Blair Concert Series

Trumpeter Jens Lindemann is hailed as one of the most celebrated soloists in his instrument’s history and was recently named “International Brass Personality of the Year” (Brass Herald). He has played in every major concert venue in the world, from the Philharmonics of New York, Los Angeles,… Read More

Sunday, May 17 7 p.m., Ingram Hall Philharmonia Carol Nies, director Our newest youth orchestra presents its season-ending concert! Presented with gratitude to the Valere Blair Potter Trust for its generous support of the Blair School… Read More

Sunday, May 10 2 p.m., Ingram Hall Blair Children’s Choruses Tucker Biddlecombe and Mary Biddlecombe, directors Featuring the Blair Children’s Concert Choir, Young Men’s Chorus, Chorale, Blair Choristers, Nashville Boychoir, and Training Choir. Presented with gratitude to the Valere Blair Potter Trust for its generous… Read More

Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23 6 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Saturday, April 25 5 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Blair Precollege Program Scholarship Recitals Blair’s finest precollege students present a varied program of solo works for strings, brass, woodwinds, piano,… Read More

TICKET UPDATE: Please note new ticket prices below. TICKETED EVENT Saturday, April 25 8 p.m. Ingram Hall Nashville Jazz Orchestra Jim Williamson, director Five-time Grammy-winning bassist Victor Wooten joins the NJO for its final Blair School concert of the season. Tickets: $25 adults; $20… Read More

Suzuki Cello Graduation and Festival Concert Anne WIliams and Kirsten Cassel Greer, directors Saturday, April 25 1 p.m., Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall… Read More

Vanderbilt Community Chorus Saturday, December 13 8 p.m., Ingram Hall David Binns Williams, director The Vanderbilt Community Chorus celebrates its 15th season with a holiday concert featuring traditional and contemporary works by J.S. Bach, Randall Thompson, John Rutter, Franz Biebl and others. Read More

State of the Word Saturday, December 6 7 p.m., Ingram Hall TICKETED EVENT The Blair School of Music and the Nashville Public Library welcome the Seventh Annual State of the Word, featuring the region’s top college and high school writers, poets, emcees and spoken-word artists. On… Read More

Friday, January 16 8:30 p.m. Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Faculty Recital Philip Dikeman, flute and Melissa Rose, piano “Phlutings with Philip” Dikeman and Rose present a varied program include staples of the flute repertoire as well as some hidden… Read More

Saturday, April 25 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Our best precollege chamber groups wrap up the semester with an exciting ensemble performance. Read More

Tuesday, December 2 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Marian Shaffer, director Nine harps on stage at the same time? A surfeit of sweet sounds from our superb student harpists. Read More

Wednesday, December 3 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Gyane Kwame Ahima, director Vanderbilt’s acclaimed African drum and dance ensemble provides adventure in rhythm, movement and music. Take a few hours and escape to another land!… Read More

Wednesday, December 3 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall A musical potpourri for a mixture of chamber ensembles, including string, woodwind and brass instruments. Blair collegiate students perform familiar masterworks as well as rare and new chamber music gems. Read More

Thursday, December 4 8 p.m., Ingram Hall TICKETED EVENT Ryan Middagh, director of Blair Big Band Jim Williamson, director of Nashville Jazz Orchestra A winter jazz showcase combining the talents of our own Blair Big Band with resident professional ensemble the Nashville… Read More

Tuesday, December 9 7:30 p.m., Ingram Hall Craig Madole director of Nashville Youth Repertory Orchestra Celeste Holbrook Tuten director of Youth Strings Orchestras and Reading Orchestra… Read More

Blair Precollege Scholarship Recitals Wednesday, December 10 – 6 p.m. Thursday, December 11 – 6 p.m. Saturday, December 13 – 5 p.m. Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Our best high school performers present three varied programs of solo pieces. Strings, piano, brass and woodwinds perform works that… Read More

Guest Artist Residency Jose Sibaja, trumpet Monday, February 9 2:15-3:15 p.m. Brass chamber music coaching, location TBD Tuesday, February 10 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Work with the Blair Big Band, Instrumental Rehearsal Hall 1:10-2:25 p.m. Trumpet master class, Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall… 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

Curb Youth Symphony Carol Nies, director Monday, March 9 8 p.m., Ingram Hall The Curb Youth Symphony performs works by Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Rossini, with featured soloists Chloe Harvel, Jenna Mangum and Kaili Wang on violin and David Bender on cello. Read More

Monday, May 4 7:30 p.m., Ingram Hall Curb Youth Symphony Carol Nies, director Presented with gratitude to the Valere Blair Potter Trust for its generous support of the Blair School… Read More

NOTE: This concert was originally scheduled for February 17, but was postponed due to severe winter weather. Tickets purchased for the original date will be honored. TICKETED EVENT Wednesday, May 6 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall ALIAS Chamber Ensemble Daniel Elder, The Ties… Read More

