This weekend, OU students will play from the heart, for the heart.

On Saturday Oakland University music students and alumni will join together to help heart health programs at Beaumont Hospital in Troy.

The concert, titled “Music With Heart”, will take place from 7-10 p.m. in OU’s Varner Recital Hall. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and an afterglow will take place at 9:00 p.m.

Roughly 12 to 15 musicians will be performing in the show, including local talent and professionals. There will be a variety of performances, including an eclectic array of mostly classical music. There will also be several instruments and music from different time periods, ranging from long-gone composers to currently active ones. Each singer or instrumentalist has selected his or her own music to bring to the concert.

The idea came from pianist and vocalist Kimberly Maes, who currently teaches at OU. She encouraged fellow colleagues to join her in this cause.

“I’m most excited because t’s nice to get exposure as musicians,” said Maes, creator and organizer of the show. “I have a lot of musician friends so I figured why not come together for a good cause. I tell students it’s such a good opportunity to perform for the love of it. It’s different than just performing for a grade.”

Rhys Burgess, one of the many performers in the show, participated in last year’s show and decided to return.

“I’m excited to collaborate with my colleagues and share music with an audience, not just for the audience to enjoy and appreciate, but to help raise funds for heart disease research,” Burgess said. “I often have the opportunity to play in recitals, but it’s not every day that I can join together with my colleagues for a greater purpose.”

Burgess will be playing Frederic Chopin’s G Minor Ballade, which he says is an intensely romantic piano work that showcases some of Chopin’s finest qualities. He will also be accompanying four of his fellow music students at OU on their respective instruments and voices.

This is the third year the show will take place and it is said to only get bigger in upcoming years.

“Right now I am in the process off turning this into a non-profit,” Maes said. “This way, I can help out more and be able to do it more often.”

General admission is $20, and all ticket proceeds will go toward the cardiology department of Beaumont Hospital, Troy. The concert is also celebrating Beaumont Health System’s support of the American Heart Association Heart Walk.

About 610,000 people die from heart disease in the United States each year, according to cdc.gov. That’s one in every four deaths, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women.

To purchase a ticket click here. Donations are also accepted.

For further information, call the Beaumont Foundation at (248)-551-5330