Performance Free and Open to the Public Tuesday, March 20

(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - March 9, 2012) - - - Belmont University is sending talented student pianist Kyle Johnson to Columbia State Community College on Tuesday, March 20 for an 11 a.m. classical performance in the Cherry Theater.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will feature compositions from Bach, Chopin and Beethoven, as well as a piece from contemporary composer Carl Vine.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy music which has survived the ages, interpreted by a senior music major in today's world," Assistant Professor of Music Emily Gaskill said. "We are actually welcoming Kyle back to campus. We hosted his junior recital last year and are delighted to host him again."

Kyle Johnson, originally from Lexington, Ky., expects to graduate this May with his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Belmont. An experienced performer, Kyle traveled with the Kentucky Ambassadors of Music on a European tour in 2006. Kyle was admitted the following year to the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. In 2010 and 2011 he was a participant in Tennessee MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition, and he won Belmont's Classical Performer's Competition in 2011.

Kyle's musical interests also include research. In 2011 and 2012 he published with the Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium. His articles were titled The Age of Folk: Preservation of Regional Music in Hungary and the United States and The Musical Identity of Arvo Pärt and the Early Christian Church.

In addition to his performances in front of live audiences, Kyle recently appeared as a pianist body double in an upcoming film starring Nicole Kidman.

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, the sixth largest higher education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.

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