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MUSIC LIVES IN NASHVILLE
For over 200 years, Nashville has been entertaining audiences around the world. Classical art and modern day pop are equally at home in Music City. From opera to country, ballet to rock, the performing arts are prominently displayed in Nashville.
Blair School of Music
www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair
Blair School of Music serves as the focal point within Vanderbilt University for the study of music as a human endeavor and as a performing art, addressing music through a broad array of academic, pedagogical and performing activities. The Blair School maintains and promotes the highest standards in the pursuit of scholarly and creative work, in the delivery of instruction and in the promotion of professional and public service.
Community Concert Series
www.nashvillesymphony.org
Throughout the warmer months, the Nashville Symphony performs free outdoor concerts in various parks all over town. Ranging from big band to ballroom, the music encourages visitors to bring picnic baskets and dancing shoes.
Crook & Chase
www.crookandchase.com
Two of radio and television's most recognizable personalities are back on the air together with the brand new Crook and Chase Show on RFD-TV. At the helm of the talk/variety show are broadcast personalities Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, who this year are celebrating 25 years in the business, making them the longest-running broadcast team currently on the air.
Grand Ole Opry
www.opry.com
Every Friday and Saturday night (and select Tuesday nights), the Grand Ole Opry brings the sounds of the world's longest- running radio show (over 80 years!) and an incredible mix of talent to a live audience. Airing live on 650 WSM-AM, The Roadhouse on Sirius XM Radio (Sirius channel 62 and XM channel 10) and www.opry.com, the program pays homage to country music's past while celebrating its future. Summer months are highlighted by free Opry Plaza Parties before the weekend performances.
Nashvile Jazz Workshop
www.nashvillejazz.org
Founded in 1998 with a focus on jazz education, the Nashville Jazz Workshop hosts twice-monthly performances called "Snap on 2 and 4" (on the second and fourth Fridays of each month). The performances take place in the Workshop's Jazz Cave, located in a renovated meat-packing complex in Nashville's East Germantown area. The venue has been known to feature nationallyrecognized jazz artists as well as top local musicians. With seating for only 100, an unforgettable jazz experience is guaranteed.
Nashville Nightlife's The Best of Country Music Show
www.nashvillenightlife.com
Experience a celebration of country music from both past and present. Hear songs first made famous by great artists like Hank Williams, Sr., Patsy Cline, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks. Throughout the season, many guest stars make appearances including Jeannie Seely, Tommy Cash, Steve Hall & Shotgun Red and Diana Murrell. Exclusive autograph and photo sessions follow each show.
Nashville Opera Association
www.nashvilleopera.org
The Nashville Opera Association is Middle Tennessee's only opera organization. In a typical season, the Opera produces four main-stage performances and completes a six-week tour to area schools. The NOA also holds a three-month residency Young Artist Program for young professional singers and conducts numerous community outreach programs.
Nashville Symphony
www.nashvillesymphony.org
With more than 200 performances annually, the Nashville Symphony offers local audiences a range of classical, pops and Pied Piper children's series concerts. The Grammy award-winning symphony shares its artistry with national and international audiences through critically acclaimed recordings on Naxos' American Classics series. The Nashville Symphony currently sells more CDs than any other American orchestra.
Schermerhorn Symphony Center
www.nashvillesymphony.org
This new facility is a state-of-the-art concert hall with acoustic designs influenced by the best symphony halls in the world. The 197,000-square-foot neo-classically inspired building is the cultural heart of flourishing downtown Nashville. The Laura Turner Concert Hall is the main performance space within the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, with a unique floor system that can change from raked seating to table seating for pops and jazz performances.
W.O. Smith Music School
www.wosmith.org
The W.O. Smith Music School is a fun, safe environment where education, instruction and encouragement are offered to children with a passion for music but without the means to afford lessons or instruments. Children of low-income families have access to music instruction of the highest quality for the nominal fee of fifty cents a lesson. The 100-member volunteer faculty comprised of area musicians teaches more than 350 students each year.
THE SHOW GOES ON
The world's greatest talent comes to Nashville to take part in musical and performing arts throughout the year. Whether it's a children's marionette show, a comedy or an inspiring classical play, Nashville has much to offer.
Act 1
www.act1online.com
ACT1, Artists' Cooperative Theatre, is dedicated to bringing theatrical gems, both classical and modern, to Nashville audiences. Now in its 20th season, ACT 1 has presented nearly 100 of the world's greatest plays.
Actors Bridge Ensemble
www.actorsbridge.org
Actors Bridge is a training program for new and seasoned actors dedicated to progressive and provocative productions. A group of artists committed to the ensemble's principle, the Actors Bridge is an incubator for new theatrical works.
Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre
www.dinnertheatre.com
Chaffin's Barn was Nashville's first professional theatre. Guests can enjoy dinner while watching professional Broadway-style plays, comedies and musicals in the Main Stage theatre.
Circle Players
www.circleplayers.net
In its 60th season, Circle Players is the oldest non-profit volunteer arts association in Nashville and specializes in musicals and comedies.
