Ensembles

The A Cappella Singers is the premiere choir of the School of Music at Lipscomb University, and rehearses on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This ensemble is open by audition to all Lipscomb Students, and Music Majors, Non-Majors, and Music Minors may receive a scholarship for their participation. Each fall, the choir prepares for its annual recruiting tour, which consists of concerts at churches and schools throughout the United States.

The A Cappella Singers also prepares Christmas music for a yearly performance with Nashville recording artist Amy Grant at one of Lipscomb’s special winter traditions, Lighting of the Green.The choir devotes the spring semester to the preparation of a combined choral and orchestral work for the final performance of each academic year. Recent choral/orchestral works have included Vivaldi’s Gloria, Brahms’ Requiem, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Mozart’s Requiem. Dr. Randy Gill conducts the group.

Avalon Trio

The Avalon Trio is an auditioned and scholarshiped piano trio coached by Dr. Jerome Reed. The trio is actively engaged in national competitions and performances; such as the MTNA Chamber Music Competition.

Chamber Ensembles

• Flute Ensemble – Dr. Carolyn Totaro
• Saxophone Ensemble – Jeffrey Wills
• Percussion Ensemble – Chris Nelsen
• Brass Quintet – Preston Bailey
• Brass Ensemble – Matthew Jefferson

Jazz Combo – Simon Yeh

Wind Ensemble

The Lipscomb Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Ben Blasko, is dedicated to engaging high quality music of all styles and genres. The wind ensemble has performed with artists such as Cody Fry and Colton Dixon, and has recently recorded and released James Bonney’s Chaos Theory: Concerto for Electric Guitar and Wind Orchestra. The ensemble is open to both music majors and non-majors. Students who participate in the Lipscomb Wind Ensemble are eligible for scholarships through audition.

“Pick and Roll” Basketball Band

The Lipscomb “Pick and Roll” Basketball band is a hybrid rock/horn band that performs at Lipscomb University basketball games. The group is led by Artist in Residence, John Mark Painter. Placement into the group is through audition.

The Lipscomb “Pick and Roll” Basketball Band

Freshman level ensembles

• Freshman Bootcamp Ensembles

Upper level ensembles

• Play it Like a Pro
• Advanced Performance Ensemble
• Singer/Songwriter
• So You Want to Play in Nashville

*All Singer/Songwriter & Production music majors accepted into the School of Music program must take or test out, during their audition, of the Freshman Bootcamp ensemble before they may be placed in an upper level ensemble.

If an auditionee wishes to test out of the Bootcamp ensemble, they will be evaluated through/be able to:

• Demonstrate an ability to interact and perform comfortably with an ensemble
• Demonstrate a fluency to read and perform with the Nashville Number system.
• Successfully chart a song using the Nashville Number system

Past and Present Ensemble Leaders

A priority of our program is for our students to engage with working professionals in the music industry.  Based on their availability from touring schedules, recording projects, and working engagements, our commercial ensemble leaders can rotate semester from semester. 

Matt Billingslea – Drummer for Taylor Swift

Rob Byus – Music Director and Bassist for Blake Shelton

Don Chaffer – Songwriter, Producer, Artist

Ashley Cleveland – Grammy Winning Singer-Songwriter

Amos Heller – Bassist for Taylor Swift

Gregg Lohman – Drummer for Easton Corbin

Cindy Morgan – Award Winning Singer-Songwriter

Lynn Nichols – Songwriter, Producer, Artist, A&R

John Mark Painter – Artist in Residence/Fleming and John

Rod Taylor – Artist in Residence

Beau Tackett – Artist in Residence/Guitarist for Blake Shelton

Opera Workshop is a performance class in which Vocal Majors/Minors are required to work on various opera scenes from the genre. The scenes consist of choruses, arias (operatic solos), duets, trios, and other set pieces, full scenes, or full acts from standard and lesser known composers. Bernstein, Bizet, Gilbert & Sullivan, Mozart, Verdi and Wagner are examples of the works that have been performed in the past. There are also a variety of dramatic styles, costumes and props. Each Opera Workshop has its own personality. This is due to the content of the text in combination with the class performers and their own personalities and voices. Some shows are more choreographed in a stylized way with a simple black costume, while others are morel integral interpretations of the text in the blocking and costuming. The goal of the current director is to keep the pace of the show up by moving the audience from scene to scene with high energy, dramatic interpretation and good dose of humor. Subtitles in English project the interpretation of the original languages for the audience.