The Northern Michigan University Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of James Strain, will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in Reynolds Recital Hall. The public is invited.

The concert will open with “Celestial Welcome,” a piece composed for the investiture of the president of Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. The piece features metallic and wooden mallet instruments juxtaposed against traditional drums and cymbals. The concert will also include major works for percussion by American composers John Cage, Steve Reich, and Daniel Levitan, as well as several short “drumming” ensembles performed in musical styles from Latin America and Africa.