On Tuesday, September 22, Chattanooga State Community College will sponsor a concert featuring the musical artistry of Lauren Pelon at 7:30 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre located on the college’s main campus at 4501 Amnicola Highway.  The concert is open to the public free of charge.

Ms. Pelon’s program, The Living Roots of Music, is a dynamic production that blends a diverse collection of musical styles and instruments with the mastery of Pelon’s vocal and composing talents.  Musical selections-spanning from the 1^st to the 21^st centuries-coupled with narratives that trace the history of music and the development of instruments-are the foundation for a program that showcases Ms. Pelon’s extraordinary versatility.  Embracing the music from ancient Greece, medieval Europe, and contemporary Africa and Middle East, Pelon’s concert incorporates her stunning vocals and original compositions with her extraordinary ability to play an assortment of unusual, yet authentic instruments.  Instruments Pelon plays are lute, guitar, lute-guitar, lyre, recorder, gemshorn, cornamuse, krummhorn, schreierpfeife, shawm, rackett, pennywhistles, concertina, ocarina, hurdygurdy, doucaine, Kiowa courting flute, synthesizer, electric wind instrument and MIDI-pedalboard.  According to a review published in Australia’s The Canberra Times, “Lauren Pelon has devised a unique evening of entertainment by combining a wide variety of music from many centuries... Her versatility with more than 25 instruments is admirable...an experience made all the more pleasant by Pelon’s relaxed and warm presentation of the rare and unusual.”

Ms. Pelon studied the history of music and instrumentation in America and abroad.  She has performed at the Russian Institute for the History of the Arts in St. Petersburg, at the Conservatory of Music in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and in concert halls throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and China.  During her most recent overseas tour, Pelon performed throughout New Zealand and Australia and presented the 18th Annual Gordon Anderson Memorial Lecture at the University of New England in New South Wales.  Other performing credits include solo recitals with symphony orchestras, performances on television shows, and guest performances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.

For information about the Lauren Pelon concert, contact Darrin Hassevoort at 423.697.3383 or by email at darrin.hassevoort@chattanoogastate.edu. 

For information about Chattanooga State Community College and its educational programs, call the Chattanooga State information hotline at 423.697.4404 or toll free at 1.866.547.3733 or visit the college’s Web site at www.chattanoogastate.edu.

Chattanooga State Community College is a comprehensive, regionally accredited community college, operated under the policies and guidelines of the Tennessee Board of Regents College System.  Founded in 1965 and serving a six-county area in Southeast Tennessee, Chattanooga State offers a wide array of programs and services.