Tonight, students can be whisked back to Shakespearean times with the Nittany Valley Symphony (NVS).

The NVS will perform a tribute to one of the world's most famous playwrights with songs inspired by William Shakespeare's works tonight at 7:30 in Eisenhower Auditorium.

"The show is a great chance for people to experience a blend of music, literature and theater," said Michael Jinbo, NVS music director and conductor.

Featured pieces will include selections from A Midsummer Night's Dream, overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor, an Orchestral Suite from Henry V and a selection based on Romeo and Juliet.

An excerpt from the corresponding plays will precede each musical selection. These acts will be performed by the students from the Master of Fine Arts program in the School of Theatre.

The show will also include music celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of English composer Edward Elgar. The symphony will play one of his most famous works, Pomp and Circumstance, which was inspired by an act from Othello, according to Quetta Carpenter (graduate-theatre).

"I'm looking forward to the performance because the theater group loves doing pieces from Shakespeare, and it's especially exciting to be doing something with the NVS," she said.

"It's going to be a great performance because you get the best of both worlds. The combination of musical pieces and scenes based on such classic literature is amazing."

In addition to the NVS performance, pianist Alvin Zhu, winner of the 2007 Ann Keller Young Soloist Competition, will play a piece called Presto-Molto allegro e vivace by Mendelssohn.

Zhu, who is a student at Mt. Lebanon High School, has won many local, regional and state competitions for his piano playing.

"This community is fortunate to be able to hear this young man, who is only in high school but already a fantastic piano player," Tere Rill, executive director for the NVS, said.