Blair School Of Music

Lauren Urquhart, photo by Steve Green For the second year in a row, Blair undergraduates won national honors competing against both undergraduate and graduate students at the 2017–18 Music Teachers National Association annual competition March 17–21 in Orlando, Florida. To compete at nationals, musicians have already won their state… Read More

As music director for the world tour of Phantom of the Opera from 2012 to 2016–and as associate music supervisor for seven international companies of the production–Stan Tucker, BMus’73, has felt the whoosh of the show’s iconic falling chandelier hundreds of times as it landed inches from his head. Photo… 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 power of hope—and a dark history—come to life through violin project Some say the violin is the instrument that most closely imitates the human voice. In March, 22 violins, most of which were played by Jewish musicians interned in concentration camps during the Holocaust, will arrive in… Read More

Costa Rica native Jose Sibaja, associate professor of trumpet, photo by Susan Urmy Building connections with Latin American musicians has been a major focus for the Blair School’s Thomas Verrier since first traveling to Central America in 2009. Now he and a group of like-minded Blair faculty members… Read More

Will the Count be caught cheating? Will Cherubino really be voted off? And who, exactly, will marry Figaro? Vanderbilt Opera Theatre cast members were filmed by students from the Department of Cinema and Media Arts for webisodes to preface VOT’s Marriage of Figaro, produced at Blair in November as a… Read More

Michael Kurek, associate professor of composition, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Album chart this summer with The Sea Knows, an album that continues his transition to more traditionally melodious music. The Sea Knows, on the Navona label, features a lush, gorgeous sound in the traditional… Read More

James Berkenstock (top right) and his wife, Jean, co-founded the Midsummer’s Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin, dedicated to the chamber repertoire. (Courtesy Midsummer’s Music Festival) Some people believe the life of a musician is nomadic, traveling the world and playing in all kinds of venues. However, James… Read More

Recently, Berger graduated from Massachusetts-based Hebrew College, where she was ordained a rabbi–cantor—the school’s first, and one of only a handful in the country. 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

Sabrina Bradford (violin), Antonia Rohlfing (piano) and Blake Kitayama (cello) rehearse their chamber music piece at the Blair School. Photo by Anne Rayner Musicians learn not only how to play an instrument, but how to play in a group, be it a full orchestra or a quartet. Learning to… Read More

Richard Kogan, M.D., who is both a psychiatrist and a concert pianist, conducted two performances recently as the 2017 Leonard Visiting Scholar, sponsored by the Department of Medicine and the Blair School of Music. Read More

His piano performances have been reviewed by The New York Times, which praised his "exquisite playing," and by The Boston Globe, which wrote, "Kogan has somehow managed to excel at the world's two most demanding professions." Read More

The Blair School of Music opened its concert season with numerous premiere performances this fall, including several world premieres of works specifically commissioned for Blair faculty. Read More

Are you ready for some football and the Vanderbilt alma mater with a Nashville twist? Our 2016 public service announcement, featuring more than 100 students and the expertise of the Blair School of Music, will be part of the TV telecast as Vanderbilt hosts South Carolina Sept. 1. Read More

A tenor who studied with Metropolitan Opera star John Alexander and currently studies with Robert White of Juilliard, Rich Miller is in his sixth year as president of the Metropolitan Opera Guild and is an advisory director of the Metropolitan Opera Association. As a Blair parent and member of the Vanderbilt Parents Leadership Committee and the Parents and Family Advisory Board, he and his wife, Carol, have made it possible for the Blair and Vanderbilt communities to access live streaming of the Met through a subscription service. Read More

Want to watch a live concert at Blair? Many student and faculty concerts now are streamed live from Ingram Hall, Steve & Judy Turner Recital Hall, and the Choral Rehearsal Hall from Blair’s live-streaming page at vu.edu/blair-stream. The performances are not archived. Read More

Jeff Coffin and Ryan Middagh work with the Blair Big Band Local music industry fuels expansion of program Nashville may be best known for country music, but the moniker “Music City” most accurately reflects the proliferation of stellar musicians in town who play all types of music. At Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, Ryan Middagh, director… Read More

Blair students know they’ll be majoring in music—often in addition to other disciplines—but frequently they choose Vanderbilt for the other social and academic opportunities the university offers that a traditional music conservatory cannot. This means Blair students are among the busiest on campus, continuing their intense focus on music while juggling the demands of other classes. Read More

Vanderbilt alumni are making a splash on Broadway, as evidenced by several recent graduates currently working both behind the scenes and in front of the lights in New York City productions. Read More