Blair Big Band

Lauded musician, composer, and educator Wadada Leo Smith will be at Vanderbilt University for a weeklong residency November 28 – December 1, which will include two musical performances and a special forum interview event. Read More

Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music’s Blair Big Band placed in the top four among elite college jazz orchestras from across the nation at the third annual Jack Rudin Jazz Championship. The event was held Jan. 14 and 15 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Read More

Vanderbilt Blair School of Music is among the winners of "DownBeat" magazine’s 45th annual Student Music Awards. For the first time in school history, the program received four awards in the same year, bringing its total number of awards from the magazine to nine over the past four years. Read More

Blair School of Music Senior Lecturer Ryan Middagh was awarded the 2019 Chancellor’s Cup by Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente in a surprise presentation during a Blair Big Band rehearsal on Oct. 15. Read More

Social status, unrequited love, marriage and madness are central themes of two upcoming chamber operas presented by Vanderbilt Opera Theatre and Vanderbilt University Orchestra. Read More

The Blair Big Band, Photo by Susan Urmy The Blair Big Band is the undergraduate collegiate winner in the category Large Jazz Ensemble in DownBeat magazine’s 42nd annual Student Music Awards, announced April 23. This is the Blair School of Music’s first award from DownBeat, which is widely considered the… Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music has been recognized by "DownBeat" magazine’s 42nd Annual Student Music Awards. The Blair Big Band was named best undergraduate large jazz ensemble. Read More

Such Sweet Thunder, the debut recording of the Blair Big Band, was released in March and includes Blair students and faculty, plus some of Nashville’s veteran players. Tracks include new compositions as well as standards such as “The Very Thought of You,” which features legendary Nashville pianist Beegie Adair. Read More

• The Blair Big Band, directed by Ryan Middagh, director of jazz studies, was invited to play the recent annual conference of the Jazz Education Network, the professional organization for jazz musicians and jazz educators, in New Orleans. The conference features the finest professional and educational jazz musicians and… Read More

The Blair Big Band, directed by Ryan Middagh, has been selected to play at the Jazz Education Network national conference. Read More

The Blair Big Band closes its concert season with Grammy-winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin April 9. Read More

The Blair Big Band, directed by Billy Adair, joins Blair resident group Nashville Jazz Orchestra, directed by Jim Williamson, for Winter Jazz, December 11, 2010, in Ingram Hall. Read More