Virginia Lamothe, assistant professor in the School of Music, presented at a conference in Rome, Italy called “Rethinking the Soundscape: Musical Events and the Soundscape of Italian Cities of from the 16th to the 19th century.”
The conference, held June 6-8 at the Sapienza – Università di Roma, was hosted by the Sapienza and the Deutches Historishes Institut in Rome.
Lamothe presented “Soundscapes of Power: Roman Entrate for the Habsburgs in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.” The presentation discussed Roman festivals for the Habsburg rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries according to new ideas in musicology about Soundscape studies that reveal political, religious and cultural meanings behind both music and sounds of an urban environment.
Lina Sheahan, Belmont library faculty, and Dr. Dan Schafer, history professor, co-led Belmont’s Maymester in Norway program this year. Sheahan’s write up of the group’s Syttende Mai experience in Bergen was recently published in The Norwegian American.
In the recap, Sheahan writes, “Before we even left the States, I tried to explain that Syttende Mai was ‘like the 4th of July, but on steroids,’ but I knew that nothing could prepare anyone for the festivities.”
“We gathered in the lobby and I handed out sløyfer (the traditional Syttende Mai ribbons) and Norwegian flags. Everyone was dressed to impress, with the men in suits and ties and the women in dresses or nice pants, which was important because the biggest surprise before we left the States was that I registered us for the hovedprosesjon (main parade), and we would march along with other school and civic groups in Bergen.”
Dr. Perry Moulds, vice president of Development and External Relations, was selected as a member of Leadership Nashville’s Class of 2019-20. The 44 members of the coming year’s class were selected from more than 280 applicants.
The program, which will begin in September, focuses on issues including education, labor, diversity, criminal justice and more.
The Leadership Nashville Foundation was founded in 1976 as an independent, executive leadership program to give community leaders a three-dimensional view of the city. The goals of Leadership Nashville are to build channels of communication between established leaders, connect leaders to community issues and equip participants with insights.
Each person elected to participate in Leadership Nashville makes an extensive time commitment. Attendance is mandatory for the nine-month program. The Opening Retreat is in early October and the Closing Retreat is in late May. Between these retreats are seven monthly meetings that average 13 hours each on the first Thursdays of the month. Participants also work in study groups and present a report at the closing retreat.
In addition to considering Nashville’s strengths that have put it on national lists of outstanding places to live and work, the program also looks at issues that face this city, indeed all municipalities: problems such as crime, affordable housing, school finances, racial tensions, transportation and arts funding. Throughout the year the class will hear approximately 125 speakers and makes on-site visits to all parts of the city.
Alumnus Ralph Bland (1973, Bachelor of Arts in English) recently released his tenth and newest novel, Exeunt, available from DP Publishing and Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle reader.
According to the book’s description, “Exeunt” is a story about the bonds and limits of friendship among five middle aged friends in the waning days of 1988. Set in the fictional town of Abington, Tennessee, the novel concerns the final week of business for Overton’s Market, an old grocery store where all five of the men once worked together during high school and college and where two still remain as mainstay employees.
During post-Christmas week, when all the men are present in Abington for the holidays, the last week of business for the old store looms as a newer building across the lot prepares to open – a larger, more modern, and totally antiseptic structure that belies the romance and antique charm of Overton’s. The five men embark on a joint quest to close the old store in style, spending time together recollecting their past lives as a group, and learning how to deal with approaching their forties and leaving behind the world of their youth.
The road is rocky and the lessons to be learned are not always pretty, but something in the town’s air and their delicate balance between the past and the future forces each man in this group of Peter Pan dreamers to try and move forward in their lives, if only with a sigh and a parting glance back at what was once exclusively theirs.
Ralph Bland is the author of Stars Rain Sun Moon, Once In Love With Amy, seven other novels and two story collections.
Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, is a master’s alumnus of Belmont University. He graduated in 2006 with a Master of Arts in Teaching.
He recently shared his perspective on leadership and how community members can support students and the future workforce in a spotlight in the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce’s Business Trend publication.
According to the spotlight, Johnson has served as a teacher, school administrator, director of secondary schools, chief academic officer and now as the superintendent.
It goes on to say, “He has made tremendous strides to improve Hamilton County Schools. In less than two years, he started the Opportunity Zone to address rapid school improvement in 12 of the district’s low performing schools.”
He launched Future Ready Institutes in Hamilton County high schools to make learning more meaningful for today’s teens and provide future-ready graduates who are prepared for success after graduation. The program was so successful in the first year that it was awarded the Urban League of Chattanooga’s Community Impact Award.
Young Leaders Council, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that has trained more than 2,600 men and women to effectively participate on the boards of nonprofit agencies since 1985, announces the graduates of its third annual nonprofit board training program partnership with the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University.
