The Scarlet & Cream Singers will perform with guest alumni at Kimball Hall on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Regularly priced tickets are $15 and student tickets are $10.

For 30 years, the Scarlet & Cream Singers have been dazzling audiences with their jazzy vocals and clever choreography.

This weekend, Scarlet & Cream alumni will have the opportunity to relive years of making music and memories during a 30th anniversary reunion.

The highlight of the singing group's reunion will be a Saturday night concert at Kimball Hall,11th and R streets.

Current Scarlet & Cream members will share the stage with several alumni who are now professional performers.

Since their beginnings in 1973, Scarlet & Cream's performances always have been popular, director Carrie Solomon-Schultz said.

The group began when a member of the Nebraska Alumni Association wanted a swing choir to represent the alumni at a Nebraska-Minnesota football game, said original member Roger Thaden.

"I was practicing on the third floor of Westbrook (Music Building), and someone just came in and said, 'We're putting together a swing choir. Do you want to be involved?'" Thaden said.

He agreed, and the makeshift group of 15 traveled to the Twin Cities for the game.

Scarlet & Cream's first performance was a sensation, and they started getting calls from other venues, Thaden said.

"It was definite that the group needed to continue," Solomon-Schultz said.

Since then, the nearly 300 former members of Scarlet & Cream have gone in a variety of different directions.

The teachers

With five hours of rehearsal per week and more than 80 performances per year, who better to direct Scarlet & Cream than someone who's actually sang in it?

Both Solomon-Schultz and former director Julie Enersen sang in the group as students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Enersen, who got her undergraduate degree in 1986 in elementary education, eventually went back to school to get her master's in music.

"I realized I wanted to bring the fun of performing to other people," Enersen said.

After teaching vocal music full time at Mickle Middle School in Lincoln, a part-time position for the director of Scarlet & Cream opened up.

"I had never planned on being the director of (Scarlet & Cream)," Enersen said, "but it was a good fit at the time."

Enersen left the group to pursue her performing interests. She has appeared in several local groups and in shows at the Lincoln Community Playhouse.

As chairperson of the Scarlet & Cream reunion, Enersen has stayed involved with the group.

Thaden, who teaches instrumental music at Lux Middle School, said his involvement with Scarlet & Cream made him more comfortable in front of crowds and during presentations of any kind.

Enersen agreed, saying the confidence that is required as a performer carries over into the teaching world.

The couples

Seven young men.

Seven young women.

You do the math.

During the past three decades, nearly 15 couples have ended up together as a result of Scarlet & Cream participation.

Not all couples met directly through Scarlet & Cream, said Solomon-Schultz, but many did continue relationships throughout their years in the group.

Jim and Suzy Schulz, who were members in the mid-1970s, knew each other from their days at East High School. They continued their friendship during their involvement with Scarlet & Cream.

"It gave us an opportunity to make more music together," Schulz said.

Thaden met his future wife during her audition for Scarlet & Cream.

"That was the first time I saw her, and she just lit up the room," Thaden said.

Twenty-five years later, he and his wife Kathi are still together.

The professionals

Although many students in Scarlet & Cream weren't - and aren't - music majors, a significant number of them have made careers out of singing.

Some members have performed locally as amateurs while concentrating on other careers. Others have gone to Colorado, California or New York to pursue music in a professional way.

Originally from Lincoln, Kelly Ellenwood didn't really know what she wanted to do after high school.

The Lincoln High graduate knew she wanted to keep singing, but decided against it as a major her freshman year.

"I had never really thought about music as a career," Ellenwood said.

She started studying political science but was also a member of Scarlet & Cream.

Singing began to take up more and more of her time, and she soon realized she was really good at it.

"It took me awhile to realize that was where I belonged," she said.

After working in Omaha upon her graduation from UNL (with a music performance major), Ellenwood continued her education at the University of Illinois. She later ended up in New York City.

Ellenwood has since performed on Broadway, most notably with the national company of "Phantom of the Opera," as well as with "A Christmas Carol."

Despite her musical successes, Ellenwood said she always felt honored to be a part of Scarlet & Cream.

"It was a great introduction to being a professional," she said. "It was really a great experience all the way around."