(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - April 8, 2016) - - - Columbia State Community College's Department of Music presents the spring student concert April 21 at 1 p.m. in the Ledbetter Auditorium.

The concert will feature Columbia State's choir under the direction of Emily Gaskill, associate professor of music. The program contains a variety of traditional songs from different stylistic periods and includes classical, jazz and folk selections.

The choir will perform works by composers such as William Byrd, Antonio Vivaldi, W. A. Mozart and contemporary composers Joseph Martin and Emma Lou Diemer. The choir is accompanied on piano by Scott Burt, adjunct professor.

Also included on the program will be a performance by Columbia State's performance ensemble, directed by Dr. Mark Lee, professor of music. The group will perform arrangements of traditional classical music for guitar, clarinet and flute.

"We have a larger and more experienced choir this semester," said Gaskill. "This has allowed us to tackle more challenging music and have a lot more fun learning it."

"I think the variety of music offered by both the choir and the instrumental ensembles will allow members of the audience to find something personally appealing," Gaskill continued. "We hope the community will come out and support these hard-working musicians."

The event is free and open to the public. The Ledbetter Auditorium is in the Frank G. Clement Building on the Columbia Campus, located at 1665 Hampshire Pike.

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, one of the largest higher education systems in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.

Tennessee's Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. We offer associate degree and certificate programs, workforce development programs and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit us online at tncommunitycolleges.org.