The YLC/Massey Graduate School Alumni Class of 2019 graduates who have completed 28 hours of leadership training and will now serve one-year internships on local nonprofit boards are: Ted Demont (Cherry Bekaert, LLP); Dan Groover (Compass); Alexa Hartley (Nissan); Caleb Hartwell (Target); Walt Hovious (Pilot.com); Douglas Hungate (Cheatham County School District); Shatia Kelly (Cummins Sales and Services); Kyle Kilgore (Formos Consulting); Jeff Krebs (TransCore); Laura McWhorter (HCA – Physician Services Group); Justin Moore (Bridgestone); Matt Morris (Deloitte Services LP); Matt Pramstaller (Sarah Cannon Research Institute); Haley Smith (Balfour Beatty); Phillip Smith (HCA Healthcare); and Michael Vertin (TriStar Centennial Medical Center – HCA Healthcare).
Young Leaders Council has been the premier organization for training nonprofit board members in the Nashville area and was created by the Council of Community Services, the HCA Foundation and the United Way in 1985 to address the need to broaden and strengthen Nashville’s volunteer leadership base.
Professor of English Dr. Annette Sisson was named the winner of the Spring 2019 poetry competition sponsored by The Porch Writers Collective for her poem “Fog,” which has been published in Vanderbilt University’s national literary magazine, Nashville Review, as a result. Her poem “The Island Is Its Own Gospel” was also named honorable mention in Passager’s Spring 2019 national poetry competition; it will be published in Passager Magazine in September along with the other winners.
From falling in love in a practice room at Belmont to launching successful music careers to being called into ministry to now film making, alumni husband and wife team Jay and Sofia Lyons have been influencing the world as artists, both musically and visually, for more than two and a half decades. Their most recent project, a documentary following the life of Kara Tippetts called “The Long Goodbye,” will launch on Netflix on Sunday, June 23.
Jay graduated in 1994 with his degree in commercial music (arranging and composition), and Sofia graduated in 2014 with her Bachelor’s of Music, focused in music business and vocal performance. Twenty-five years later, the couple has led a full life together as Christian worship artists, having performed in more than 40 states and worked on a record deal with the famed Word/Epic Records.
After 10 years on the road, the Lyons moved to New York City. Jay served as creative arts pastor at a church plant in lower Manhattan, and Sofia landed several TV placements for her original music, including theme songs on hit shows like Gossip Girl, The New Girl, One Tree Hill and more.
The Lyons agree that their time at Belmont gave them a taste for how professional entertainment actually works and helped them form life-long friendships with others in the industry.
“With the awesome staff, high level of performance ensembles we were a part of, and the events and showcases, Belmont really gives you a taste of what the real world is like,” said Jay.
As a natural growth from Sofia’s music placements, Jay became heavily involved in TV and film production. In 2011, the couple decided to move to Los Angeles, which allowed Jay to produce hundreds of hours of TV for networks including MTV, TLC, NBC, CBS and the Discovery Channel. Sofia shared her experience as a worship leader and pop singer to mentor young talent as a vocal coach. Her clients have been featured in Glee, Hidden Figures and numerous Disney and Nickelodeon shows.
Jay and Sofia Lyons
Drawing from their experience from full-time ministry and the entertainment industry, the Lyons felt a calling to shift their focus and create uplifting, faith-based content. This led to the formation of Jay Lyons Productions, a TV and film production company, which has served clients like TLC, Spotify, Lifeway Bibles and more. Most recently, the duo co-produced “The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story,” which features celebrities Ann Voskamp, Joanna Gaines and Joni Eareckson Tada.
Kara Tippetts’ story came to Jay and Sofia’s attention on Facebook soon after Tippetts’ breast cancer diagnosis in 2014, and the couple felt led to do something for her and her family. What started as a seven-minute video about her life, ultimately opened up a conversation about fully documenting her last few months on earth.
Jay felt that, if done the right way, telling her story could be very powerful. “Death is something we all face, but pretend like we won’t,” he said. “And when people are forced to deal with it, they need projects and stories like this to help them.”
Sofia said Kara’s story transcends words. On one hand, Kara was a simple mom with four kids, a pastor’s wife and a regular mommy-blogger. On the other hand, she was thrust into the national spotlight, ended up having best-selling books, was a celebrated speaker and brought hundreds of thousands of people along on her road of suffering and dying.
The entire project was all about sharing hope and inspiration to people who are hurting through Kara and her faith in Christ. Her unique perspective on life, even in dying, was truly profound. She helps viewers understand how God walks with His children, even in pain. She helps people understand what it means to say goodbye with grace and an abundance of love.
The Lyons want viewers of the film to feel hope. Sofia said they worked very hard in the edit to make the movie inspiring, despite the heavy nature of the topic. “Kara is such a phenomenal person; you can’t watch her story and not be changed,” she said. “We like to say that, through her dying, Kara taught us how to live!”
