A special guest, a special location and special music will highlight the spring instrumental concert at Hickory High School Tuesday evening.

The annual concert, which emphasizes American and patriotic-themed music played by the concert band and the orchestra, will be in the newly finished Hickory High School auditorium, which can hold 1,000 people, according to HHS band director and music coordinator Steve Garay.

The students will perform a new song entitled "Celebre," which was specially written for them by Robert E. Foster, Jr., a well-known band director and composer who directs the band at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas. He will direct the students at the concert when that piece is performed, Garay said.

"The band boosters commissioned this composer to write this piece of music," he said. "They wanted to do something unique and special to commemorate the completion and renovation of the high school music suite and auditorium."

The new music suite in cludes a new band room, choir room and orchestra room, as well as rehearsal rooms, storage areas and music offices, Garay said.

"The existing rooms have also been acoustically redone floor to ceiling; upgraded and updated," he said, adding that the band room can hold 170 students, the choir room holds 150 students, and the orchestra room holds 70 students.

Tickets for the concert, which will start at 7:30 p.m., are $3, but area veterans will be given two free tickets to attend the event.

"We would like to recognize all of the members of our armed forces, active and retired, that are in attendance," Garay said. "In a time when patriotism is being strongly recognized again, we felt that we would like to do our part to thank and recognize those who have supported our great country in the military."

Some of the other music to be performed include "Finlandia," "The 1812 Overture," "A Salute to the Armed Forces" and "America the Beautiful."

For more information, call (724)-981-8750 ext. 1543.