Faculty

Blair voice professor Hailey Clark is featured in her debut as Magna Peccatrix (Soprano 1 Soloist) in a new Decca Classics album release by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Conducted by Klaus Mäkelä and recorded during two sold-out performances at the 2025 Mahler Festival in Amsterdam,… Read More

Steinway & Sons President Gavin English with Heather Conner. Blair School of Music Chancellor’s Chair of Piano Heather Conner has received the prestigious designation of being named to the Steinway & Sons Music Teacher Hall of Fame. She was recently inducted at Steinway’s historic factory in New York City, in… 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

Mariam Adam, Valerie Coleman, Russell Platt, and Alexander Platt, following the premiere performance in Woodstock, New York. Mariam Adam, Blair associate professor of clarinet, recently premiered the revised and rescored version of the Clarinet Concert by Russell Platt at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, New York. The work was… 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

Acclaimed faculty cellist Felix Wang will take the Turner Hall stage on September 5 for a Master Series recital, the opening event of the Blair School of Music 2025-26 concert season. Joined by faculty special guests Carolyn Huebl, violin; and new faculty appointment Sun-A Park, piano; Wang will perform the… 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

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

  Inspired by Beethoven when he first began to play piano at age five, Derek Hartman‘s music career took a huge step forward last week as he was awarded first prize at the prestigious 17th International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, Austria. The Minnesota native became the… Read More

What if your passion for producing beats, mixing tracks, or designing soundscapes could count toward your degree? This fall, the Blair School of Music introduces a new music technology minor built for Vanderbilt students who create music on their own terms. Led by Grammy-winning composer and producer… Read More

Grammy-nominated soul stylist and electronic music wizard Jamie Lidell has released a live performance video for “The Center,” recorded live in Turner Recital Hall on March 27, 2025, and featuring Blair student and faculty performers. The song is the lead single from Lidell’s upcoming album, Places of Unknowing, marking his… Read More

Giving Day 2025 is April 10, so get ready to show some ❤️ for Vanderbilt! The university thrives because of you, and we invite you to join other Commodores to amplify our collective impact by giving back to support students and programs across campus.   This year’s events… Read More

Russell Platt(Photo: Spencer Platt) A new work by Russell Platt, “Arizona Echoes: Sinfonia for Band,” will premiere at the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony’s Saturday, April 5 performance in Ingram Hall. Inspired by both the composer’s visit to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and his personal experience of… Read More

Vanderbilt trombone professor Jeremy Wilson and the vibrant Nashville low brass community have teamed up to present an unforgettable evening of music, artistry, and connection on Monday, March 31 in Turner Recital Hall. The collaborative program, “Bonded in Brass,” brings together the next generation of trombone talent alongside seasoned professionals… Read More

Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University is proud to present the world premiere of Places of Unknowing, a new series of songs by Grammy-nominated English musician, soul singer, and music technologist Jamie Lidell. The concert will take place Thursday, March 27, 8:00 p.m., in Turner Hall, marking a… Read More

Molly Herron introduces “Stellar Atmospheres” at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. Blair professor Molly Herron was recently a featured composer at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival (WWCMF) in Washington. Her new arrangement of “Stellar Atmospheres,” a reworking of her previous composition of the same name, was performed by… Read More

Pascal Le Boeuf. (📷 Harrison McClary / Vanderbilt) The third time was indeed the charm for Blair music technology professor Pascal Le Boeuf, as he picked up the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition on Sunday, February 2, his third time to be nominated in the category. He won the… Read More

The Blair Big Band will showcase the immense talent of the Blair School of Music faculty with an ambitious collaborative concert event, “New Groove,” on Friday, February 7, 2025, in Ingram Hall. The program will feature guest performers from across Blair’s areas of study, including Dean Melissa Rose, piano; and… Read More

The Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra has released a new six-song album, Tenor Madness, on Ear Up Records. The set features an arsenal of stellar jazz players and has already generated glowing accolades from music writers around the world. Middagh is the director of jazz studies at Blair School of Music. Read More

The life of an operatic soloist can provide amazing international performance opportunities and Blair voice professor Hailey Clark recently enjoyed one of those experiences as she traveled to Ankara, Turkey, to perform with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1993 as an original art project, the orchestra is Turkey’s… 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

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

Molly Barth will present the first performance in her “Together We…” concert series September 13 in Turner Hall. The project, conceived as “an exploration of community, human spirit, and compassion,” is an outgrowth of Barth recently receiving a Chancellor Faculty Fellowship, enabling her to collaborate with inspirational colleagues worldwide,… Read More

Blair senior jazz performance major / guitarist Patrick Kenny has released his debut album, Water Damage, a six-song project that includes guest performances by Blair professors Jeff Coffin and Marc Widenhofer, as well as other Blair student musicians. Kenny composed all six of the jazz fusion-styled pieces for the… Read More

