Blair Jazz Studies Program

Excellence, the first principle set forth in the updated Code of Bylaws approved by Vanderbilt’s Board of Trust, along with our other two guiding principles—academic freedom and free expression, and growth and development—drives our core purpose: to provide transformative education and pathbreaking research. It is our foremost commitment and our steadfast promise in all that we do. Read More

Jazz has a long history in Music City. As long as Nashville has been a center for recording and education, it has drawn musicians of all types who found places to play—as well as to teach. Many have had connections to Vanderbilt Blair School of Music Read More

With the impressive jazz collections at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, Vanderbilt students and faculty can delve deep into the history of jazz and the lives, music and impact of its pioneering musicians. Read More

WATCH: Hear from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Coffin about his passion for music and teaching and how his relationships led him to where he is today. Read More

Vanderbilt Blair School of Music is among the winners of "DownBeat" magazine’s 45th annual Student Music Awards. For the first time in school history, the program received four awards in the same year, bringing its total number of awards from the magazine to nine over the past four years. Read More

Blair School of Music’s budding jazz program earned top ranking in the category of Best Blues/Pop/Rock Group for "Commercial Break," a self-titled debut album written and recorded by an ensemble of Vanderbilt undergraduates. Read More

Jeff Coffin and Ryan Middagh work with the Blair Big Band Local music industry fuels expansion of program Nashville may be best known for country music, but the moniker “Music City” most accurately reflects the proliferation of stellar musicians in town who play all types of music. At Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, Ryan Middagh, director… Read More