Blair School Of Music

Grace O’Duffy, a Blair School of Music student, is exploring fun ways for the Vanderbilt community to interact with music. Inspired by her passion for fostering connections through new music, Grace embarked on a journey to create an interactive musical instrument: an optical xylophone that plays sound in response… Read More

  Percussionists from across the country and around the world will gather at Vanderbilt May 25-31, 2025, for Nashville Marimba Sessions, a debut program directed by Blair professor Ji Hye Jung. The weeklong experience will give young musicians the opportunity to work closely with world renowned faculty,… Read More

Vanderbilt graduates from across the country convened November 7-10 for the 2024 Reunion Weekend festivities. Blair School of Music greeted guests at a welcome reception and also hosted a panel discussion featuring several notable Blair alums. Connie Heard and Douglas Lee. Tom Mulder ’12, Patrick Thomas ’13, and Blair… Read More

One of Blair’s most celebrated annual traditions, the Concerto Competition gives the school’s standout musicians and vocalists the opportunity to compete to be featured soloists in a spring large ensemble concert. We congratulate the four winners of this year’s competition: Bassist Luke Faessler, percussionist Jordan Katz, and soprano Diana Nalyvaiko… Read More

Blake-Anthony Johnson Blair School of Music alumnus Blake-Anthony Johnson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation (NOJHFF). A nationally recognized leader in music and cultural advocacy, Johnson has previously worked as a civic leader, professional musician, and arts innovator, most recently… Read More

Guest artist Peter Sheppard Skærved’s “Knowledge Exchange Violin: A Performer’s Odessey” program will be presented at Blair’s Turner Recital Hall on Monday, October 21, 7:30 p.m., The second event in the yearlong Music in the Real World Colloquium, Skærved brings together historic instruments, composers, nature, painting, ecologists, architecture,… Read More

Blair Professor of Musicology Cynthia Cyrus with Ariel Olaleye Blair vocal performance major Ariel Olaleye shared her Immersion Vanderbilt capstone presentation on Tuesday, recounting her summer of international travel and research findings on the intersection of Western and Nigerian classical music traditions. Olaleye was one of four Vanderbilt students honored… Read More

Blair professors Ji Hye Jung, Heather Conner, and Lee Vinson, joined by Caleb Harris, are in South Korea this week to perform a special concert at the Seoul Arts Center IBK Chamber Hall on Friday, October 11. The piano and percussion ensemble will present the Korean premiere of “Ways of… Read More

Montrose Duo—featuring Blair faculty members Jared Hauser, oboe, and Richard Todd, guitar—has released its debut album, out today, Friday, September 27. The project includes original arrangements of compositions by Piazzolla, Gershwin, Falla, Ravel, and Debussy. Jared Hauser shares the backstory of the new album: Once Richard and… Read More

Vanderbilt Opera Theatre will present Staggerwing Thursday and Friday, October 3 and 4, 8:00 p.m. in Ingram Hall. The production marks the regional premiere of the new opera, composed by Lisa DeSpain with librettist Rachel J. Peters, which was workshopped in Vanderbilt’s inaugural Opera Lab in 2023. Set… Read More