The Sharon Dulcimer Orchestra will present an evening of folk music sing-a-longs and play-a-longs, scheduled from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday in Watkins Auditorium of the UC.

Attendees are encouraged to sing along during the concert, according to organizers. They also are welcome to bring their own folk music instrument and play along.

The concert will review a cross-section of folk tunes and songs that helped shape American folklore and culture.

Prentice Ary, director of Sharon Dulcimer Orchestra, and folklorists, Walter Haden, and Preston Prather, professors emeriti, will introduce songs and explain some of the music’s elements, which have endeared it to people over the years. Haden will present a song he wrote in the musical tradition of Stephen Collins Foster. Students from the Department of Visual and Theater Arts will demonstrate traditional folk dances.

“Traditional folksongs survive from generation to generation because they share a special meaning, message or insight that endeared them to the people of ages past and present, Ary said.

The concert is free and open to the public.