The 8th Latin American Music Festival, held every two years and hosted by the TCU School of Music, kicked off Thursday. The festival will continue through Oct. 6 with performances by musicians from around the globe.

The TCU Symphony Orchestra performed on Thursday and the TCU Wind Symphony and TCU Brass Quintet performed on Friday in Ed Landreth Auditorium.

Junior modern dance major Jessica Ho said the TCU Wind Symphony performance was a great mix of classical and Puerto Rican music. Ho said there was a lot of variety in styles of music, and she enjoyed experiencing each of them.

“It was definitely different compositions because the composers were from Puerto Rico, Brazil and Columbia, I think. So it was definitely very different from the usual Wind Orchestra type songs that I’ve heard,” Ho said.

Although it was her first time attending a Latin American music festival, Ho said it showed her “a really cultural experience because of the music, dancing and food.”

“You have everything going on and you have all these guest artists that come from different countries so it really gives us that international experience, or Latin American experience, which is amazing,” Ho said.

Latin Express was one of the bands that performed Friday night in the Campus Commons.

Lead vocalist and guitarist of Latin Express, Carlos Saenz, said he enjoyed seeing everyone get involved in Latin American culture.

“A lot of people out here have probably never been exposed to salsa music and now there’s like 200 kids out here learning how to salsa. It’s pretty cool,” Saenz said.

Latin Express has performed at several past Latin American Music Festivals at the university, Saenz said.

Junior speech pathology major Kaitlyn Turney said it was her first time to attend the Latin American Music Festival.

“I’ve just enjoyed listening to the music and seeing the dancers, and just observing and looking at the cultural differences and just having fun,” Turney said.

The 8th Latin American Music Festival will feature artists who play instruments including the piano, clarinet, cello, saxophone and guitar.

After the last performance of the night, the festival will conclude this Thursday.

For more information on the festival, be sure to check out the Latin American Music Festival website.