by Erin Turner | Jun 17, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The sounds of Bison Square ranged from children bowing their first note on a violin to professional musicians playing overtures and dances from composers all around the world Tuesday night. The Nashville Symphony visited Lipscomb for “Symphony Under the Stars” as a part of the free community concert series. John Lowry, executive director of Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center, said the last time the Nashville Symphony performed at Lipscomb was in 2010 with Martina McBride in Allen Arena. “If you remember back in 2010, Lipscomb was honored to serve as a host of the Nashville Symphony for many of their concerts as they were reacting and responding to the flood — they made their home,” Lowry said. “We’re excited to have them back.” Although he’s relatively new to Music City, Nashville Symphony conductor Vinay Parameswaran said that the Nashville Symphony has collaborated with Lipscomb many times before he joined, and that all of the community concerts are important to the symphony. “I really love doing these concerts,” Parameswaran said. “It’s fun for me and I know it’s fun for the orchestra. As someone who’s kind of new to Nashville, it’s cool — I get to see new people and different places.” Parameswaran said that many of the program attendees may be symphony subscribers, but the unique thing about the summer community concerts is that they reach a new audience. “For us, we’re able to reach thousands of people through community concerts like this,” Parameswaran said. Symphony Under the Stars even brought along some little musicians who visited the instrument petting zoo, a symphony education program that allows children to get their hands on instruments...
by Erin Turner | May 22, 2015 | News Slider
What has recently become its own school will also have its very own new contemporary music program. Lipscomb’s School of Music recently announced the expansion of its existing classical music offerings to include contemporary music undergraduate programs, which will dive into songwriting and music production. This charge first began after Lipscomb formed its College of Entertainment and the Arts that houses the new school. School of Music director Sally Reid said that the idea of having a College of Entertainment and the Arts, and even the School of Music, have been in the works for a while. “At some point the president [Lipscomb President Randy Lowry] intervened and said ‘this really sounds like a new college,'” Reid said. After the new college was formed, Lipscomb’s filmmaker-in-residence Steve Taylor had a connection that made the contemporary music program come to life. “Steve had this really good friend who was at a point in his career where he was looking to give back,” Reid said. Producer and singer-songwriter Charlie Peacock will serve as Lipscomb’s artist-in-residence for the contemporary music program. “I really think that we couldn’t launch out and do this without his guidance, because none of the faculty are trained in contemporary music or have any experience,” Reid said. “We needed new faculty, and we needed someone who understands the music industry.” And Peacock has demonstrated his understanding of the music industry ever since he started his career in the ’70s, producing hundreds of albums. He will lead the new program to become more integrated with Music City. “His vision is for it to be Nashville-centric in that it immerses the students in how business...
by Erin Turner | Apr 9, 2015 | News Slider
After several firsts, singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini visited the place where her country roots were nurtured. This former Lipscomb student headlined Student Government Association’s 2015 Spring Concert to a very familiar crowd Wednesday night in Shamblin Theater. “I always dreamed about being an artist and songwriter and doing it for a living, but did not know how to do it,” Ballerini said. But it didn’t take her long to figure out how, as she recently cracked the charts with her song “Love Me Like You Mean It” that debuted in November 2014. This Knoxville, Tennessee native moved to Music City to kick off her career when she was 15 years old, and she landed at Lipscomb several years later. “[Being at Lipscomb] was two of my favorite years of my entire life,” she said. “The whole time I would just go to school and then go to the writer’s round to co-write. I kept trying to do both at the same time until I found the right opportunity.” Just halfway through her sophomore year at Lipscomb, Ballerini signed a deal with Black River Publishing. Her career took off from there, as she debuted on one of country music’s most famous stages — the Grand Ole Opry. Ballerini said the last few months have been nothing but firsts. After hearing her own song on the radio, her music got in the hands of some of her biggest inspirations. “One of the craziest things that’s happening is people that I’m fans of are becoming friends and reaching out, and kind of speaking into my life and helping me,” she said. Most recently, this rising star...
by D'Nashia Jenkins | Mar 26, 2015 | News Slider
When she’s not in the classroom or studying for her next test, she’s laying down tracks in the recording studio or singing on stage. Freshman Abbi Scott’s love for music and school brought her to Music City to study public relations. She got her start in music at a very young age, though. Scott was influenced by the music her parents listened to — a mix of ’80s Southern rock. By the time she turned 14, she was singing professionally. Scott now performs on college campuses and venues in the area. Though Scott said a day in her life can be a challenge, juggling school and a music career, she manages to hold a 3.5 GPA. “When it comes to classes and music, I devote a lot of time to each,” Scott said. “I’m very driven, so I make sure my grades are up.” But when she’s not doing school work, she said she is writing a new song or doing sound checks for a concert. Recently, Scott made an appearance at Lipscomb’s Relay for Life event and the benefit concert for Libraries of Africa at Shamblin Theater. She said that during each performance she “feels invisible.” Scott said she hopes all her fans are impacted by her music. To have a close relationship with her fans, she interacts with them on social media. “I believe it’s extremely important to run my own social media strictly because it shows your fans that you are really engaged with them,” Scott said. Scott’s new single “Flying” will be released April 7, 2015. For more information on Scott and her music, her website can be found here. Photo courtesy...
by Erin Turner | Feb 18, 2015 | News Slider
Nashville’s wintry weather — that has disrupted classes and made it tough for many students and faculty to make it to campus — may continue into the weekend. Students returned to class Wednesday, Feb. 18, after two days of canceled classes, but a mixture of snow and ice is lingering on campus. And it’s not going to melt away on its own, with local TV meteorologists predicting temperatures to plummet into the negatives Wednesday night. Nashville hasn’t seen this much snow and ice since the largest snowfall of the century, when 7 inches of snow fell on Music City in January of 2003. Sure, some say this is the “sunny South,” but the Nashville area has had a few winter storms of epic proportions. The wintry mix the area received during this week reminded many Nashvillians of the brutal ice storm of February 1994, when electric transformers lighted the sky like lightning as they exploded. Tree limbs covered in heavy ice ripped down power lines. That ice storm left many Middle Tennessee residents without power and heat for more than two weeks. During that storm, many parts of Tennessee experienced more than 5 inches of rainfall, much of it frozen. “I remember we played Belmont the night that it started to snow,” said Kim Chaudoin, Assistant Vice President of University Communication and Marketing. “I lived in Murfreesboro at the time and commuted to Lipscomb for work. I tried to get home and had to leave my car along Tyne Boulevard. I walked back to my office and slept on my office floor that night.” And there have been other instances...
