A Texas A&M University organization, MSC Townhall, is holding its fall concert series for the second year this fall.
The concert series is open to the public and is held at Aggie Park on Friday nights before home games at 8 p.m. Each week, the organization will present new musicians, who will showcase their talents before Midnight Yell. The first 100 students with their student ID may be able to receive free food.
“Our purpose is to bring live entertainment and concerts to campus and for the community,” MSC Townhall chair Elise Taylor says. “It’s free to low-cost for students as well as anyone in the Bryan/College Station area. As a nonprofit, we always want to make it affordable for everyone.”
From former students to families in town, MSC Townhall advisor Doug Sweet says the organization hopes to be one that is walking to those in all steps of life in the Brazos Valley area.
“Folks from all around are invited and welcome to our concerts — we’re kind of in between the Corps of Cadets singing and Midnight Yell,” Doug says. “We hope that eventually, everyone knows us as a place they can count on for good live music at the park.”
After the addition of Aggie Park, MSC Townhall knew the new space would be an exciting opportunity and were recently given funds that helped make the events possible.
“When Vice President General Ramirez was appointed for the Office of Student Affairs, as a former MSC Townhall-er he really wanted to give us the funding to have the opportunity to bring larger acts on campus and really get things going in Aggie Park,” Elise says. “We’re very lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to get funding from the Office of Student Affairs to be able to put on shows for students for free or low-cost.”
Outside of the Fall Concert Series, MSC Townhall holds other music events.
“We also have Rocktoberfest coming up, where people can buy pumpkins and carve them while listening to live music,” Elise says. “We also have Coffee House, which is where any student performers or small artists have the opportunity to play every other Wednesday in front of the ILCB. We give any students who want to hang out and check in with their student ID at our table free coffee and snacks.”
Doug says MSC Townhall members are able to explore interests outside of their major, such as marketing if they’re engineering majors, and use the organization as their learning opportunity through holding real events.
“We as an organization do have a long history,” Doug says. “I’ve had advising responsibilities for two years now, and I basically try to let the students run the operations while I just provide guidance where needed. We call it a student-staff partnership, and this really allows the students to learn all aspects from the business side.”
Although their recruitment period has ended, Elise says they encourage those who want to join or have ideas of possible performers to email or direct message them. The organization takes all majors and is always inviting to those who really want to put in the work.
“It’s important we have people who are passionate because it takes a village to put on what we do,” Elise says. “If anyone is interested, they should definitely DM us with questions, and if they want to get involved as soon as possible, we can always make them a member. Nothing is holding them back except coming to us to try.”
