The Mondavi Center grows quiet in the summertime, but the programming staff has still lined up a couple of concerts for us —to be presented on the Quad, with admission free and open to the public.

The Mondavi Center presents SummerMusic annually, in partnership with Summer Sessions.

The 2010 schedule comprises one concert in July, by the Nashville, Tenn.-based bluegrass band the Infamous Stringdusters; and one in August, by the Nortec Collective, a Tijuana, Mexico-based ensemble that fuses electronica and techno with the norteño and tambora music of northern Mexico.

Each concert is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., with the Quad opening at 6 p.m. for picnicking.

Here are the dates and more about the performers:

• Saturday, July 10 — The six-member Infamous Stringdusters, hailed by The Tennessean for “pushing bluegrass into new territory,” won two big awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2007: album of the year, for Fork in the Road, and emerging artist of the year.

Critics have praised the band for its inspired blend of instrumental virtuosity, creative original material, firm grounding in traditional bluegrass, and jam band sensibilities.

The Stringdusters followed Fork in the Road with a self-titled album in 2008 and Things That Fly in April 2010, in addition to solo efforts by band members Andy Hall (resophonic guitar), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Andy Falco (guitar) and Chris Pandolfi (banjo).

• Friday, Aug. 27 — Nortec Collective, featuring Bostich and Fussible. Pepe Mogt (aka Fussible) formed Nortec in 1999 as a four-person collective; today, each concert is by a two-man team. Fussible and Bostich (aka Ramon Amezcua) are due to perform at UC Davis.

Nortec has released four albums: The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 (2001), The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 (2005), Tijuana Sound Machine (2008) and Corridos Urbanos (2010), earning three Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations in the best Latin rock-alternative album and best alternative music album categories.

The genre-spanning Nortec has drawn international praise from such publications as Rolling Stone, which raved about Nortec’s “updated lounge sounds for both dancing and chilling.”

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: SummerMusic 2010, presented by the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in partnership with Summer Sessions

WHEN:

• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 10 — Infamous Stringdusters

• 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 — Nortec Collective featuring Bostich and Fussible

WHERE: Quad (opens at 6 p.m. for picnicking). No alcoholic beverages allowed.

ADMISSION: Free and open to the public, all ages