A day-to-day routine can grow stale by the middle of the week, but the Shaw Center’s newest event, Music at Mid-Day, may make the mid-week blues a thing of the past.
Music at Mid-Day kicked off Wednesday on the fourth floor of the Shaw Center in downtown Baton Rouge. The event provides visitors with live music and lunch on the building’s terrace, said Shaw Center Executive Director David Briggs.
The event will roll every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. with the exception of Wednesdays that fall near holidays, like Ash Wednesday, Briggs said.
“I’ve always wanted to have an activity downtown during the week that showcased the Shaw Center,” Briggs said.
Briggs said people attending Music at Mid-Day are welcome to bring their own lunch or order to-go at one of the downtown restaurants working with the Shaw Center, like Kingfish.
The restaurants won’t deliver food to the Shaw Center, but 5 percent of lunch purchases at Music at Mid-Day will be donated to the Shaw Center, Briggs said.
Briggs said the event is part of the Shaw Center’s mission to be a catalyst for the redevelopment of downtown Baton Rouge.
“We’re hoping to be a little more visible downtown as an art venue,” he said.
And many Mid-Day performers are or were University students, Briggs said.
University alumnus Ben Herrington performed Wednesday at the first installment and will be performing often in the future.
Other artists include Josue Ramirez, Ryan Foley, David White and Brian Gallion.
Ramirez, a music arts doctoral student, said students should familiarize themselves with musical performances like Mid-Day because music is a big part of college culture.
“Try to go to the concerts, opera productions and theater plays,” he said. “You won’t regret it.”
Ramirez and his partner, pianist Oscar Rossignoli, started performing together this semester and will perform at Music at Mid-Day on Nov. 10 and 17.
Ramirez said he and Rossignoli are excited to play for the patrons of downtown Baton Rouge.
“We have been practicing classical music as well as a variety of jazz standards,” he said. “It will be a varied repertoire for the nice people there to enjoy while they dine.”
Ramirez and Briggs said people should check out Mid-Day if for nothing more than a cheap, unique date.
“It’s a free concert,” Briggs said. “We want folks to take advantage of the beautiful Shaw Center, sitting alongside the mighty Mississippi and enjoying some beautiful music.”
 
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Contact Ferris W. McDaniel at [email protected]