GroundWorks Theatre
www.groundworkstheatre.com
GroundWorks Theatre specializes in cutting edge plays and premiering original productions.
Marionette Shows at the Nashville Public Library
www.library.nashville.org
Held throughout the year, marionette productions represent the best of the late Tom Tichenor's marionettes and his legacy as a puppeteer at the library for 50 years, as well as the recently-acquired marionettes from Chicago's Peeko Puppet Productions. Shows also include new productions developed by the library's talented children's staff.
Miss Marple's Mystery Dinner Theatre
www.missmarples.com
Solve a musical-comedic mystery while enjoying a gourmet dinner. Work together with other dinner guests to decipher clues, bribe suspects and make a guess as to "whodunit." There are prizes for the winners.
Mystery.Comedy of Nashville
www.mysterycomedy.com
This murder/mystery/comedy is performed in acts during each course of dinner. Use mad money to bribe the actors for information, and the winner becomes the Super Sleuth of the evening.
Nashvile Ballet
www.nashvilleballet.com
Founded in 1981 as a civic dance company and established as a professional company in 1986, Nashville Ballet has flourished as the only professional ballet company in Middle Tennessee. Entertaining more than 40,000 patrons each year, the Nashville Ballet performs both classical pieces and contemporary works by noted choreographers.
Nashville Children's Theatre
www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org
The oldest professional children's theatre in the country, NCT has offered plays for pre-schoolers through middle-school age children for more than 75 years. In November 2004, TIME magazine named the Nashville Children's Theatre as the fourth best in the nation. 2006 marked the Theatre's 75th anniversary. The theatre, fully renovated in 2007, provides a state-of-the-art entertainment experience.
Orchestra Nashville
www.nco.org
Orchestra Nashville has commissioned and premiered 36 works by American composers. Each concert features masterpieces from the traditional repertoire alongside new works that fuse the chamber orchestra tradition with the genres of folk, jazz, Celtic, bluegrass, Latin, American song and world music, creating a "new" classical music relevant to the culture of today.
People's Branch Theatre
www.peoplesbranch.org
People's Branch Theatre (PBT) is Nashville's leading experimental theatre. Established in 2000, PBT consistently brings together the best local artists to create progressive, bold and innovative professional theatre in Nashville.
Real Life Players
www.reallifeplayers.com
Middle Tennessee's only teen-ownedand- operated theatre company. Proceeds from Real Life Players productions traditionally benefit a Nashville non-profit organization that impacts youth.
School of Nashville Ballet
www.nashvilleballet.com
The affiliated School of Nashville Ballet has an annual enrollment of over 500 students and offers a variety of training programs throughout the year. The ballet curriculum is firmly rooted in the classical technique, but also offers an eclectic education including modern dance, jazz and Pilates with a faculty comprised of national and international instructors.
Tennessee Repertory Theatre
www.tnrep.org
The Rep is Tennessee's largest professional theatre company. The Rep performs five main-stage and three off-Broadway productions annually in theatres at TPAC.
MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES
The recent growth of the fine arts scene in Nashville is adding greatly to the culture and creating another way for Music City's heritage to be told.
Aaron Douglas Gallery
at Fisk University
www.fisk.edu
Founded in 1866, Fisk University was one of the first private educational institutions offering a secondary liberal arts curriculum to freed slaves. During the mid- 1900s, the school determined that aesthetic development was an important part of the education process, and painter/illustrator Aaron Douglas commissioned the Fisk Murals for the new library in 1930. Douglas later established Fisk's first formal art department, where he served as chairman for over 30 years. The Aaron Douglas Gallery, a free museum, has become a venue for changing exhibitions highlighting artworks from the University's permanent collection, as well as temporary exhibitions of artworks loaned by organizations in the art, education, civic and business arenas. The collection contains pre-modern, modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs, textiles and prints from a variety of cultures and by many mid-career, established and world-renowned artists.
Carl Van Vechten Gallery
at Fisk University
www.fisk.edu
In 1949, Fisk University's president orchestrated the transfer of a gift of 101 modern artworks from renowned painter Georgia O'Keeffe. These paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures were from the private collection of her late husband, noted photographer Alfred Stieglitz. In the collection are 29 acclaimed American and European artists including Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera, Arthur Dove, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Demuth, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Gino Severini, Abraham Walkowitz and Stieglitz, himself. African sculpture from Stieglitz's collection also was included in the gift. This museum is free and open to the public.
Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art
www.cheekwood.org
Just eight miles southwest of downtown Nashville stands Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art. Cresting the hillside of this 55-acre property is a 1932 mansion where Cheekwood's permanent art collection is housed. Located in the 30,000-square-foot Georgian-style home are world-class collections of American contemporary painting and sculpture, English and American decorative arts and renowned traveling exhibitions. Collections also include silver and 350 pieces of the most comprehensive Worcester porcelain collection in America. Cheekwood's American art collection includes 600 paintings and 5,000 prints, drawings and photographs. Cheekwood is also home to the spectacular Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection of Fabergé, among the world's most significant compilation of Fabergé pieces. The collection includes 57 rare pieces highlighted by three Russian Imperial Easter eggs, and a number of important functional items, fantasy items and floral works. The Contemporary Art collection, housed in the galleries created out of the estate's original garage and stables, includes paintings by Larry Rivers, Andy Warhol, Robert Ryman and Red Grooms. Additionally, seven small galleries were created in the old horse stable stalls to enable the Museum to display installation art (rarely exhibited in the Southeast). Cheekwood's Temporary Contemporary was initiated in 1996 and consists of four solo exhibitions each year. Cheekwood also houses the William Edmondson Hand and the Spirit collection. This outstanding exhibition features the largest public collection of William Edmondson's work. Born to former slaves on a plantation south of Nashville, Edmondson (1874-1951) taught himself to carve tombstones and became one of the most celebrated African- American sculptors of the 20th century. As the first African-American artist to receive a solo exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art (1937), Edmondson claims a national place in the history of American art.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum of Art
www.countrymusichalloffame.com
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum has been the home of America's music since its opening in 1967 on Music Row. In May 2001, the Museum relocated to a new $37 million building in downtown Nashville. The facility boasts a vast collection to illustrate country music's story as told through the years. An immense compilation of historic country video clips and recorded music, dynamic exhibits and state-of-the-art design, a regular menu of live performances and public programs, a museum store, live satellite radio broadcasts, on-site dining and fabulous public spaces all contribute to an extraordinary museum experience.
Downtown Galleries
Downtown Nashville offers several unique art galleries including those located in the eclectic Arcade and expanding Fifth Avenue Art District. Take part in the "First Saturday Art Crawl." Every first Saturday of the month, multiple downtown galleries open their doors to avid art lovers for a night of art enjoyment.
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
www.fristcenter.org
Located in downtown Nashville, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts is the city's largest art exhibition center. Opened in 2001, the Frist has no permanent collection, but instead specializes in exhibiting premier collections on loan from other galleries around the world. Many of the exhibits on display are compiled exclusively for the Frist Center and cannot be seen anywhere else. Located in Nashville's historic former main post office, this Art Deco city landmark was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum
www.musicianshalloffame.com
Rock, pop, soul, country, blues and jazz all in one place…this special venue pays homage to hitmaking musicians, whether they were in the limelight or behind the scenes. Other features include a mini-theater, performance hall, music school, recording studio and shop.
The Parthenon
www.parthenon.org
The Parthenon, the world's only exact replica of the ancient Greek temple, resides only two miles from downtown Nashville. Inside the temple stands the 42-foot-tall gilded goddess of wisdom, Athena, the western hemisphere's largest indoor statue. Housed in the downstairs gallery is the city's permanent art collection. Known as The Cowan Collection, it spans the years 1765-1923. This 63-piece collection emphasizes landscapes and seascapes with techniques ranging from the smooth, almost non-brushstroke of the Neo-classic to the impasto and laded brushwork of Impressionism. All of the artists in this collection were American and many were members of the National Academy.
Sarratt Gallery
at Vanderbilt University
www.vanderbilt.edu/sarratt
A free gallery, The Sarratt Gallery showcases artists from all over the country, as well as from students and faculty at Vanderbilt. Located in the main lobby of the Sarratt Student Center at Vanderbilt University, shows change each month and include the popular Holiday Arts Festival, which features contemporary crafts by Tennessee artists.
Tennessee State Museum
www.tnmuseum.org
Tennessee State Museum is one of the largest state museums in the nation with more than 60,000 square feet of permanent exhibits and a 10,000-square-foot changing exhibition hall. The museum's interpretive exhibits span 15,000 years of Tennessee's history during the Prehistoric, Frontier, Age of Jackson, Antebellum, Civil War and Reconstruction periods. These sections include special displays of furniture, silver, weapons, quilts and paintings produced by Tennesseans. The Tennessee State Museum's Civil War holdings of uniforms, battle flags and weapons are among the country's finest in the nation. The museum also has many one-of-a-kind items associated with such famous Americans as Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, David Crockett, Sam Houston, Alvin C. York and Cordell Hull. The Military Museum , a branch of the Tennessee State Museum, is located in the War Memorial Building. Exhibits deal with America's overseas conflicts, beginning with the Spanish-American War in 1898 and ending with World War II in 1945. The exhibits look at the beginning of each war, major battles and the outcomes. Admission is free to both the Tennessee State Museum and the Military Museum.
Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery
www.vanderbilt.edu
The Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, a free museum, features six exhibitions each year that represent the diversity of artistic production today, as well as throughout the history of Eastern and Western art. In addition to exhibitions drawn from the permanent collection and organized from public and private sources, a number of traveling exhibitions are also presented. The University's permanent collection, totaling more than 5,000 works, serves to illustrate the history of world art in its most creative and comprehensive aspects. This historical art collection is the only one of its kind in the area, serving the needs of students and the community at large. The collection includes works in East Asian art, European Old Master paintings, paintings from the Barbizon school and African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts. The gallery's permanent collection includes approximately 150 original Andy Warhol photographs and prints. This collection helps to strengthen the gallery's growing collection of 20th century art.
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