The choral offerings at Vanderbilt University are designed to make a quality choral ensemble available to each Vanderbilt student. All Vanderbilt Choirs are open to both music and non-music majors, both for credit and not-for-credit. Scroll down to see the choral offerings at Vanderbilt.
Blair's Director of Choral Studies is Tucker Biddlecombe. He also serves as Chorus Director for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
Choral Offerings
Vanderbilt Chorale - MUSE 2120 [1.0 credit]
Director of Choral Activities: Tucker Biddlecombe
Meeting Times (Spring '24): MWF 1:25-2:15, T 4:15-5:05
Open by audition to any undergraduate Vanderbilt student (both music and non-music majors) who has completed at least one semester in a curricular choir. This select choir performs music in a variety of styles, and presents multiple formal concerts per semester. High levels of musicianship, preparation, and vocal flexibility are required.
Vanderbilt Chorale will be entirely re-auditioned for spring 2024. This ensemble will perform five concerts in the spring semester. They are as follows:
- Video Games Live with the Nashville Symphony, January 26 (Schermerhorn Symphony Center)
- Hanson Song for Democracy with the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, February 9 (Ingram)
- In Remembrance (including Fauré Requiem) March 23 (Turner) and 24 (Covenant Presbyterian Church)
- Invited performance at TnMEA Convention April 11 (Gaylord Opryland Resort)
- The Music of Lake Street Dive with Blair Big Band April 16 (Ingram)
Vanderbilt University Singers - MUSE 1020 [1.0 credit]
Director: Mary Biddlecombe
Meeting Times (Spring '24): TR 4:15pm-5:35pm
MUSE 1020 is open to any student (undergraduate or graduate) with a love for choral singing. Depending on the semester, this choir meets both as a large combined mixed choir as well as an SSAA ensemble called IRIS, and a TTBB ensemble called the Vanderbilt Glee Club. These classes will meet simultaneously TR 4:15-5:35. This is a non-auditioned chorus, however a hearing is required to place you in the right voice part once the semester begins. University Singers will perform three concerts in Spring '24:
- Hanson Song for Democracy with the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, February 9 (Ingram)
- Spring Choral Concert March 26 (Ingram)
- One community/campus outreach performance each for IRIS and Glee, TBD April
Audition Procedures
Vanderbilt Chorale auditions will be held during November during fall and March during spring - sign up at this link. Please note these auditions are blind, meaning they will be audio recorded and anonymous. The director will not know who is singing when evaluating and choosing the roster, so it is important that you understand how the audition will be run once your audition time begins. Audition procedures, study materials, sample audition track, and sample sight-reading can be found at this link.
Vanderbilt Choral Scholars
The Vanderbilt Choral Scholars Immersion program has created residencies for Vanderbilt choral students at Leeds Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral in the United Kingdom since 2022. These experiences allow students to perform the traditional choral concert repertory within the liturgical context for which it was written (chant, Byrd, Palestrina, Victoria, etc.) Our students sing side by side with the cathedral choirs during the weekday and weekend liturgies, and attend performances by some of the finest professional choral ensembles in Europe (The King's Singers, Sansara, The Sixteen). Qualified students also have a chance to conduct the English cathedral youth choirs, which are populated with students from high need urban areas. Read more about VCS here, and here.
Concert Dress
Option 1: Black tuxedo, black collared button-down shirt, white tuxedo shirt, standard sized black bow tie, black socks, black shoes
Option 2: Conservative, ankle-length black dress, black skirt (no slits), or black dress pants with long sleeved black blouse, closed-toe black shoes.
Option 3: Multiple variations available per meeting with instructor.
Chorale Only: Tunic provided. You must provide tuxedo bottoms or dress pants (no leggings or denim) with closed toed dress shoes.
Music in the Listening Place
The Vanderbilt Chorale released their first full-length album in February of 2018, entitled Music in the Listening Place. This album has been described as "a taster of the emotional highs and lows choral music can evoke in the listener" (Review Graveyard). The American Record Guide labeled this record as "a fine album, in part because of the intense performances of the students of the Vanderbilt Chorale" (American Record Guide). Click the playlist below to hear the album in its entirety, or download on Amazon, iTunes/Apple Music, or Spotify.