Blair Student Stories
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WATCH: Class of 2025 students’ ‘dare to grow’ drive makes a mark on the world
WATCH: Dare to grow is more than a motto for these Class of 2025 students. See how they’re pushing themselves and making an impact in cancer research, law and music. Read MoreMay 5, 2025
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CLASS OF 2025: Maya Mueller finds brilliance reaching beyond her comfort zone
Find out why Class of 2025 student Maya Mueller traveled to Tanzania and see what a banana costume had to do with overcoming stage fright for this clarinet performance major. Read MoreApr 8, 2025
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Class of 2023: Violin phenom Kingston Ho takes on melody and medicine
Class of 2023: Kingston Ho doesn’t just play beautiful music—he’s studying how his brain and body make those melodies happen. Read why the award-winning violinist with multiple prestigious international competitions under his belt chose to double major in violin performance at the Blair School of Music and in medicine, health and society in the College of Arts and Science. Read MoreApr 7, 2023
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Class of 2023: Jack Allen shares passion for music—and compassion for others—through the piano
Class of 2023: For some, a piano is just an instrument. For Jack Allen, a piano performance major at the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, it is a vehicle for compassion, inspiration, teaching and community. Read MoreApr 3, 2023
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A call to serve through law, public service and music spurs Anighya Crocker
Anighya Crocker, BMus’21, came to Vanderbilt as a multiracial, first-generation college student with big dreams to serve the community through public office and music. His Vanderbilt experience as a double major in Law, History and Society and music performance has helped him to hone both of those dreams. Read MoreOct 24, 2022
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Class of 2022: Hao Zhen finds joy in imaginative approach to music composition
It’s not unusual to see Hao Zhen literally bouncing with enthusiasm into the classrooms and rehearsal halls at Vanderbilt Blair School of Music. Her excitement about making music can be traced to a pivotal moment in her childhood. Read MoreApr 13, 2022
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Songwriting class helps students find soulful collaborations across continents
Any Nashville songwriter will tell you that some of the most meaningful collaborations come during crisis. Vanderbilt undergraduates in a songwriting class at the Blair School of Music got a taste of this when they partnered with peers on the other side of the globe, who also were dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, to co-create original songs. Read MoreJan 13, 2021
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Songwriting seminar inspires personal tributes to Class of 2020
Some students participating in a Blair School of Music songwriting seminar planned on penning songs about graduating from college. Then the novel coronavirus pandemic hit. The students left campus, and the desire to process their emotions through song increased exponentially. Read MoreMay 6, 2020
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Musical Talent and Mentor: Rama Kumaran, BMus’19
Rama Kumaran initially intended to study both science and flute when he came to Vanderbilt. He says he didn’t come expecting to know everything. “But I expected to do everything," he says. Read MoreApr 11, 2019
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Aliza Berger, BMus’11: Sermons of song
Recently, Berger graduated from Massachusetts-based Hebrew College, where she was ordained a rabbi–cantor—the school’s first, and one of only a handful in the country. Read MoreSep 7, 2017