumental jazz
• July 23 – Camille DeVore, vocal jazz

Herbert Holl, director of the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and UNT on the Square, said the popularity of the Thursday Night Music series in the fall and spring made a summer series possible.

"At this point, Thursday Night Music has established itself and people know about it," Holl said. "We have had consistently increasing numbers and good audiences. In the past, we've had summer concerts. They just weren't structured as a series."

A core feature of Thursday Night Music is that it is held at UNT on the Square, an art gallery that presents works from members of the UNT community.

"We have a wonderful exhibition up this year," Holl said. "The gallery space really lends itself to performances. It took less than a day to get enough performers for the summer."

Throughout most of the Thursday Night Music summer series, "Life Through the Lens: Pictures That Tell a Story," an exhibit featuring photography from Joe and Junebug Clark, will be on display.

Junebug Clark, an independent contractor and consultant for UNT, and his father, Joe Clark, have had their work featured in such publications as Life Magazine, National Geographic, Look and Newsweek. Their work focuses on the emergence of Detroit as an industrial powerhouse in the 1950s, figures of historical significance and the history of Jack Daniel's whiskey, which they helped transform into a nationally recognized brand through their photographs.

Thursday Night Music at UNT on the Square - Summer Edition is presented by the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and the College of Music.

About the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts

Launched in 2009, the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts aims to showcase, support and advance excellence in the visual, performing and creative literary arts at UNT, among its faculty members and in conjunction with their renowned colleagues and collaborators. The three central components of the Institute are UNT on the Square, the IAA Faculty Fellows program and the IAA Artist-in-Residence program.

About the UNT College of Music

The UNT College of Music is one of the largest and most respected comprehensive music schools in the country. More than 1,600 music students attend UNT each year, participating in more than 50 widely varied ensembles and pursuing specialized studies in performance, composition, music education or music scholarship. UNT faculty members and students have made appearances on the world's finest stages and have produced numerous recordings, many receiving Grammy awards and nominations. Distinguished UNT alumni can be found around the globe, in top music ensembles, opera companies, universities and schools.