Composition & Theory
About the Composition & Theory Department
Department chair: Michael Slayton
The Composition/Theory program seeks to equip students with the creative, technical and critical mechanisms central to developing their artistic and intellectual lives as scholars.
Working closely with faculty, composition students at Blair enjoy a freedom of exploration in a variety of styles, working to create a diverse portfolio of compositions. Student composers have numerous opportunities to hear their music performed each year, culminating with a full-length portrait recital during the senior year.
Capitalizing on Blair's integral role in the cultural and intellectual life of one of America's premier universities, The Composition & Theory program also develops opportunities afforded by access to Vanderbilt's excellent musical and non-musical course offerings, encouraging students to understand how their own music relates to a host of other disciplines, such as art, history, literature, philosophy, and the sciences.
A guiding principle of Blair's program in Composition & Theory is that both the art and craft of composing are strengthened in developing a relationship between personal growth and the vast network of ideas and experiences available to students in the 21st century.
The Musicianship Program
Director: Marianne Ploger
Increasingly, musicians are called upon to perform in diverse styles and genres, including music of the classic western tradition, jazz, popular and world music. To satisfy these demands, we at the Blair School are committed to providing students with the practical skills they will need to effectively perform in this eclectic environment.
Our musicianship program is designed to ensure that students systematically develop technical aural skills including pitch, interval and rhythm recognition, scale and mode identification, chord identification, et cetera. Additionally, students gain insight into how to augment musical communication and expression through the implementation of these skills.
Based upon teaching methods developed by Marianne Ploger since 1976, Blair musicianship courses focus on developing fluency in all of these areas.
Learn more about the Musicianship Program and register for 2019 Musicianship Intensives
Faculty
 | Michael Slayton Associate Professor of Composition and Theory; Chair of Composition & Theory Department | Email Website (615) 322-7673 2107 Blair |
 | Emelyne M. Bingham Senior Lecturer in the Teaching of Music | Email 615-322-4924 1189 Blair |
 | Paul Deakin Senior Lecturer in Music Theory | Email 615-322-5825 3104 Blair |
 | Michael Kurek Associate Professor of Composition | Email Website 615-322-7667 2113 Blair |
| Stanley B. Link Associate Professor of the Composition, Philosophy and Analysis of Music | Email 615-322-4920 2106 Blair | |
 | Joshua McGuire Senior Lecturer in Musicianship; Director of Faculty Affairs | Email Website (615) 322-6891 2121 Blair |
 | Marianne Ploger Associate Professor of Music Perception and Cognition; Director of the Musicianship Program | Email (615) 343-9065 2110 Blair |
 | Michael Alec Rose Associate Professor of Composition | Email Website 615-322-5817 2102 Blair |
 | Frederick Sienkiewicz Adjunct Assistant Professor of Musicianship | Email Website 615-322-8826 Blair 1193 |
 | Carl F. Smith Jr. Senior Lecturer in Music Composition and Theory; Coordinator of Music as a Second Major | Email (615) 322-4912 3114 Blair |
 | David Binns Williams Senior Lecturer in Musicianship and Choral Studies Director of the Vanderbilt Concert Choir; Director of the Vanderbilt Community Chorus | Email (615) 322-7164 3157 Blair |