DePaul University’s School of Music will present a three-concert series, "Classical Vocal Music from Latin America," this spring. The concerts on April 11, April 25 and May 16 celebrate multiculturalism in music and are part of DePaul’s yearlong centennial commemoration. All of the free public concerts in the series begin at 3 p.m. at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.

Voice students from DePaul’s School of Music will perform at the festival’s April 11 and May 16 concerts and the vocal performance faculty will take the stage on April 25. Classical, popular, jazz, Afro-Cuban and folk-influenced music by a variety of male and female composers will be presented. The multilingual program includes songs with lyrics in Spanish and English, Italian arias written by Latin composers and Brazilian works in Portuguese.

"There is a particularly rich cross-cultural musical repertoire in Latin America because of its geography, history and colonization," said Linda Hirt, coordinator of the concert and DePaul’s vocal performance program. "The goal of the concert series is to show the breadth of Latin American vocal music."

DePaul’s vocal performance program enrolls 70 students and is taught by 10 faculty members. Students combine private study with courses in literature, pedagogy, diction, coaching and techniques for the musical stage. Public performances are an important part of the program because they prepare students for the rigors of a highly competitive field. Students have won major voice competitions and entrance into prestigious vocal apprenticeship programs.

The series music calendar follows:

April 11: DePaul University School of Music vocal performance students perform the first of a three-concert series, "Classical Vocal Music from Latin America." The program includes works by composers Heiter Villa-Lobos of Brazil; Alfonso Montecino of Chile; Alberto Ginastera, Arturo Luzzatti, Carlos Guastavino and Felipe Boero of Argentina; Luis Sandi and Isabel Aretz-Thiele of Mexico; and Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes of Cuba. The free public concert begins at 3 p.m. at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. The next concerts in the series are April 25 and May 16. For more information, call 773/325-7260.

April 25: DePaul University School of Music Vocal Performance Program faculty members perform the second of a three-concert series, "Classical Vocal Music from Latin America." The program includes works by Spanish-Cuban composer Xavier Montsalvatge; Cuban composers Ernesto Lecuona and Amadeo Roldan; Cuban-American composer Tania Leon; Mexican composer Maria Grever; and Brazilian composer Carlos Antonio Gomez. The free public concert begins at 3 p.m. at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. The last concert in the series is May 16. For more information, call 773/325-7260.

May 16: DePaul University School of Music vocal performance students perform the last of a three-concert series, "Classical Vocal Music from Latin America." The program includes works by Astor Piazzolla and Juan F. Giacobbe of Argentina; Heiter Villa-Lobos and Camargo M. Guarnieri of Brazil; Afro-Brazilian composers Baden Powell and Vinicius Moraes; Domingo Lobato and Carlos Chavez of Mexico; Jose Serebrier of Uraguay; Jack Delano of Puerto Rico; and Rocio Sanz of Costa Rica. The free public concert begins at 3 p.m. at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. For more information, call 773/325-7260.