Blair School

The Blair School of Music celebrated another round of wins, with one Blair Academy student and seven collegiate students securing top vocal awards at the Tennessee National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Statewide competition. NATS is one of the nation’s leading organizations for advancing excellence in singing. Read More

Russell Platt, adjunct associate professor of music at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, has released a new album, Mountain Interval: Songs and Chamber Music, through Bridge Records. The digital release is set for November 7 with physical recording to be available November 21. The album brings together more than… Read More

On Friday, October 24, the Blair School of Music surprised students with its first Musician Wellness Day, hosted during their weekly Friday Recital Class. The afternoon transformed Ingram Lobby into a hub of activity, with each table focused on a tool or technique to support musicians’ physical, mental, or creative… Read More

Blair School of Music will present the Tennessee premiere of Julia Wolfe’s acclaimed choral work Fire in my Mouth on November 14, 2025, in Ingram Hall. The program will feature a chorus of more than 100 voices performing with the Vanderbilt University Orchestra, including The Vanderbilt Sixteen, Vanderbilt University… Read More

Abigail Goddard, a student at the Blair Academy for Music at Vanderbilt University and a Myra Jackson Blair (MJB) Scholar, is using creativity and compassion to make a difference far beyond the concert stage.  In addition to her piano studies through the Blair program, Goddard… Read More

A clarinetist-turned-scholar whose work explores the stories told through opera, Allison Chu brings to Blair a passion for connecting music to the broader cultural and historical moments in which it is created.  Chu’s path to musicology began at the University of Michigan, where she earned dual degrees… Read More

Sun-A Park, assistant professor of piano at Blair School of Music. The Blair School of Music is proud to welcome Sun-A Park as assistant professor of piano. A Korean American pianist celebrated for her “exquisite clarity” and “remarkable virtuosity,” Park brings to Blair an extraordinary international career,… Read More

Blair School of Music is excited to present “Together We,” a Master Series event, Sunday, September 14, 2:30 p.m., in Turner Recital Hall. (Reserve tickets) Featuring Grammy-winning flutist Molly Barth, the expansive program was conceived as “an exploration of community, human spirit, and compassion” and is an… Read More

The life, music, and visual art of Dr. Yusef Lateef will be celebrated September 12-13, 2025, as the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music hosts the Yusef Lateef Symposium. The two-day conference will include panel discussions, viewings of the Yusef A. Lateef Collection housed at Vanderbilt, a… Read More

Update: A Gibson Garage pop-up store will be on site in Ingram Hall for the September 11 An Evening with Rick Beato event. The display will have acoustic and electric guitars you can play, Gibson gear, and more. Be sure to arrive early to check it out! Vanderbilt… Read More

Percussionists from five countries and 36 colleges and universities converged at Vanderbilt for the debut Nashville Marimba Sessions, hosted at Blair May 24-31. Spearheaded by Blair School of Music Associate Professor of Percussion Ji Hye Jung, the summer intensive featured a week of presentations, lessons, and performances. “My vision of… Read More

Blair School of Music was honored to recently host the fifth biennial Roger Vignoles Mentoring Program for Young Professional Vocal Coaches. Four emerging vocal coaches and four Blair voice students were selected to attend several days of instructional sessions with the acclaimed Vignoles, which included a special master class… Read More

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

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

A cohort of 82 new students has entered the Blair School of Music, representing hometowns and/or residencies in 24 states in the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia, and including the first Blair student from New Zealand. New students will join each of Blair’s studios in classical and jazz studies, including music… Read More

Ernesto Estigarribia Mussi Blair Academy at Vanderbilt is excited to announce that Ernesto Estigarribia Mussi has been named the conductor and artistic director for the Curb Youth Symphony. He serves as assistant professor of conducting and director of the Vanderbilt University Orchestra at Blair School of Music. “I am… 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

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

Evan Bish is the acting principal for the Nashville Symphony’s bass section. Since graduating from Vanderbilt six years ago, double bassist Evan Bish, BMus’18, has continued a meteoric ascent as an in-demand musician and session player. Originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, Bish studied under Joel Reist at Blair and as… 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

The 2024 MusicTech Camp will be July 8-20 at Blair School of Music. Blair School of Music will host its third annual MusicTech Music and Technology Camp, July 8-20, 2024. The program offers a unique opportunity for teens interested in digital music production and video game design to learn alongside… Read More

Tickets are on sale now for three concert events during the 2024 International Jazz Symposium hosted at Blair School of Music. Blair School of Music will host the 2024 International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) Symposium May 16-18. The three-day event will include three stellar guest artist… Read More

Tucker Biddlecombe received glowing reviews as the featured guest conductor of Bluegrass Mass, performed last month at Carnegie Hall in New York. The choral concert event featured more than 200 singers performing with a traditional bluegrass ensemble, and included a number of Blair alumni and faculty. New York Concert… Read More

Composer Lila Meretzky (BMus’20) will premiere Songs at Night on February 27 in New York, performed by the Contemporaneous ensemble. New York ensemble Contemporaneous will premiere works by Blair alumna Lila Meretzky (BMus’20) on February 27, 8:00 p.m. ET, at performance venue Roulette in Brooklyn. The program, Songs at… Read More

Blair professors Heather Conner, piano; Ji Hye Jung and Lee Vinson, percussion; will be joined by pianist Caleb Harris to present “Ways of Seeing” on February 29. Blair School of Music will present a Master Series faculty performance on February 29 that will include the world premiere of “Ways… Read More

The Blair Big Band will present a collaborative concert, Solidarity, on February 23. The award-winning Blair Big Band, directed by Ryan Middagh, will present a special concert event on Friday, February 23, entitled Solidarity: An Evening of Creative Collaborations. The performance will feature Blair School of Music students, faculty,… Read More

The Vanderbilt Wind Symphony and Symphonic Choir will perform American Icons on Friday, February 9. The Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, conducted by Thomas Verrier, and Vanderbilt Symphonic Choir, directed by Tucker Biddlecombe, will present American Icons in Ingram Hall, Friday, February 9, 8:00 p.m. The program features masterworks… Read More

The 66th Grammy Awards will be Sunday, February 4. It’s Grammy week and Blair will be well represented at Sunday’s 66th annual ceremonies, as two faculty members and a composition alumnus are up for awards. Lauded bassist and composer Edgar Meyer received three nominations for Best Global Music Performance,… Read More

The Vanderbilt University Orchestra, conducted by Ernesto Estigarribia Mussi, will present a special musical celebration of the Vanderbilt Sesquicentennial on Saturday, February 10. The program, entitled Crescere Aude, features the world premiere of new works commissioned by the Vanderbilt chancellor for the occasion, composed by members of the Blair School… Read More

The Student Showcase Committee has announced the chosen performers for the 2024 Blair Student Showcase Concert, Friday, January 26. Performers will include: Catie Brenmark, bassoon Riley Eddins, baritone; and Alekzander Waller, piano Maxwell van Hoeij, violin Victoria Kim, piano Levi Pabst, baritone Percussion Quartet:… Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries have acquired the personal collection of Dom Flemons, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and cultural historian whose music and research have brought greater awareness ... Read More