on the Inside - Belmont University

Music s in the Air
n Pianist Kory Caudill and other student musicians lit up the stage during
the annual President’s Concert and Applause Award presentation to
Steinway; (center) senior Mary Maples made her second appearance in the
Commercial Music Showcase.
The School of Music and the Mike Curb College of
Entertainment & Music Business receive major gifts
Music is always in the air at BelMont
University, where the shady quad in the center of campus is as
littered with guitar cases and sheet music as it is with Frisbees
and books. Nearly half the students at Belmont aspire to be a
professional musician or to work in the music industry. This
spring, those students’ dreams received a new surge of energy
thanks to generous benefactors.
The semester kicked off with news that Belmont’s innovative
songwriting major had won scholarship support from both
the ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm of the music
publishing powerhouse, and Lee and Ageleke Zapis, a couple
that has long supported musicians and music educators. A
few weeks later, a $25,000 check was presented to Belmont at
the annual “Best of the Best” showcase by the alumni, family
and friends of Bob Mulloy, the former faculty member who is
credited as being the vision and drive behind the university’s
renowned music business program.
The largest music-related gift announcement this semester
also occurred, appropriately, during an evening concert,
this time showcasing the College of Visual and Performing
Arts during the annual President’s Concert. There, Belmont
President Bob Fisher presented the 2008 Applause Award
to Steinway & Sons and announced Belmont’s intent to
become an “All-Steinway School” with the purchase of
approximately 70 additional Steinway pianos. The purchase
was made possible by a gift of more than $2 million from the
Merrydale Woods estate, a bequest which will also provide
endowed scholarships for future piano students. Belmont is
one of only 88 schools world-wide to have the distinction of
being an All-Steinway School.
Of course, the event which likely attracted the most local
attention this semester was February’s sold-out “Belmont
University Presents Nashville Celebrates Elvis” concert, which
benefitted the Cecil Scaife Scholarship Endowment for the
Music Business program. A host of artists—including Vince
Gill, Amy Grant, Wanda Jackson, B.J. Thomas, Pat Boone
and Wynonna, among others—took the historic Ryman
stage alongside friends and bandmates of Elvis Presley.
Speaking of musical talent, the “2008 CMT Music
Awards” were broadcast live for the third straight year
from Belmont’s Curb Event Center this spring. Hosted
by Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, the “2008 CMT Music
Awards” kicked off with a special “red-carpet” broadcast
of the various artists arriving at the venue on Belmont
Boulevard. Fans lined the streets and the steps leading
to the Maddox Grand Atrium to get a first-hand glimpse
of their favorite performers, including Belmont alumni
Josh Turner and award winner Brad
Paisley, who also performed live
on the show with the legendary
Hank Williams, Jr. n
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