Blair School of Music will host a yearlong series of lectures and events throughout the 2024-2025 academic year investigating the complex, powerful, and infinitely various roles that music plays in the lives of individuals and communities. The Music in the Real World Colloquium seeks to present diverse perspectives from… Read More

Blair professor Fred Sienkiewicz holds a special relationship with the Monteux Festival in Maine. Not only was Monteux a transformative early musical experience, it’s also where he met his wife and fellow musician, Kristen. In this Q&A feature, he shares his early festival experiences and how they have impacted… Read More

Hailey Clark has been appointed to the faculty of Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music as assistant professor of voice. An award-winning operatic soprano, Clark has garnered praise on the international stage for her signature character portrayals, as well as her versatility in operatic and concert repertoire spanning… Read More

Blair School of Music welcomes David Samuel to Blair School of Music as assistant professor of viola. With a professional music career that spans continents and prestigious ensembles, Samuel has cemented his reputation as a versatile and accomplished musician. “I am beyond excited to have the privilege to work… Read More

3x Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer, and Blair School of Music educator Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) will release his new star-studded album, Only the Horizon, Friday, July 19 on Ear Up Records. This highly anticipated collection of original compositions showcases Coffin’s extraordinary compositional vision and arranging prowess, blending traditional… Read More

College Football 25 will be released on July 19. The much-anticipated new EA Sports College Football 25 game, coming in July, has a deep Blair connection as six faculty and alumni musicians were a part of the elite ensemble tapped to record the game soundtrack. Produced over several weeks in… 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

Cynthia Cyrus Blair Professor of Musicology Cynthia Cyrus is currently in Austria on a nine-week research trip as she continues her studies of the Thalbach convent in Bregenz. Cyrus will be visiting the Austrian National Library in Vienna and topical archives housed in Innsbruck. She began her research… 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

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

Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Global Scholar in Residence Vanderbilt University welcomed Global Scholar in Residence Marc Vanscheeuwijck, a Baroque cellist and professor of music history at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, to campus April 15-20. Vanscheeuwijck interacted with students at Blair School of Music and the Romance language studies department, visiting musicology… 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

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

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

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

A new album from Jared Hauser, Blair associate professor of oboe, is out today, Friday, December 8. Entitled 20th Century Mosaic, Music for Oboe and Piano, the project is a collaboration with pianist Caleb Harris. Hauser describes the project as “a collection of seminal 20th century works for oboe and… Read More

Blair School of Music’s Vanderbilt Percussion Group will embark on a groundbreaking tour of Korea, December 6-13. Led by percussion professors Ji Hye Jung and Lee Vinson, the weeklong trip will include a performance at Seoul National University, a masterclass session at the Korean National University of Arts, attending a… Read More

Photo: Jimmy Katz Lauded musician, composer, and educator Wadada Leo Smith will be at Vanderbilt November 28 – December 1 for a residency that will include two musical performances and a special forum interview event. A creative visionary, Smith’s lengthy list of accomplishments and accolades includes a Guggenheim Fellowship, Doris… Read More

Edgar Meyer, Dashon Burton, William Brittelle.           Blair School of Music is well represented in the nominations for the 66th GRAMMY Awards, with a total of five selections announced on November 10. Edgar Meyer, Blair adjunct associate professor of bass and a five-time GRAMMY winner, received… Read More

The Vanderbilt University Orchestra, conducted by Ernesto Estigarribia Mussi, will pay tribute to groundbreaking musician, composer, and educator Florence Price with its November 14 concert, 8:00 p.m., in Martha Ingram Hall.  The program will include a guest performance by pianist Susan Yang. The event is the culmination of the monthlong… Read More

The third solo album from Blair Professor of Trombone, Jeremy Wilson, Aurora, is set for release on Thursday, November 9. “The project is infused from top to bottom with joy, celebration, fun, and most of all… hope,” said Wilson. “It features seven epic new works for trombone by gifted composers… Read More

Red Maple, Music for Bassoon and Strings is the new album from Peter Kolkay, recently released on Bridge Records and available everywhere. Recorded with the Calidore String Quartet and Estelle Choi, cello, the collection includes works by contemporary composers Joan Tower, Russell Platt, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Judith Weir. “This album… Read More

In her new book, From Dixie to Rocky Top, published by Vanderbilt University Press, Carrie Tipton shares the surprisingly complex stories behind some of the iconic collegiate fight songs that we all know; a history that encompasses class, race, gender, and regional identity. In a recent interview with literary… Read More

Malcolm Matthews The musical artistry of Malcolm Matthews will be on full display in his Saturday, October 28 recital event, 8:00 p.m., in Turner Recital Hall. Performing on Blair’s resident Dobson organ and his own personal harpsichord, Matthews has prepared a special program that includes works by Bruhns, Hanff, Bach,… Read More

Kathryn Huether An essay by Kathryn Huether, visiting assistant professor of musicology, has been published in the online educational journal Music and the Holocaust. “Heiling or Holding? Jojo Rabbit (2019), the Beatles, and Cognitive (Sonic) Dissonance” offers an introspective insight into the coupling of visual and musical symbolism, focusing… Read More

