Taking from patriot Paul Revere's famous warning during his midnight ride at the height of the American Revolutionary War, the upcoming student ensemble performance "The British are Coming!," will showcase some of Britain's most important composers. Songs ranging from country dance to folk songs with elements of regal majesty will be performed during the hour-long performance.

Nearly 60 students will perform the five songs during the show. Most of the event is focused on the wind symphony, but there are a few percussionists, too. According to sophomore soprano clarinetist Jacki Lynch, the students have prepared for this show since the first Tuesday of the fall semester. Students auditioned for the show the Sunday before classes began, but they had a month before the auditions to prepare the music.

"The first concert of the semester is always more classical," Lynch said. "But as we get farther into the year, it gets more contemporary."

Lynch said that she was excited for the show since she is third chair in the clarinet section, moving up from being fourth chair in her section last year. Coming from a background in concert and marching band at her high school in Gosnell, Ark., Lynch said that performing at a collegiate level probably would have been more difficult if she had not participated in all-state band or regional performances.

The songs the students are performing include "Along an English Countryside" by Richard L. Saucedo, "Second Suite for Military Band in F Major" by Gustav Holst, "Enigma Variations" by Edward Elgar and scored for band by Earl Slocum, "March of the Mogul Emperors" also by Edward Elgar and arranged by Robert Longfield and "William Byrd Suite" by Gordon Jacob. Lynch said the performance will last about an hour.

Freshman bass clarinetist Sara Riggs said that "Enigma Variations" has an interesting back history, since Elgar named each of the variations after his friends, and the different variations represent their characteristics.

"There are so many technical sections in each of these songs, so we've spent hours upon hours nailing these parts, whether we practice it on our own or during rehearsal," Riggs said.

"The British are Coming!" will be at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the River Campus box office or at rivercampusevents.com.