M-Pact, a Los Angeles-based a cappella group, will conduct a benefit concert for local school music programs Wednesday night in downtown Lawrence.

The group features Jeff Smith, an alumnus of Lawrence High School and Kansas University.

The concert will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at The Granada, 1020 Mass.

Tickets are $12 at the door. For advance ticket information, call The Granada at 842-1390 or see www.thegranada.com.

All proceeds from the concert will go to Music Works, a music endowment fund of the Lawrence Schools Foundation.

Smith, a 1990 LHS graduate, first played the bassoon at LHS for his father, Jay Smith, who was LHS band director, and was named first chair, all state, by the Kansas Music Education Association.

In his junior year, Jeff Smith auditioned for the school’s a cappella choir.

He went to KU on a bassoon scholarship but didn’t get involved in singing again until his sophomore year, when he joined a vocal group called Random Order.

He then became part of another group, 8 Men Out, which later became 8:1 (8 to 1), which lasted three years.

He later began performing with another group called measureXmeasure. In 1998, that group shared a stage with M-Pact, and Smith kept in touch with members of that group.

Smith eventually joined the group in 2004 and has helped open shows for singers such as Sheryl Crow, Kenny Loggins, Bobby McFerrin, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole and Kenny G.

M-Pact will lead a vocal clinic for local students from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at Central Junior High School.