(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - April 17, 2014) - - - Columbia State Community College's Department of Music presents the spring student concert at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 24 in the Ledbetter Auditorium.

"I believe this music program is our department's most diverse performance to date," said Emily Gaskill, associate professor of music. "The choir and featured soloists will offer a variety of musical genres spanning several centuries. The students have enjoyed learning this music."

The concert will feature the Columbia State choir and chamber ensemble, directed by Gaskill, accompanied on the piano by Marsha Scheusner, adjunct instructor.

The program will include instrumental and vocal solos as well as choral selections, such as motets by William Byrd and W.A. Mozart, madrigals by contemporary composer Emma Lou Diemer, African American spirituals, American folk song arrangements and a jazz choral piece by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.

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.