Blair School of Music

The Blair School of Music, located in Nashville, Tennessee, provides a conservatory-caliber undergraduate education in music performance, composition, or integrated music studies (theory and history) within the context of a major research university, Vanderbilt University. Blair also provides music lessons, classes and ensembles to over 800 precollege and adult students each semester. Blair is the youngest and smallest of Vanderbilt's ten constituent schools and colleges.

The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University
TypePrivate
Established1964
DeanMark Wait
Academic staff
60[1]
Undergraduates193[2]
Location
Nashville
,
TN
,
USA

History

While established in 1964, Blair did not initially offer undergraduate-level courses, instead focusing on pre-college music education as part of the then-independent Peabody College (Peabody is itself now part of Vanderbilt). Through the initiative of Chancellor Alexander Heard in 1981, Vanderbilt began offering undergraduate programs at Blair as part of a wider liberal arts curriculum. In 1986, Blair began awarding its own bachelor's degrees.[3]

Degree programs

The Blair School of Music confers the bachelor of music degree in music performance, in composition, in jazz studies, and in integrated studies. Also offered is the bachelor of musical arts degree. Unique among Vanderbilt's four undergraduate schools, Blair has no graduate students. However, in conjunction with Peabody College, Blair offers a five-year bachelor of music/master of education program in musical arts and teacher education.[4] The Blair School of Music is set apart from other similar undergraduate music programs, like those at Northwestern University, Rice University, and Carnegie Mellon University by offering degrees only to undergraduates, giving them the sole focus of the faculty.

Facilities

The Blair School of Music houses three main concert halls: Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall, the Choral Recital Hall, and the Martha Rivers Ingram Center for the Performing Arts. The Ingram Center is a 618-seat performance hall with full staging capability including orchestra pit, opera scene shop, loading dock, dressing rooms, and green rooms, set against a modern lobby with soaring ceilings and light-flooded floor-to-ceiling windows. The School of Music has private studios for the faculty members, numerous practice rooms with pianos for student use, and fully automated classrooms. There is a piano lab, keyboard computer lab, two SmartMusic rooms, a high-tech NightPro audio recording and an additional computer lab in the library.

Anne Potter Wilson Music Library

The Anne Potter Wilson Music Library is a division of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library system located in Blair. The collection, begun in 1947, was moved from Peabody College to its new and permanent home at Blair in the summer of 1985. Named to honor Anne Potter Wilson by the Vanderbilt Board of Trust in 1987, the 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) library holds more than 70,000 books, scores, sound and video recordings, and subscriptions to more than 150 journals. It is equipped with a seminar room, exceptional listening and viewing stations, and study facilities.

BMI Composer-in-Residence Program

The BMI Composer-in-Residence program, sponsored by Broadcast Music Inc., brings two visiting composers to Vanderbilt's campus every year. Each composer's three- to seven-day residency includes lectures, performances of the composer's works, and opportunities for interaction with students. Previous BMI composersin-residence include Robert Beaser, George Crumb, Michael Daugherty, Mario Davidovsky, Richard Danielpour, Lukas Foss, John Harbison, Karel Husa, Steven Mackey, Donald Martino, Cindy McTee, Bernard Rands, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, Michael Torke, and Joan Tower.

References
  1. "ReVU: Quick Facts about Vanderbilt". Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  2. "ReVU:Quick Facts about Vanderbilt". Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  3. "Blair: A Brief History". Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  4. "The Degree Program" (PDF). Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-04-17. Retrieved 2007-09-29.

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