Saturday, May 9 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Vanderbilt Community Chorus David Binns Williams, director The Vanderbilt Community Chorus celebrates its 15th anniversary with a special retrospective program showcasing the choir’s favorite musical moments since its founding in 2000. The choir returns… Read More

Blair Harp Ensemble Marian Shaffer, director Thursday, April 2 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Blair’s harp students take center stage for an enchanting musical evening showcasing the “sweetest of strings.”… Read More

SIGNATURE SERIES Blair Brass Quintet Monday, April 6 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall The quintet performs a diverse brass program including George Frideric Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Jörg Widmann’s Three Canzoni, Charles Whittenberg’s Little Fantasy on a Bach… Read More

Vanderbilt Steel Bands Mat Britain, director Tuesday, April 7 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Kick your summer off with the sunny island sounds of the Vanderbilt Steel Bands. Music from Trinidad and other warm-water locales is sure to put you in a Caribbean state of mind. Read More

Living Sounds Wednesday, April 8 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall New works by Blair’s composition majors, performed by their peers. Always an engaging and highly eclectic evening of music. Come hear the next generation of classical composition! The April 8 program includes: That is the Question,… Read More

Master Class Michael Chertock, piano Thursday, April 9 2:45-5 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Pianist Michael Chertock of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, an highly acclaimed and prolific orchestral soloist and Telarc recording artist, conducts master classes with Blair’s piano students. Participation in the… Read More

TICKETED EVENT Blair Big Band Ryan Middagh, director with Jeff Coffin and introducing The Nashville Jazz Composers Collective Thursday, April 9 8 p.m., Ingram Hall The Blair Big Band closes its concert season with Grammy-winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Coffin is an internationally… Read More

Vanderbilt University Orchestra Robin Fountain, conductor Friday, April 10 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Violinist Elizabeth Drabkin, pianist Marissa Uchimura and percussionist Liam Underwood, the winners of the 2015 Vanderbilt Concerto Competition, perform as featured soloists with the Vanderbilt University Orchestra. Read More

Sankofa Vanderbilt’s African Drumming and Dance Ensemble Gyane Kwame Ahima, director Saturday, April 11 8, Ingram Hall Vanderbilt’s acclaimed African drum and dance ensemble is always a rollicking good time. Get some rhythm in your weekend!… Read More

FACULTY RECITAL Christina McGann, violin, and Jingwen Tu, piano Monday, April 13 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Violinist Christina McGann makes her Blair School concert debut with guest pianist Jingwen Tu for a delightful duet program including Arnold Schöenberg’s Fantasy for Violin… Read More

Vanderbilt Symphonic Choir and Vanderbilt Oratorio Orchestra Tucker Biddlecombe, conductor Tuesday, April 14 8:00 p.m., Ingram Hall Creation, by Franz Joseph Haydn With Amy Jarman, soprano, Thomas Mulder (Blair ’12), tenor, and Jonathan Retzlaff, lyric baritone In the final student ensemble performance of… Read More

David GortonGuest and Faculty Composers Recital David Gorton, Michael Zev Gordon, Stan Link and Michael Slayton   Wednesday, April 15 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Blair composition professors Stan Link and Michael Slayton team up with colleagues from the… Read More

Blair Student Chamber Ensembles Thursday, April 16 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall A musical potpourri for a mixture of chamber ensembles, including string, woodwind, and brass instruments. Blair collegiate students perform familiar masterworks as well as rare and new chamber music gems. Read More

SIGNATURE SERIES Craig Nies, piano, and Carolyn Huebl, violin Friday, April 17 8 p.m., Ingram Hall The Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin Pianist Nies and violinist Huebl, over the course of four evenings throughout the 2014-15 concert season, have performed W.A. Mozart’s entire… Read More

Wednesday, November 12 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Toru Takemitsu, and then I knew twas wind for harp, viola and flute Johann Schmeltzer, Sonata for violin and continuo Ernest Bloch, Nocturnes for piano trio Kevin Volans, Hunting, Gathering for… Read More

VORTEX percussion Michael Holland, artistic director Sunday, November 9 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Bells, Whistles and a Musical Yard Sale Experience some of the most playful and engaging music for percussion written in the last 25 years. VORTEX opens… Read More

Guest Artist: Reid Alexander, piano Thursday, October 30 4 p.m., Alumni Hall – Reading Room (Vanderbilt’s main campus) The Multimedia Side of Claude Debussy: Visual and Extra-Musical Inspirations Blair hosts its first-ever lecture and concert in the recently renovated Alumni Hall on Vanderbilt’s main… Read More

Saturday, November 1 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Cornelia Heard, Blair School of Music faculty member since 1982, was one of the first students to enroll at the Blair Academy of Music in the fall of 1964. To celebrate her milestone affiliation with… Read More

