(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - Feb. 22, 2018) - - - Columbia State Community College will host the first classical music concert on the Williamson Campus on Feb. 28 at 12:30 p.m. in the Community Room. The concert will feature cellist Paul Christopher.

Christopher, associate professor of cello and music theory at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. As a member of the Nashville String Machine, he has performed and recorded with several artists such as Faith Hill, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Springsteen and George Straight. He has also recorded other selections from contemporary composers Mark Lee, Dinos Constaninides and Don Freund.

"The Williamson Campus is very fortunate to have cellist Paul Christopher perform a solo cello recital for the first ever classical music performance at this Columbia State location," said Mark Lee, Columbia State associate professor of music.

Christopher is a former principal cellist for the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and currently performs with the Rapids Symphony and South Arkansas Symphony. Christopher has performed guest artist recitals in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Tennessee and Texas. He has perfromed internationally in Costa Rica, Honduras, Panamá and South Korea. In addition, Christopher has presented and performed at professional conferences such as NSU's Research Day, Louisiana Music Educators Association, Louisiana Music Teachers Association, Huntsville New Music Festival, Southeastern Composers League Forum, Society of Composers, Inc. and National Association of Composers.

Christopher earned his bachelor's degree in music education from the New England Conservatory of Music and his master's degree in cello performance from the University of Memphis.

The concert is free and open to the public. The Community Room is located on the second floor of the Administration Building on the Williamson Campus.

For more information about this event, contact Mark Lee at 931.540.2874 or mlee@ColumbiaState.edu. For more information on other Lyceum events, contact the Lyceum Committee by emailing Lyceum@ColumbiaState.edu, or visit the Lyceum calendar on the Columbia State website at www.ColumbiaState.edu/Lyceum.

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