The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts (FWAFA) is holding a Spring Orchestra Concert on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Since the inception of a student orchestra in 2010, this will be the first concert that’s part of their signature Performing Arts Series, which is made up of the school’s plays, musical and dance showcases.

“The orchestra’s been growing every year and getting better and better,” said Stephen Madrid, director of fine arts. “We wanted to start blending into our series performances, which pretty much encapsulates all the arts, and we hadn’t had the instrumental department featured in that way before.”

The show will feature nine pieces performed by the orchestra, which is made up of 27 students from seventh to 12th grades. The concert will also feature five pieces performed by the student-run jazz band, which is made up of 15 students.

“We put it on the Performing Arts Series because they’re at the same level (as the rest of the school’s productions) and we want to increase the attendance on it,” said Phillip Marshall, FWAFA’s external affairs associate.

FWAFA has nine Performing Arts Series productions a year, in addition to dozens of smaller productions.

“I think you can’t have a school for the arts without having an orchestra,” said Laura Kinkade, development and marketing director for the school. “That was the one element that really was missing.”

The every-growing school is pushing for their relatively young orchestra program to grow.

“Eventually the goal would be that we’d have the orchestra performing with out musicals, since right now, we hire out professional musicians,” said Kinkade. “It goes together- you have student vocal performers, you can have instrumental students accompany them.”

The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts is located at 3901 S. Hulen St. Fort Worth, Texas 76109.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $13 if bought in advance, and students get $5 off. For more information on upcoming events, visit fwafa.org.