Island Records recording artist Jon McLaughlin will be in concert at Lyon College April 29 in Couch Garden.

McLaughlin is a 24-year-old Indiana-based singer who grew up in a home surrounded by music. His siblings played piano, and he began taking classical lessons at age 4. But it wasn’t until he was 18 years old that he realized he could start blending his skill with his love for pop music.

McLaughlin attended Anderson University School of Music and began to write songs. In June 2005, he went into the studio to record his first album. He just finished recording his latest album, “Indiana,” and can be seen performing on a ballroom stage in the movie, “Enchanted.”

Gates will open at 6 p.m., with an opening act to play at 7 p.m. Lyon College students will be admitted free. Tickets for others are $5 and are available at the Student Life Office.

The Lyon College Regional Studies Center is once again inviting listeners to step back in time on a new CD of songs from the renowned John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection.

Following the success of its 2005 double-CD, "Sounds of the Ozark Folk: The 1963 Arkansas Folk Festival," the Lyon College Regional Studies Center has released a second CD, "Sounds of the Ozark Folk, Vol. II: Middle Americana."

Library offers amnesty for students

Since 1990, the staff at Lyon College's Mabee-Simpson Library has offered students a chance to get out of paying fines for overdue books while offering "Help and Hope" to area residents in need.

The Lyon College Flute Choir will perform its spring concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 27 in Bevens Music Room on the Lyon campus. Flute choir members include Martha Beck, Jeanne Fitzgerald, Holly Geis, Douglas Harding, Angela Mahoney, Hope Spragins, Laura Stinson and Anelisa Wood. Dr. Russell Stinson is the piano accompanist.

The flute choir will perform works by Bach, Brahms, Francis Poulenc, Franz Doppler, and Samuel Barber.

The president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) will lend his knowledge and give best wishes to graduating seniors at Lyon College’s 135th commencement May 10.

Dr. David L. Warren (left) will be keynote speaker at the 9 a.m. Saturday ceremony in Couch Garden. Lyon College also will award Warren an honorary degree.

Commencement weekend begins Friday, May 9, at 4 p.m., with the President’s Reception at Bradley Manor for seniors, their parents, faculty and staff, and at 5:30 p.m., an Alumni Dinner honoring the Class of 2008 will begin in Becknell Gymnasium.

Concert band to host spring concert

The Lyon Concert Band will present its spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, in Brown Chapel. The concert will feature the band performing several styles of music including “Don't Cry For Me Argentina” from the opera Evita and “In The Mood.” a Glenn Miller classic. Other selections for the concert will include “Pressure,” a depiction of the adversity we face on a daily basis, “Pictures At An Exhibition,” a six-movement piece originally written by Modest Moussourgsky, “Different Voices,” a representation of the different ways the human voice produces sound and “Chorale and Shaker Dance II,” based on the traditional American Shaker tune "Simple Gifts." Admission is free and the event is open to the public.