Sunday, November 2 7 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Six outstanding Blair piano students perform J.S. Bach’s six partitas, BWV 825-830. Originally composed for harpsichord and commonly referred to as the “German Suites,” they were the last set of harpsichord suites that Bach composed,… Read More

Vanderbilt University Orchestra and Vanderbilt Wind Symphony Photo courtesy of Noah Sheldon Friday, October 24 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Robin Fountain, director of Vanderbilt String Orchestra Thomas Verrier, director of Vanderbilt… Read More

Vanderbilt Chorale and Symphonic Choir Saturday, October 25 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Tucker Biddlecombe, director The Warp and Woof This joint choral concert will open with polychoral motets by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Heinrich Schütz, featuring Blair’s new Guitarri continuo organ. We’ll journey to… Read More

Signature Series: Craig Nies, piano, and Carolyn Huebl, violin Friday, September 5 Sunday, October 26 Sunday, March 29 Friday, April 17 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Free and Open to the Public The Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin Pianist Nies and violinist… Read More

Thursday, November 13 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Christopher and Bogaczova, faculty members at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, perform a program of works by Arnold Bax, Gabriel Fauré, Jacques Offenbach and Iannis Xenakis. Read More

Charles Ives 140th Birthday Concert Monday, October 20 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Blair students and faculty celebrate what would have been the 140th birthday of composer Charles Ives with an evening of piano and song. Pianists Melissa Rose, Jennifer McGuire, Ben Harris, Jack Coen, David Rodgers and Craig Nies… Read More

Wednesday, November 5 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall New works by Blair’s composition majors, performed by their peers. Always an engaging and highly eclectic evening of music. Come hear the next generation of classical composition!… 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

Vanderbilt Wind Symphony Thomas Verrier, conductor Wednesday, November 19 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Roads to Home The Wind Symphony finishes its fall season with a varied program that includes special guests and a world premiere. Charles Ives’ Old Home Days is guest-conducted by… Read More

Guest Artist: David Shifrin, clarinet, with Yevgeny Yontov, piano Photo by Tomoji Hirakata Wednesday, October 29 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall A dazzling evening of clarinet from a master of the instrument. The performance will include a duet with Blair clarinet professor Bil… Read More

Signature Series: Blair Woodwind Quintet Monday, October 13 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Philip Dikeman, flute, Bil Jackson, clarinet, Jared Hauser, oboe, Leslie Norton, horn, Peter Kolkay, bassoon The Blair Woodwind Quintet presents a program full of melody and lyricism, including a romantic gem by… Read More

Blakemore Trio Friday, October 10 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Amy Dorfman, piano, Carolyn Huebl, violin, Felix Wang, cello Goethe described chamber music as “(three) rational people conversing.” The Blakemore Trio pays homage to Franz Joseph Haydn, heralded as the creator of modern chamber music,… Read More

Photo by Jim McGuire Signature Series: Blair String Quartet Saturday, October 4 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Stephen Miahky and Cornelia Heard, violins, John Kochanowski, viola, Felix Wang, cello The Blair School of Music is pleased to present the Blair String quartet’s inaugural performance with… Read More

Vanderbilt University Orchestra Thursday, October 2 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Robin Fountain, director An orchestral evening with a Russian accent. The Vanderbilt Orchestra takes on three major Russian works: the overture from Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov’s 19th-century opera May Night; Rimski-Korsakov’s Cappricio Espagnole, which was based… Read More

Signature Series: John Johns, guitar with Carolyn Huebl, violin, Kathryn Plummer, viola, and Felix Wang, cello Thursday, September 11 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Guitarist Johns presents a colorful program of music by composers from Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Austria. Huebl, Plummer and Wang join… Read More

Signature Series: Blair Voices Saturday, September 6 7:30 p.m., Ingram Hall Gayle Shay, mezzo soprano, Ben Harris, piano, Jennifer McGuire, piano, Amy Jarman, soprano, Jonathan Retzlaff, lyric baritone Requesting the Pleasure of Your Company….Music from the Manor An evening of popular music from the first half… Read More

Photo by Alyson Levy Saturday, September 13 6 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Molly Barth, flute, and Dieter Hennings, guitar Grammy-winning flutist Barth, a professor at the University of Oregon, is a devoted champion of modern music, and specifically contemporary chamber music. She and… Read More

Sunday, September 28 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall For this concert, trombonist Jeremy Wilson had to dig deep. As he explains it, much of the recital repertoire for trombone is actually transcriptions of orchestra parts or material originally written for other instruments. The… Read More

Composer Richard Danielpour debuts piano etudes at Blair Composer Richard Danielpour A piano etude dedicated to another musician can tell a lot about the honoree. In the case of the C Major Etude by Richard Danielpour, the famed composer freely admits that the piece reflects great admiration… Read More