The Music of Ned Rorem As a kickoff for LGBTQI+ History Month, the Blair School of Music faculty will present a concert of works written by and for composer and author Ned Rorem, Tuesday, October 3, 8:00 p.m., in Turner Recital Hall. Known for both his breadth of output for… Read More

Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery was warmly welcomed back to Blair School of Music September 18-22 for a residency that included classroom instruction, a masterclass session, and lecture during Friday’s Student Recital Class. Five student chamber groups were personally coached as they performed works composed by Montgomery; those… Read More

Blair School of Music Associate Professor of Voice Tyler Nelson was in Sydney, Australia this month, where he conducted a voice masterclass at the Academy for Music and the Performing Arts (AMPA). Nelson also participated in several Vanderbilt student recruitment activities. We thank him for sharing these personal photos from… Read More

Two of Blair School of Music’s premier large ensembles will take the stage this week. The Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, conducted by Thomas Verrier, associate professor of conducting, will open its fall performance season on Friday, September 22, with Symphonic Songs. The program will feature a guest appearance by… Read More

International Jazz Composers’ Symposium   Blair School of Music will host the sixth International Jazz Composers’ Symposium, May 16-18, 2024. Presented by the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC), the conference provides a forum that unites jazz composers of all ages and nationalities in an informal exchange of… Read More

Raheleh Filsoofi has been named one of 15 recipients of the prestigious 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellowship, awarded to artists working in the fields of painting, sculpture, installation and land art. She will receive an unrestricted $60,000 grant, to be disbursed over five years. Filsoofi is assistant professor in ceramics at… Read More

Florence Price: A Celebration Florence Price: A Celebration, a multi-event music festival, will pay tribute to the life, music, and enduring legacy of a woman who broke barriers of race and gender in classical music. Taking place at venues across Nashville October 3 through November 14, the series is produced… Read More

Students, faculty, and deans gathered recently with Malcolm Matthews, adjunct artist teacher of organ and harpsichord, to celebrate the installation of Blair’s new practice organ, a 10-rank mechanical instrument built by Austrian builder Gregor Hradetzky. Originally constructed for a home in Arizona, the organ was later used as a liturgical… Read More

Raheleh Filsoofi Raheleh Filsoofi has been awarded a Tennessee Art Commission Grant for her project, “The Resonance of the Lands: Finding Identity and Place in Tennessee Through Clay, Music, and Community.” The program involves mapping and extracting clay from various locations across the city to create 25 clay instruments, taking… Read More

We’re excited to share photos from the groundbreaking Banding Together United States / Cuba collaborative orchestra festival in Cuba. Directed by Blair’s Thomas Verrier, the finale performance in Havana on July 21 featured a concert band comprised of 40 Cuban musicians from the Centro Nacional de la Musica de Concierto,… Read More

Molly Herron Molly Herron will be in New York next week for the July 25 premiere of her new orchestral work, “Spin, Span, Spun,” which will be performed by Orchestra of St. Luke’s at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, conducted by Brad Lubman. Herron is one of three composers… Read More

Kathryn Huether   Kathryn Huether will join the Blair faculty as a visiting assistant professor of musicology in fall 2023. She is a classically trained violinist who received her Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Minnesota in 2021, followed by a year as a postdoctoral fellow. She just completed… Read More

Thomas Verrier leads a rehearsal in Colombia during the 2022 Banding Together event. Thomas E. Verrier will lead a Vanderbilt group to Cuba this week for the third rendition of the groundbreaking collaborative music project, Banding Together: La Orquesta CubanAmerican de Vientos (“The Cuban American Wind Orchestra”). Funded by a… Read More

Dr. Nathan Cheung Nathan Cheung will join the Blair School of Music as an instructor of collaboration in fall 2023. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Cheung is known for his versatility as a soloist, collaborator, composer, and improviser. These roles are fueled by a life-long passion to… Read More

Russell Platt(photo: Alejandro Otero)Russell Platt, Adjunct Associate Professor of Music, has been awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship in composition from the Tennessee Arts Commission. “I am grateful to have been awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship,” said Platt. “I have been living and composing in Tennessee and at Vanderbilt… Read More

Mat Britain, Adjunct Instructor of Steel Drums, led a group of 14 adult students from Vanderbilt’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institue (OLLI) to the island of Saint Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean for a 10-day Steel Band Workshop in May, where he taught alongside world renowned steel pan performer/educator/composer Andy Narell. Read More

The annual cohort of the Vanderbilt Choral Scholars is in Leeds and Liverpool from May 16-27, singing performances and services at Leeds Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Led by Tucker Biddlecombe, these are Immersion Vanderbilt experiences in which students perform the choral concert repertory they study at the Blair… Read More

Dr. Bethany Wiese will join Blair School of Music as Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium in fall 2023. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Dr. Wiese most recently served as Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Appalachian State University (Boone, North Carolina) and spent two years as a… Read More