The music department has begun a new program named the Brown Bag Recital Series taking place at noon on Tuesdays in Macmillan Hall.

This lunchtime series is something new the department of music hopes to use to reach out to people in the campus community that may not have time to see a performance on the weekend.

This week’s recital will consist of several string pieces and two selections from a recent Post-Soviet recital put on through the voice department. The informal recitals are designed for students and faculty to drop by in between classes and meetings to eat their lunch while enjoying some great music.

Each recital lasts about 40 minutes, but people are free to come and go as they please. The students and faculty producing the series are aiming to create an environment on campus where students can expect to attend regular musical performances at their leisure.

“We would like nothing more than for people to make it a regular habit to patronize the arts,” music professor Christopher Tanner said.

Tanner is in charge of coordinating the recitals each week alongside a group of talented student musicians. Eventually, he hopes to turn his duties over to his students so they can experience what it’s like to run a recital series on a professional level.

Although Macmillan Hall seems to be an unexpected place for a recital, according to Tanner, its convenient location will hopefully attract a different type of audience.

“We are hoping to reach out to people who might not otherwise go see recital performances,” Tanner said.

According to Tanner, the idea for the series came from Bruce Murray, the chair of the music department, who is passionate about promoting the arts on campus.

Most importantly, the series was put together to provide another opportunity for music students to do what they love in front of their peers and respected mentors.

“This is a great opportunity for music students to perform new repertoire and showcase their work more frequently,” senior Emily Syring, who is performing in the series this week, said. “I’m particularly excited for another chance to sing the Russian pieces I spent so much time and effort putting together.”

Senior cello performance major Molly Jones performed in the first week of the series.

She hopes the accessibility of the venue will encourage students and faculty from other departments to come to recitals.

“I love communicating through music and this is the perfect opportunity to do that,” Jones said. “It’s meant to be a fun break in the day. It’s important for us to spread the arts and the series allows people to hear our voice on campus.”