Alumni

Rose Rutledge, the New York-based rogue flutist, producer, and Blair School of Music alumna (BM’06), will bring her Late Blooming project to Brooklyn Art Haus on October 1, 2025. The program, Loops and Light: Electro-Acoustic Explorers, pairs her lush “flutescapes” of layered flute choirs, vocal loops,… Read More

Blake-Anthony Johnson Blair School of Music alumnus Blake-Anthony Johnson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation (NOJHFF). A nationally recognized leader in music and cultural advocacy, Johnson has previously worked as a civic leader, professional musician, and arts innovator, most recently… 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

Cabrini, with a score composed by Gene Back, will release worldwide on March 8. An upcoming motion picture, Cabrini, features a score composed by Blair School of Music alumnus Gene Back, BMus’06. Coming to theatres on March 8, International Women’s Day, Cabrini was directed by the award-winning Alejandro Monteverde,… Read More

Name: Jonathan Chu Blair major: Violin performance, with second major in economics Year of graduation: 2003 Where you live now: St. Louis, Mo. Profession: Violist with the St. Louis Symphony What does a typical day look like in your career? I play in the St. Read More

Name: Charlotte Ulrich Blair major: Vocal Performance Year of graduation: 2015 Where you live now: Nashville Profession: IQ Talent Partners, a Nashville-based tech recruiting company founded by two Vanderbilt graduates (www.iqtalentpartners.com) What does a typical day look like in your career? I like what… Read More

Katrina Lenk, Jonathan Raviv and Tony Shalhoub in “The Band’s Visit.” The Band’s Visit, a musical about an Egyptian orchestra stuck for a night in a remote Israeli town, swept the Tony Awards on June 10, winning 10 awards including Best Musical. The show’s small cast, which features Katrina Lenk… Read More

Name: Andy Villemez Blair Major/VU: Piano Performance Year of Graduation: 2010 Where you live now: Cincinnati, Ohio Profession: Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Currently: Gave a presentation at the 2019 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy titled… Read More

Name: Alicia Enstrom Blair Major/VU: Violin Performance/minor in HOD with emphasis in Leadership Year of Graduation: 2009 (She was slated to graduate in 2006, but took a break to pursue an opportunity to tour with international violin troupe Barrage.) Where you live now: Nashville What have… Read More

Peter Cain (photo by Scott Suchman) Name: Peter Cain Blair Major/VU: Clarinet Performance Year of Graduation: 2007 Where you live now: Silver Spring, Md. (suburb of Washington D.C.) What does a typical day look like in your career with the National Symphony Orchestra? I’ll have four… Read More

Name: Blake-Anthony Johnson Blair Major/VU: Cello Performance Year of Graduation: 2012 Where you live now: Miami Beach, Fla. What does a typical day look like in your career? That’s really hard to answer! Playing in Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra rehearsals three to five times a week,… Read More

Name: Michael Rinne Blair Major/VU: Double Bass performance Year of Graduation : 2010 Where you live now: Nashville Profession: Bassist and producer Most recently: On tour with Miranda Lambert Assistant Director of Admissions Molly Jewell had the pleasure of catching up with Blair… Read More

Three musicologists affiliated with the Blair School of Music received honors at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Society for American Music held in Cambridge, MA, March 9-13. Dale Cockrell, Professor of Musicology (Emeritus), received the Lifetime Achievement Award “in recognition of his pioneering… Read More

Recently, we had the pleasure of chatting with Blair graduate Miriam Sherk, and listening with amazement to her day-to-day schedule and accomplishments as a music therapist. It was fascinating to hear how much of a role music plays in her work, in her ability to do… Read More

We enjoyed spending an afternoon catching up with Blair School of Music alumna Emily Nelson, B.Mus. ’10. She talked about how Blair helped shape her as a person and a musician, and how Vanderbilt as a whole helped her discover what she wanted to do with her… Read More

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Blair School alumna Sarah Williams, B.Mus. ’06, and learning about her post-Vanderbilt music career. As a piano teacher, performing pianist and singer-songwriter, Williams’ days are a balancing act between creativity, efficient practice and time management. We asked her… Read More

Monday, December 1 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Mat Britain, director Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Vanderbilt Steel Bands program with a musical trip to the beach! Let the Vanderbilt Steel Bands take you on an island cruise — calypso, reggae, soca, and maybe even a… Read More

Blair alumna Shannon Thomas, currently visiting assistant professor of violin at Florida State University, returns to campus to present an exciting recital with Frank Huang, assistant professor of piano at Miami University. The program includes Mozart’s Sonata in G major, K. 301; Debussy’s final work, his Sonata… Read More

To help him celebrate more than 50 years of teaching at the Blair School of Music, current and former piano students of Roland Schneller will perform in concert in his honor. All of these artists were once precollege students at Blair Academy/Blair School of Music. The concert… Read More

Nashville Sinfonietta Dean Whiteside, director Saturday, August 30 7 p.m., Ingram Hall The Nashville Sinfonietta brings together Blair School musicians and their Nashville Symphony colleagues, under the baton of Blair alumnus and acclaimed conductor Dean Whiteside. This program consists of famous concertos through the… Read More

Olivia Palazzolo, age 17, and Blair alumna Dana Kelley, B.Mus. ’12, depart for the Primrose International Viola Competition on Saturday June 7. They are two of just 30 violists ages 15-29 selected to compete in the live rounds of the competition. Their fellow quarter-finalists are from Australia, Canada, China, France,… Read More

Jonathan Chu, who graduated from Blair in 2003 with a double-major in violin performance and economics, was one of three new violist appointments announced May 22 by the St. Louis Symphony. Chu is married to the symphony’s principal violist, Beth Guterman Chu, making them the seventh married couple in the… Read More

Roo George-Warren (Susan Urmy/Vanderbilt University) The Office of Honor Scholarships is pleased to announce that DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren, a Class of 2014 voice and music composition major at Blair School of Music, is one of 40 students in the nation to… Read More

2014 Lotte Lenya Competition judges and winners (L to R): Rob Berman, Judy Kaye, James Robinson, Arlo Hill, Natalie Ballenger, Ben Edquist. Photo courtesy of the Kurt Weill Foundation. Ben Edquist, B.Mus. ’13, won the $15,000 first prize in the finals of the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition,… Read More

Photo courtesy of Evan Mack Evan Mack, B.Mus. ’03, is the recipient of one of the newest awards presented by the Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Directors — the Young Alumni Professional Achievement Award. The Young Alumni Professional Achievement Award honors an alumnus/a age 40 or younger,… Read More

What can you do with a Blair degree? Ask Brian Biederman. The 2010 Blair School graduate, now a middle school music teacher in Nashville, is featured on the Huffington Post for his Littlestone Music Academy, a summer music program he launched this summer at Montgomery Bell Academy. Read… Read More