Golden age of radio celebrated at “Your Hit Parade 1936″ concert

The Department of Music celebrated the golden age of radio with a special concert called “Your Hit Parade 1936″ Thursday night in Shamblin Theater. The Great American Songbook concert series is devoted to showcasing classic American tunes from specific eras. For this concert, the music department put together a recreation of a popular radio show from the 1930s that played the weekly top 15 songs. This show was the precursor to today’s American Top 40 music charts. Patricia Roberts, a music department adjunct professor, created this Great American Songbook show. “I always try to come up with a new way to present it each year that’s kind of exciting and different,” Roberts said. “I got the idea to do the ‘Your Hit Parade,’ which was an old-time radio show, and I just started looking at all different kinds of music, and I began to see that I really loved the music from 1936, so then I picked out enough music to do a whole program with it.” A small jazz trio — composed of  pianist Jeff Burnham, bassist Ike Harris and drummer Chris Nelson — provided the music for the evening. Music students came up to the front microphone to serenade the audience with the classic songs. Blake Farmer, news director and reporter for WPLN Nashville Public Radio, served as the evening’s MC. Farmer noted that as a radio personality, getting to host a 1930’s radio show was a huge joy. “When you’re in radio, this is sort of the era that everyone looks back to,” Farmer said. “This was literally when people crowded around the radio to listen...

Visible Voices brings contemporary pop hits to life

The Department of Music has added a new performance ensemble to the mix, providing students with a unique opportunity to sing some of their favorite songs. Visible Voices is an all-girls group that specializes in acappella arrangements of contemporary pop hits, jazz standards and Broadway show tunes. Jordan Smith, a senior music education major from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, formed the group in fall 2014. Smith leads the group as a student teacher with the help of Dr. Juliette Singler. “I wanted to provide an outlet for people who aren’t in the music department to just sing and also an outlet for people who are in the music department to sing something that’s not classical,” Smith said. Visible Voices covered a variety of pop music during their first semester, ranging from “Roar” by Katy Perry to “Respect” by Aretha Franklin. This semester, Smith said she will try to tap into the group and focus on their voices, and she plans on trying out some softer tunes, such as Regina Spektor’s “Fidelity.” “I think that this group has the potential to really just be a place where people can come and sing and be creative,” Smith said. Donnely Lewis, a freshman music education major from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, joined the ensemble because she participated in show choir during high school. “I thought it would be super cool, because it’s pop music and that’s what I like to sing on my own time,” Lewis said. “Show choir was crazy and I loved it, and I feel like this is as close as I’m going to get to it.” Lewis said she...