Jazz

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

Charles Schmitt with Dean Melissa Rose Charles Thomas Schmitt, from Maitland, Florida, is this year’s Founder’s Medalist for Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. Schmitt majored in trumpet performance with a concentration in jazz studies. As a member of several Blair jazz ensembles, he has performed at some of Nashville’s… Read More

Colombia-bound Blair students Nate Spratford, saxophone; Patrick Kenny, guitar; Gabe Barnard, bass; and Miles Buchmann, drums. A quartet of Blair jazz students, program director Ryan Middagh, and bass instructor Rob Linton will embark on a performance and educational tour of Colombia June 9-23. The schedule will include seven… Read More

The Blair Big Band has been honored with its 13th DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award. The Blair School of Music jazz program has been honored with its 13th DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award in an announcement released today. The Blair Big Band is a 2024 winner in the Undergraduate… Read More

Tickets are on sale now for three concert events during the 2024 International Jazz Symposium hosted at Blair School of Music. Blair School of Music will host the 2024 International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) Symposium May 16-18. The three-day event will include three stellar guest artist… Read More

The Blair Big Band will present a collaborative concert, Solidarity, on February 23. The award-winning Blair Big Band, directed by Ryan Middagh, will present a special concert event on Friday, February 23, entitled Solidarity: An Evening of Creative Collaborations. The performance will feature Blair School of Music students, faculty,… Read More

Update: This event is now sold out. If you would like to be on a waiting list, please click here. Blair School of Music will welcome Cécile McLorin Salvant and pianist Sullivan Fortner to Ingram Hall on Friday, January 12, 2024, 8:00 p.m. A three-time Grammy Award winner… 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

Trombonist Roland Barber will join the faculty of the Blair School of Music in January 2017 as Adjunct Associate Professor of Trombone and Jazz Studies, teaching trombone, jazz brass and jazz improvisation. One-half of longtime Nashville-based jazz duo The Barber Brothers, Barber has also performed with an… Read More

Felix Pastorius, acclaimed jazz bassist, member of the Yellowjackets and Hipster Assassins and son of late jazz legend Jaco Pastorius, will perform with the Blair Big Band and Blair Jazz Choir on their season-ending concert, 8 p.m. Dec. 4 in Ingram Hall. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, the newest… Read More

The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally acclaimed trumpeter Jose Sibaja as Associate Professor of Trumpet. He will join the faculty in August 2016. “I’m incredibly excited to join the Blair School of Music,” said Sibaja, “an institution… Read More

MASTER CLASS Dave Liebman, saxophone Thursday, February 5 2 p.m., Ingram Hall Liebman, once a member of Miles Davis’ band and a formidable performer in his own right, conducts master classes with Blair’s saxophone students. Participation in the class is limited to Blair students… Read More

FACULTY RECITAL Blair’s Jazz Department Friday, March 27 8 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall The Vanderbilt Jazz Faculty — Bruce Dudley, Liz Johnson, Jerry Kimbrough, Ryan Middagh, Derrek Philips and Roger Spencer — will present a diverse recital of music ranging from the Great American Songbook… 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

Photo by Jimmy Katz The Blair School is pleased to partner with contemporary art space OZ Nashville to host a master class with acclaimed jazz pianist Vijay Iyer. Iyer performs at OZ Nov. 8-9, and while he’s in town he comes to Blair to conduct… Read More

Nashville Jazz Orchestra Saturday, October 11 8 p.m., Ingram Hall Jim Williamson, director Nashville Jazz Orchestra’s traditional October salute to Latin History Month will be a hot and spicy program of music and dance in tribute to our Latin heritage. Sabor y sabroso! *TICKETED EVENT* Tickets: $20 adults; $15… Read More

Photo by Kevin Schlatt Sunday, September 14 3 p.m., Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall Nashville Jazz Workshop presents this year’s final installment of Jazz on the Move, its popular jazz performance and education series, with lectures and performances that highlight major figures and periods in… Read More

On February 18, the Blair School lost our beloved Big Band director and jazz instructor Billy Adair. Adair’s impact and influence on our students, faculty and community can not be overstated. He was mentor and musician, faculty and friend. In celebration of Adair’s life, a special tribute… Read More

The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University seeks a full-time senior lecturer in jazz, to begin in Fall 2014. Duties include coordinating the jazz studies area, directing the Big Band, teaching courses in improvisation, jazz chord theory, jazz styles for teacher-education students, and possibly other teaching responsibilities as appropriate. Read More

  February 18, 2014 Media contacts: Kristin Whittlesey (615) 322-7656 kristin.whittlesey@vanderbilt.edu Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu William “Billy” Adair, a teacher, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and backbone of the jazz program at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, has died. He was 66. Adair,… Read More