The featured speaker for the Dorothy Godtland Lecture Series will be Gary Schindler.

Schindler will present “King of Swing, Music from 1935-1945” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Albert Lea Art Center, 226 W. Clark St.

Schindler is the dean of student affairs at Riverland Community College. He and his wife, Jeanne, have lived in Albert Lea since 1989. Gary holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences with an emphasis in history and a master’s in counseling from the University of North Dakota. He is pursuing a graduate certificate in U.S. history from American Public University.

Gary has been building a library of classic jazz recordings that past 15 years and will focus his lecture on the Swing Era’s big band artists. The Swing Era/Big Band Era spanned the time of 1938 to 1945. The focus of this lecture will be on the signature songs from this era. Schindler will also make reference to the area bands that performed in southern Minnesota.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.