Though San Diego has numerous institutes of higher learning, the opportunities for local musicians to perform on campus are surprisingly slim. This year, City College hopes to remedy that situation, with the Spring Concert Series, a free bi-weekly, lunchtime event. The 10 shows that comprise the series are booked by City College Associated Students Senator Sal Filipelli and promoter Chris Leyva, of the Black Cherry Music Group, both performers in their own right. Leyva performed on March 30 with his own group, The Dead 67’s, but the idea for the shows came from Filipelli, an on-again off-again student at the school since 2003. “I was looking for a way to become more active in campus activities,” he said. “I’m hoping to transfer to a bigger school in another semester and I wanted to show I had experience outside the classroom.” Noticing the dearth of entertainment options, a captive audience for lunch hour, and in Gorton Quad, next to the cafeteria, an ideal outdoor location to stage the shows, he decided to act. “There have been shows before, but not a series like this,” Filipelli said. “The original concept was to stage a full-day event, but costs proved to be prohibitive. This way of doing things is smaller scale overall, but also gives both the performers and the event more visibility.” Thus far, the series has been averaging several hundred listeners per concert. “It’s a fluid crowd,” Filipelli pointed out. “The shows are open to the public, so people from off campus can and do attend. However, most of the audience is comprised of students, who are basically in between classes. So how many people are there at any one time fluctuates.” The next three concerts will feature blues pop act Deverb (April 13), Latin combo Cuevo and Friends (April 27) and punk rock quartet Dying To Wake (May 11). While the series has had mostly smooth sailing, Filipelli notes there was a minor problem with volume, since addressed and adjusted. “We had a little sound overlap with a few classes during finals, so that was an issue, but something we could avoid in the future with scheduling,” he said. “Being outdoors, sound carries. We take that into consideration, but it was a learning curve at first.” Despite the volume concerns, Filipelli considers the concerts’ outdoor setting a plus. “I’ve never met a musician who didn’t like playing outdoors,” he said. “Indoors, you take your chances that a room’s acoustics are decent, without walls or mirrors to get in the way. Many venues weren’t built for music. Outdoors the sound flows.” For both Filipelli and Leyva, the best thing about this concert series is bringing new music to a new audience. “This is a win-win for everybody,” Leyva said. “We’re giving developing artists a chance to perform in front of a large group of people that probably wouldn’t be exposed to their music. For the audience, they not only get a show, but hopefully something that makes their day at school more enjoyable.” According to Filipelli, the series lineup of indie rock, singer-songwriters and Latin is down to timing. “We wanted this to be an eclectic thing, with no set focus, spotlighting different aspects of local music,” Filipelli said. “We are really happy with the artists that we have. However, we had to move quickly when booking the shows. Unfortunately, the jazz and hip-hop acts that we had hoped to book were not able to confirm in time. That is something we hope to remedy if we do a future series.” While the verdict won’t be in until this first run of shows is through, there is hope the event will continue in the fall. “It feels like momentum is being built,” Leyva said. “As people get used to the idea of lunchtime shows, we’re getting more people. By the second go round, this should be more established, hopefully meaning a larger audience.” Spring Concert Series: Wednesdays at noon at City College, 1313 Park Boulevard, all Ages, free. http://www.sdcity.edu/Events/ModuleID/2212/ItemID/801/mctl/EventDetails