NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts’ Extension Division is hosting its ninth annual series of free summer events for the entire family.

The 2016 Summer Series includes four free music and dance performances on the university campus.  All of the shows begin at 7pm and are free and open to the public, with no tickets required.

For the first time in several years, the series will feature a musical theatre performance, showcasing a discipline that involves song, dance, and acting all in one.

On July 13, at the Nicholas Music Center on George Street, several Mason Gross alumni will be performing “High Button Shoes,” a musical that first opened in 1947 and is set in 1940’s New Brunswick.

The majority of the performers in this show are Mason Gross graduates that now work on Broadway as well as the High School Musical Conservatory counselors, and current Rutgers students.

The school’s Jazz Faculty will be performing on July 20 at the Nicholas Music Center as part of the series.

This concert will be entirely in the style of classic Jazz, including pieces by famous composers like John Coltrane, and will open up with the Best Student Jazz Band from the Rutgers Summer Jazz Institute program.

On July 27, the Summation Dance Company, an all-female modern dance group, will be performing at the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Theater.

On August 3, the Dalí Quartet will be performing their classical Latin America string instrument music also at the Nicholas Music Center.

The school also hosts a number of performances as part of the “Mason Gross Summer Stage Concert Series,” which is also free and open to the public.

That series kicked off in June, and continues on July 21 with the Dance New Jersey member concert, which features four different dance groups (10 Hairy Legs, Moe-tion Dance Theater, Connolly & Co., and Ariel Rivka Dance) at the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Theater.

On July 24 and July 31, Rutgers’ Marryot Music Building will host “TRIDENT,” a chamber trio featuring pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti, cellist Mira Kang and violinist Naomi Youngstein.

The trio performs music from the Czech Republic, Latin America and modern works by current composers as well.

On July 27, the same building will host the JACK Quartet, a string ensemble referred to by the Boston Globe as “superheroes of the new music world.”

There is limited seating available for these events and it will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.