California Lutheran University will host an evening of music by the University’s Wind Ensemble and Jazz Improvisation Ensemble on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.on campus in the Samuelson Chapel.

"I call the concert ‘Hidden Gems’ because the pieces are not known to the general public," said conductor Daniel Geeting. "It’s worth foregoing a night of TV."

"Four Maryland Songs" by the contemporary American composer Jack Stamp pays tribute to the regional poets of Maryland. The 40-member wind ensemble also will perform "Overture for Band" by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).

"He composed it for a band at a seaside resort when he was 16," said Geeting. "But it’s not juvenalia. It’s definitely Mendelssohn. The piece signals a creative impulse that later surfaced in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.’"

The program includes American compositions by David Holsinger and Norman Dello Joio.

After the classics, the cool kicks in when the Jazz Improvisation Ensemble explores 1950s bebop. The 10-member student group will improvise on the standards of John Coltrane, Erroll Garner, Herbie Hancock and Jamey Aebersold.

Admission is free and donations are welcome. For information, call the CLU Music Department at (805) 493-3305.