Awards

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

Blair Associate Professor of Flute Molly Barth is one of 13 outstanding faculty members from across the university selected for the 2024 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. The group is composed of highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise. Each… Read More

The Blair Big Band has been honored with its 13th DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award. The Blair School of Music jazz program has been honored with its 13th DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award in an announcement released today. The Blair Big Band is a 2024 winner in the Undergraduate… Read More

Blair professors Melanie Lowe and Douglas Shadle have been honored with editor roles for two leading music research journals. Lowe has been named editor-in-chief of The Journal of Music History Pedagogy and Shadle has been appointed editor-in-chief of The Journal of Musicological Research. Serving on the… Read More

The annual Student Awards Ceremony was held on April 19, honoring exemplary students from across Blair’s areas of study. Congratulations to these students receiving honors: Achievement in Teaching Award – Whitney Roberts Andrew Sang Han Memorial Award – Samuel D’Amico Martin Williams Award – Charles Murff… Read More

The Dave Matthews Band, whose members include Jeff Coffin of the Blair School of Music jazz faculty, has been announced as a 2024 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A saxophonist, composer, and educator, Coffin is a three-time Grammy Award winner as a member of Bela Fleck… Read More

Peter Kolkay accepts the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award from Chancellor Diermeier and Faculty Senate Chair Andrea Capizzi. Peter Kolkay, Blair associate professor of bassoon, was honored with the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching at last week’s Vanderbilt Faculty Assembly. In presenting the award, Chancellor Diermeier noted… Read More

Chris Lowry, BMus’11, and Peter Dayton, BMus’12, both received recognition in the American Viola Society’s 2024 biennial Maurice Gardner Competition for Composers. Among the 77 submissions to the contest, Chris Lowry was the first prize winner, with his work, “Zenith (for Jackson)” for viola and electronics, winning… Read More

It was a big night for Blair School of Music as faculty members Edgar Meyer and Dashon Burton added to their Grammy Award collections at the 66th annual ceremonies in Los Angeles. Edgar Meyer was honored with two Grammys—for Best Global Music Performance and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album—through his collaboration… Read More

Blair School of Music students received numerous awards at the state level of the Music Teachers National Association Competitions, held last month at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville. The annual event featured 97 students, ages 11-26, competing in piano, string, vocal, and woodwind categories. In the Piano Competition, Josephine Borne… Read More