Behind the Scenes Look at the filming of “The Long Goodbye”
In addition to producing, the Lyons recorded a hopeful and upbeat song for use in the film. The inspiration for their song, “I’ll See You Again,” came about as they filmed Kara and her husband saying goodbye to each other on their last Valentine’s Day. “It was sad, but it was also beautiful and even holy,” said Sofia. “They were professing their love to each other for one of the last times, and you really can’t even put that into words. So we put it in a song.”
Through the filming process, the Lyons were deeply impacted by the Tippetts’ outlook on life. Jason Tippetts, Kara’s husband, told Jay, “I know God is sovereign. I also know I don’t understand ‘why’ things happen. But, it’s not my job to understand the ‘why.’ It’s my job to live faithfully.”
The movie took four years, and the Lyons admittedly almost quit on multiple occasions.
“But we knew in our hearts that God had given us a vision to make this movie, and we also promised a dying woman we would get her story out to as many people as possible,” said Sofia. “We get some very heartfelt feedback, a lot of times from people in very tough situations, so that makes it all worth it.”
Jay has worked on major reality shows for networks and has met some amazing people – what some would label “the top of the top.” Jay agrees his career has been rewarding from a worldly perspective. “But, this documentary has so much purpose; in my mind it’s one of the most important things I’ve ever done,” he said.
Up next for Jay Lyons Productions is a project in which Jay takes a professional basketball player named “The Professor” into prison and films him playing prisoners in one-on-one games. “The Professor” also talks with the inmates about prison reform. It has 30 million views on YouTube so far and has received a ton of press and publicity. That has led to a contract for a new movie about “The Professor’s” life and story.
About “The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story”
Exploring the raw edges of dying with grace and dignity in real time, “The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story” shares the powerful testament of a wife, mother and friend sharing her long goodbye after a cancer diagnosis in 2014 and 2015. Distributed through Ocean Avenue, the film was released on DVD and some digital channels on March 22, the fourth anniversary of Kara’s passing. Kara’s blog on parenting with kindness, “Mundane Faithfulness,” already had a successful following when she began facing and processing a cancer diagnosis on the site. Her blog became a sacred space as people around the world were touched by Kara’s faith, honesty and candor. She allowed the world to walk with her as she chronicled first what it meant to be a young wife and mother battling a disease, and then ultimately what it means to live and die with love and dignity.
During her journey with cancer, Kara was able to write and publish three books, including “Just Show Up: The Dance of Walking Through Suffering Together” and “And It was Beautiful: Celebrating Life in the Midst of the Long Good-Bye.” Her third book, “The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard,” won the 2015 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Inspirational Book of the Year Award.
“The Long Goodbye” will premiere on Netflix June 23.
Belmont University will kick off the 2019-20 academic year with a family-friendly music festival on Sat., Aug. 24 featuring exclusively student and alumni talent. The event will begin on The Lawn at 4:30 p.m. with an event designed for Bruins of all ages.
Children’s activities will be held on the patio in front of McWhorter Hall, including face painting, balloon animals, inflatables, illusionist performances and more. Plus, a number of popular community food trucks will be on hand, stationed along the Lawn, to provide refreshments, and numerous arts, crafts and boutique vendors will be set up around the Lawn to welcome back alumni and friends and sell artist merchandise.
At 6 p.m., music performances kick off with the annual “Battle of the Belmont Bands” contest as selected student bands compete in front of a panel of industry experts in the audience to determine a winner. Those judges are organized by Musician’s Corner, the annual concert series in Centennial Park to promote emerging artists, which then invites the winner to perform at an upcoming concert. The event concludes with a special performance from an alumni act with past participants including COIN, Steve Moakler, Waker, Kopecky and Lonely Biscuits, among others.
This free event is open to the public, and parking is available on the north side of campus in the Inman/McWhorter Garage, the Ayers Garage and the Baskin Garage, all of which can be viewed on the Campus Map.
Bonnaroo University, the second annual Belmont study away program with the Tennessee music and arts festival, concluded Sunday night following four intense and full days of research, interviews, arts experiences and concerts.
Led by faculty members Dr. Sarita Stewart (creative & entertainment industries) and Dr. Ken Spring (sociology), the “Belmont at Bonnaroo” program delivers a unique and innovative academic immersion into festival culture while providing students hands-on experience in timely and relevant music research. Students also attended guest lectures each day of the festival from various “visiting professors.”
Steward said, “Since the overall class content is dovetailed together, Dr. Spring and I are working with the students to determine questions related to issues of Symbolic Identity, Production of Culture, Authenticity and Consumption of Culture at the festival. This research builds upon the themes of Community, Design, Branding, and Consumption that our first group of participants studied last year.”
The students are slated to present their research findings to Bonnaroo executives on June 27.
Paramore’s Hayley Williams talks with Belmont students following an Artist-in-Residence guest interview.
Bonnaroo 2019 Class Photo with Jeff McClusky and Associates team
Hozier speaks to Belmont students at Bonnaroo 2019
