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...
