Students walking through the University of Miami’s campus this fall may notice Lake Osceola is a little quieter than normal.
The live music of Hurricane Productions’ Patio Jams is now set to be held every other week, a change that has received mixed reactions among students and performers. The popular music series will still take place, just not every Thursday.
Hurricane Productions, HP, the University’s largest student programming board, recently underwent a restructuring process and now features four programs: HP Collective, HP at the Rat, HP at Nite and HP Live. The restructuring is intended to give each program a more specific focus while allowing HP to offer a wider range of events for students.
HP Live oversees the organization’s musical programming, including Patio Jams, the Homecoming Concert, Battle of the Bands, listening parties and the newly introduced Music @ Mahoney series.
Trinity Vodovoz, this year’s HP Live Lead, says the Fall 2026 Patio Jams lineup has already been released, excluding the headliner. Discussions surrounding additional performance opportunities are ongoing.
HP Live hosted its first Patio Jams of the semester on Aug. 27, drawing more than 250 student attendees, according to HP Live executive board members.
Vodovoz said the new schedule will allow HP to offer additional benefits to students at each event.
“Based on feedback from the student body, we are now able to provide free food or giveaways at each Patio Jams, whereas we were unable to do so for the weekly series,” said Vodovoz.
However, some students involved in the Frost School of Music are concerned that holding the event less frequently could mean fewer opportunities for performers.
Alec Windmiller, a sophomore music business major, said he was disappointed when he heard about the schedule change.
“It’s really nice to hear live music when I’m out walking at least once a week, and now I’ll just kind of have to miss that every Thursday routine,” Windmiller said.
Beyond the experience of attending the events, Windmiller said he worries about what the change could mean for students hoping to perform.
“It’s really hard to get booked for Patio Jams alone because they have a lot of people applying, but this might create even fewer opportunities for our school’s musicians to be shown off the way they would’ve with the previous schedule,” he said.
With fewer events throughout the semester, Windmiller believes the change could limit the variety of performers and music genres.
“Weekly Patio Jams meant there could be a huge variety of performances within the course of just one semester, but with that being halved, I do think that it does place a pretty strong limit on being able to show everything that we have to offer at Frost,” Windmiller said.
Another student performer, Kayla Nguyen, a sophomore at UM in the Frost School of Music, expressed similar concerns.
“I loved seeing my peers perform, and it’s sad that there are fewer opportunities to do that now,” she said.
Nguyen also said the reduced schedule could make performing at the event more competitive.
“I don’t necessarily think the experience of Patio Jams itself will change. I just think it will become more competitive because of the fewer spots available.”
Despite concerns about fewer performance opportunities, both emphasized the importance of Patio Jams to the UM community.
“I think Patio Jams are an excellent way to connect the school music to everybody else on our campus by providing a free space to be able to show off music,” Windmiller said.
Nguyen agreed, describing the events as an opportunity for students to express themselves and experience a wide variety of music.
“I have never seen two Patio Jams that are the same,” she said. “They provide creative outlets for students to perform and to come together as a community.”
Vodovoz said HP continues to value student feedback as the semester progresses.
“Ultimately, we want to create events that students are excited to attend and enjoy,” said Vodovoz.
Regardless of disappointment from the reduced schedule, Patio Jams remains an adamant event on campus that brings together students.
“I’m just glad that we’re still able to offer Patio Jams,” Windmiller said. “I will definitely still be going to every single one.”
For now, students can expect to hear Patio Jams around Lake Osceola every other Thursday, with HP hoping the changes make each event bigger and better for student attendees.