Anne Potter Wilson Music Library

The Blair School of Music: From Peabody to Blakemore

The Blair School of Music is Vanderbilt University’s youngest undergraduate college, but its history begins on the Peabody campus. Founded in 1964 as a precollegiate preparatory program, the Blair Academy of Music’s original home was a converted two-story house on 18th Avenue South. The Blair Academy was affiliated with the George Peabody College for Teachers, and many of Blair’s full- time faculty held academic rank at Peabody. In the fall of 1977, the academy officially became the Blair School of Music, a private, independent institution with an enrollment of 470 precollege students, 78 adults, and 27 college students.

In 1979, ground was broken for a new building on 2400 Blakemore Avenue. Completed in the summer of 1980, the original Blair building was two stories and included what is now the Steve and Judy Turner Hall and the space that became the Anne Potter Wilson Music Library. Blair officially merged with Vanderbilt on January 1, 1981.

Visit the exhibit at the Blair School of Music at 2400 Blakemore Ave, Nashville, TN 37212 or online.

The Blair String Quartet

Founded in 1967, the Blair String Quartet was a joint venture between the George Peabody School of Music and the Potter Foundation, the founding organization of the Blair Academy of Music. This partnership allowed the Blair Academy to have full-time string faculty members who held co-appointments as assistant professors at Peabody College.

Visit the exhibit at the Blair School of Music at 2400 Blakemore Ave, Nashville, TN 37212 or online.

Crescere Aude

Crescere Aude (Dare to Grow): An exhibition honoring the Blair School of Music composition faculty and other commissioned works

The Blair School of Music composition faculty wrote Crescere Aude, an orchestral work commissioned by the Chancellor in honor of Vanderbilt University’s sesquicentennial celebration. The four movements of the work are as follows:

I.                   Gaudere aude!            composed by Michael Alec Rose

II.                  Concordia                   composed by Michael Slayton

III.                 Time Poem                  composed by Stan Link

IV.                Taking Off                    composed by Molly Herron

The exhibition follows each movement and features other compositions, publications, or recordings by composers Michael Alec Rose, Michael Slayton, Stan Link, and Molly Herron. The final exhibit case features two works commissioned by the Blair School of Music and premiered by Blair’s highly regarded faculty ensembles.

Crescere Aude premiered by conductor Ernesto Estigarribia-Mussi and the Vanderbilt University Orchestra on February 10, 2024 at the Ingram Center for the Performing Arts.

Visit the exhibit at the Blair School of Music at 2400 Blakemore Ave, Nashville, TN 37212 or online.