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The LBW Ensemble of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College will perform on the Alabama State Capitol steps during the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) 60th anniversary kickoff celebration, called the ACCS Diamond Jubilee Kickoff.

At the request of the ACCS, the LBW Ensemble will perform Monday, April 17, at 9:30 a.m.

“The opportunity to perform at a landmark event in a landmark vicinity means a lot to our students,” said Johnny Brewer, who has directed the LBW Ensemble for the past 20 years.

Formed in 1979, the LBW Ensemble is an American popular music ensemble consisting of 20 students, including vocals and rhythm and horn sections. In addition to training that strengthens students’ talents in music and the arts, the ensemble serves as one of several outreach efforts by LBW through performances in elementary, middle and high schools and civic and community organizations.

Brewer said many alumni of the ensemble have gone on to make a difference in their communities and to pursue professional music careers. Those alumni include Clint May, the current guitarist for country music singer and songwriter Cole Swindell.

The ensemble will perform a variety of songs at the Diamond Jubilee Kickoff, including the Eagles’ version of Seven Bridges Road, a song written and recorded by Steve Young, who lived in Montgomery in 1969.

The ACCS Diamond Jubilee is a celebration across two years that focuses on how Alabama’s community colleges started, where they are, and where they are going as they continue to serve Alabama’s communities. Landmark legislation signed into law on May 3, 1963, laid the groundwork for what would become the Alabama Community College System (ACCS). Legislators wanted a unified system of institutions to focus on accessible training in “arts and sciences and in useful skills and trades” for current and future labor needs. Sixty years have passed, but that important cause remains the purpose of the 24 community and technical colleges that make up the ACCS.

After the Diamond Jubilee kickoff, dozens of celebrations and community service projects across the state will highlight the positive impact made by Alabama’s community and technical colleges. More information is available at accs.edu/jubilee.