Austin High School musicians are making final preparations for some big shows coming over the next few days.

The Vocal Jazz and Jazz Ensemble groups will have a joint concert this Friday night featuring souped-up versions of old-time favorites like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Blue Moon", and "My Favorite Things".

Choir Director Brian Johnson said he thinks the performance of "My Favorite Things" will be especially entertaining.

"The style changes from straight ahead to swing to kind of a Latin thing at the end," he said. "It's really neat. It's got kind of a funky sound to it."

Throughout the selections, the Vocal Jazz and Jazz Ensemble students will be taking turns with some improvisation.

"They kind of do some singing on the fly," Johnson said. "It's like composing right there and performing right at the moment. It's a leap of faith."

The show is this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Christgau Hall. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and children.

The Spring Choir Festival next Tuesday will feature the Mixed, Treble and Concert choirs performing separately and together.

"We're doing a lot of varied material, some American stuff, some spiritual, some African and some show-tunes." Johnson said.

The Concert Choir's performance of a Mongolian folk song should be very interesting for the audience, Johnson said.

"It's probably the hardest piece we've done all year," he said.

He said in Mongolia, horses are very important, and the music tries to capture that.

"It gives you a feeling of the running of horses," he said.

The finale for the show will be a piece by all of the choirs together.

The show is at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Knowlton Auditorium. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and children.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com