In their first year hosting a fall concert, members of the the Student Union Board (SUB) wanted to host an artist from a genre of music they feel as been underrepresented in the past: country.
Last night, SUB announced the fall concert will be a performance by country star Hunter Hayes with an opening act from Ryan Lafferty. The concert will take place Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in Stepan Center.
Senior Shadmn Minir, lead concerts programmer for SUB, said the organization looks for rising stars like Hayes and Ryan who will be appreciated by everyone in the Notre Dame community.
“These two both fit the bill to the highest degree and will help throw as amazing an inaugural performance for our fall concert that we can ask for,” Minir said. “They bring with them a large fan base and enough of a mix between country and pop to keep the crowd crooning alongside them throughout the entire show.”
Junior Hugo Muñoz, assistant programmer for SUB, said they wanted to book someone a little different for this year’s concert.
“The spring concert [is] usually an artist closer to pop music, so we wanted some variation to our repertoire,” Muñoz said.
The SUB concerts committee decides on artists based on previous survey and poll answers given by students about the kind of music they like and who they want to see perform, Minir said.
“We are given a budget by Notre Dame and have to work within those constraints,” he said. “We look at the most popular people as decided by the committee and the student body and apply those opinions to creating a list of artists.”
The organization has to balance choosing the best possible artist and needing to stay within the budget SUB is allotted, he said.
“Usually price or scheduling can affect that process harshly, but this year we got our numero uno on our list,” Minir said. “The process involves every part of the committee, from the programmers to our dorm representatives, controller, publicist and designer.”
Minir said he thinks Hayes is one of the rising stars in the country world, as well as one of the most popular singers around that is the age of the student body.
“He’s a child prodigy that has prolific singing talent and will put on incredible show like he always does, with his ability to play multiple instruments and sing both country and country-pop songs with a wide vocal range,” he said. “Ryan Lafferty may not be as well known to the campus, but I do think he will surprise some people with how good of a singer he is and will have a few more Irish fans by the time he leaves.”
Hosting Hunter Hayes will be a great opportunity to make SUB concerts more popular among students, Muñoz said.
“I think that Hunter Hayes is a extremely talented artist that will put up an enjoyable show, and that’s the most important thing, to entertain our public,” he said.
The artist choice has always been a topic of discussion after it is announced and there is always a fantastic turnout every year for the performance, Minir said.
“Artists love performing in front of raucous Notre Dame crowds because of our tendency to know songs better than even some of the performers, which is not surprising given the quality of student that comes to this school,” Minir said. “Please come out in full country gear, with cowboy hats and bandanas and ripped jeans and flannel shirts … This will be an incredible event and we hope as many people that want to participate can.”
Muñoz said the concert provides a chance for the student body to come together in a setting different than its usual gathering places.
“The concert creates a great opportunity to take the focus away from classes and football, and brings art and music to campus,” he said.
Tickets for the concert go on sale today at 7 a.m. Tickets are $15 at the box office and $20 at the door.
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