Five acts of different genres, including Latin, jazz, classical, hip-hop and rock, performed before a crowd of approximately 160 Boston University students and music fans at the George Sherman Union for the BU Central Music Festival Thursday night.

Hip-hop group member Paul Umbro came up with the idea for the festival and worked closely with the Student Activities Office to produce the show. He said he wanted to expose the school to music they might not hear on the radio or see on MTV.

“The music industry is streamlining and watering down music,” the College of General Studies sophomore said. “I want to play great music and bring it to my peers. I want to make the BU music scene better.”

To do that, he enlisted the help of family members and friends. The Joe Musacchia Experience, a jazz group Umbro’s high school friend Musacchia drums for, performed second at the show, and introduced Umbro to the Latin group, The Paulo Stagnaro Sextet, which also performed. Umbro’s sister, Laura, a College of Fine Arts graduate student, formed the classical music group The Laura Umbro Chamber Group, the third act to hit the stage.

Paul Umbro did his own performing with the hip-hop group Hahn. He formed the group with College of Arts and Sciences senior Chris Hahn, who raps for the group, and Boston College sophomore Jayme Catsouphes, a bass player Umbro knows from high school.

“I started making hip-hop beats two years ago,” Umbro said. “I played one for Chris, and it was horrible. I made 200 more and played them for him, and we got a group started.”

Headlining rock group Sanction was added to the bill by the SAO.

“We saw a Sanction show in November at a conference,” Programs Coordinator Josh Hiscock said. “We heard Jay [Haggis], the lead in the band, was a BU alum, so we thought it was a great opportunity to bring someone who is pursing music back to BU.”

Many students said they enjoyed the music and atmosphere and would come to another festival at BU.

“I love music,” CGS freshman Dania Monge said. “You wake up, you listen to music, it gets you through the day.

“This is really well-planned and organized,” she continued. “They cover every aspect of music.”

School of Education junior Kristie Santos said she came to the event to support her friend and also because of her affinity for jazz.

“I like the atmosphere,” she said. “It’s really low key. You can relax and enjoy the music.”