by Mckenzi Harris | Aug 8, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
This year’s Live on the Green lineup is packed with artists, and it’s all FREE! Live on the Green is a festival put on each fall by Nashville radio station WRLT Lightning 100. The concert series takes place in Public Square Park — adjacent to the historic Metro Courthouse — beginning this Thursday, August 15. Other dates are August 22 and 29, as well as the rest of the long Labor Day weekend, August 30-September 1. Lipscomb’s very own Briston Maroney will be playing the 615 stage from 5:15-6 August 29. Ths festival has a mission of sustainability and organizers state “Live On The Green is committed to being Nashville’s premier environmentally-friendly music festival. Each year, work to further reduce our carbon footprint, (is) bringing us closer to our ultimate goal of operating as a completely waste-free, carbon-neutral event. We strive to incorporate sustainable practices in all facets of our music festival – ranging anywhere from using energy-efficient LED lights festival-wide and reusing banners, to selecting the green roof as the location to host the event.” Along with a wide range of music, the festival also has food and beverage vendors as well as merch and other local booths set up and VIP experiences for purchase. This year the festival has a page in the WRLT Lightning 100 Nashville app and can be found by clicking this link. In the app, you can create your own lineup and check out the vendors as well as purchase merch. Stay tuned for more Lumination coverage of the festival and former Lipscomb students on stage. Photo by Mckenzi Harris at Live on...
by Charissa Ricker | Apr 12, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
American Idol finalist and award-winning Gospel singer Colton Dixon performed with Cody Fry in Collins auditorium Wednesday night. The concert, presented by the College of Entertainment and the Arts, included the Lipscomb a Cappella Singers, the Chamber Orchestra and commercial music students throughout the performance. Music professor Ben Blasko has been friends with Dixon for several years and reached out to Dixon about the performance. Though Dixon said he would trust Blasko “with his life,” he said he was originally nervous about playing with the students. “If you have any of my records, they don’t sound anything like this, but that’s kind of the fun of music, right, you get to reimagine songs that were created in my head,” Dixon said. Blasko is not Dixon’s only tie to Lipscomb, he said he considered attending the university before his American Idol audition. The singer-songwriter auditioned for season 10 but didn’t make it to the top 25. Dixon came back the next year to support his sister, unexpectedly auditioned and made it to the top seven before getting voted off the show. “This music career has been quite a journey,” Dixon said. “It all started in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just down the road, and I actually had a scholarship to come to Lipscomb. I wound up not really going to college anyway so it doesn’t really matter.” Dixon quickly made a name for himself in the Gospel community, winning a Dove award in 2013 and 2015. But instead of playing all of his well-known songs during the concert, he chose to perform a song that didn’t make the cut on his original...
by Mckenzi Harris | Apr 11, 2019 | Galleries
Lipscomb University “Session Players” hosted former American Idol contestants Colton Dixon and special guest Cody Fry on Wednesday night in Collins Auditorium for an evening of music. Cody Fry opened the night performing with student musicians from the Session Players. Dr. Ben Blasko introduced Dixon and shared a few words of how his friendship with the musician began. Blasko shared how Dixon’s song “Through All of It” got him through many personal rough life events and how much the song meant to him. Dixon performed that song tonight, and Blasko said it was special to be able to direct the session players in that song. Dixon’s wife, Annie Dixon, also made a special appearance tonight during his performance of “Through All of It.” Dixon ended the concert around 8:30 p.m., noting that his house is full of “big Preds fans,” and he was going to get the audience home in time for the game. « ‹ of 2 ›...
by Erin Franklin | Sep 21, 2018 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb has brought on a number of changes this year, ranging from new academic department locations to a new outdoor patio outside the cafeteria. Additionally, several new faculty members have joined the Lipscomb staff. One of these new professors is Dr. Ben Blasko, who was recently named band director for the classical music department. Blasko was a music education major at a small college in his home state of Pennsylvania. He then completed his graduate coursework at the University of North Texas and eventually became director of bands at the University of Dubuque, before moving to Lipscomb this fall. In addition to his role at Lipscomb, he’s also a professional trumpet player and has done film work, notably studying with Bruce Broughton, who has worked on films such as Silverado. “I came [to Lipscomb] because I was looking for a place where I could practice my faith and integrate it into my teaching,” Blasko said. “When I interviewed here, what really drew me [in] were the students and how the faculty interacted with the students. I very much got a sense of [the] mentor relationships between faculty and students.” Blasko said he is honored to work with a “legend in music” in Brown Bannister, Lipscomb’s Director of Music. Students in the classical department have also welcomed Blasko’s arrival, citing their readiness for new and specialized attention. The music department not only hosts the classical music side, but it also has the commercial music emphasis (previously titled contemporary music). Since the commercial program was started in 2015, some classical students said that they felt that a lot of attention was placed...
by Kelly Dean | Apr 4, 2012 | News Slider
As a musician, playing in New York is a mindboggling dream many strive for. However, three young Lipscomb students fulfilled this dream when the Avalon Trio was named third best in the nation as a chamber ensemble on Mar. 24 in New York City. After the Avalon Trio’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 2 in C minor and Paul Schoenfield’s “Café Music”, the group placed third at the Music Teacher National Association’s chamber competition at the 2012 national conference in New York City. “What speaks more than our ability as musicians, I think, is the ability that us three have together to just play music,” said cellist Kenneth Coca. “I don’t think we could have done it with another group or with other musicians.” The three-year-old trio consists of Joel Campbell on violin, Coca on cello and Julian Calvin on piano. The group is coached by Jerome Reed, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Piano at Lipscomb University. Not only did the group walk away with the accomplishment of becoming one of the top three ensembles in the nation, but the process of getting there for the Avalon Trio continues to leave the group astonished and grateful. And the term ‘getting there’ is meant in a literal sense. Rodes Hart, benefactor for the Patricia and Rodes Hart Endowed Chair for Piano, sponsored the group’s trip to New York. The Avalon Trio never expected to travel to the big and beautiful NYC in high style, but Dr. Hart made sure to do just that by providing a private jet just for the trio to fly to New York City in....
