NASHVILLE, April 25, 2006 – The Belmont University Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business presents its annual Best of the Best Showcase on Saturday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Curb Event Center. This will be the largest student produced showcase in Belmont history and will feature some of the most talented up-and-coming artists in Nashville from a variety of genres including Pop/Rock, Christian/Gospel, Jazz, Bluegrass, Country, and Urban.
The performers are the winners from previous showcases that were held earlier this school year and include:
• Mikeschair – Winner of the Christian Music Showcase
• Rob Blackledge – Winner of the Pop/Rock Showcase
• Ryan Griffin – Winner of the Country Music Showcase
• Soul Force – Winner of the Other Showcase
• Alvin Love – Winner of the Urban Showcase
• Bobby Hamrick, Clark Richard, Ben Cooper, Troy Akers, and Zac Koffler – Winners of the Writer’s
Series Showcases
The evening is entirely produced and managed by students of The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont as they gain hands-on experience in lighting, live sound, event production, set design, publicity, artist management, stage direction, engineering and video production. The showcase is free of charge and open to the public. For more information contact Christy Baumiller at CEMBPressCorps@mail.belmont.edu or 615.460.6272.
Best of the Best Showcase 2006 to be held April 29
USA Today Editor Speaks At Belmont
Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today, the nation’s largest daily general interest newspaper, spoke at Belmont University today, concluding the 2005-06 New Century Journalism Speaker Series. Paulson assumed the role of editor at USA today one month after Jack Kelley, a long-time, respected journalist at the newspaper, was fired for fabricating stories in 2004.
Paulson spoke about his career in journalism, the continued importance of newspapers in today’s ever-changing media and USA Today‘s committment to a strong code of ethics.
Prior to his role at USA Today, Pauslson worked in Nashville for seven years as the director of the First Amendment Center. For four years, he hosted the Emmy-nominated, nationally televised PBS program “Speaking Freely,” dedicated to free expression and the arts.
Cusic Receives Award; Publishes in Books
Belmont University Professor Don Cusic received the “Governing Board Award” from the American Culture Association (ACA) for his “contributions to American culture” at the recent combined conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA) and ACA held in Atlanta.
During the conference, Cusic presented a paper, “Johnny Cash and C.S. Lewis,” which will be a chapter in the book Literary Cash: Writings Inspired by the Legendary Johnny Cash (BenBella Books) scheduled for a September publication.
Cusic has also written two chapters for American Icons: An Encyclopedia of the People, Places and Things That Have Shaped Our Culture, a three-volume set scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press in June and has written the 12,000-word entry on “Music” for the Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture, scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press at the end of the year.
Philosophy Student Presents Paper at Conference
Philosophy major, Joshua Wolak, attended a Philsosphy Conference held at the State University of New York in Oneonta, N.Y., and presented his paper titled “Autochthony: Heidegger, Meta-Philosophy, and Meditation”. Of the more than thirty papers presented, Wolak received one of four “President’s Award’s” for his excellent work and presentation of the paper.
Students Present at NCUR
Students from the School of Sciences presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) held at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, April 6-8.
Mathematics
Assessing a Math Inquiry Class: Do Students Gain an Appreciation for Mathematics?
Oral Presentation by Renee Torres, Kacie Kleja and Eninka Kombe
Biology
Expression of ASIC2 MRNA in Brain Tumors
Oral Presentation by Brooke Goodman
Biology: Molecular Biology
The Effects of Calcineurin Inhibition on Cocaine-Seeking Behavior in The Mouse Model
Poster Presentation by Neeti Sasi
Susan West Receives Honor
President Sidney A. McPhee and the African American Alumni Council will be holding the African American Awards Ceremony honoring outstanding students and alumni on Friday, May 5, 2006, from 7-9 p.m. at the Alumni Center in the Tom Jackson Building at Middle Tennessee State University.
Dr. Susan Hill West, Associate Vice President for Presidential Affairs at Belmont, will be presented with an award. Recipients of the alumni awards have demonstrated achievement through professional, community or university involvement. The reception will feature keynote speaker Darrell Freeman, (B.S. ’87, M.S. ’90)
Belmont Professor Pens Song on Dove-Award Winning, Platinum Album
James I. Elliott, assistant professor of entertainment & music business, co-wrote the song “Time That Is Left” that is included on Mark Schultz Live: A Night of Stories & Songs. In addition to being named the Long Form Video of the Year at the 37th Annual Dove Awards on April 5, the project was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) the same week.
“Time That Is Left” was also featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture End of the Spear earlier this year.
Belmont Honored At Strobel Awards
Belmont University was well represented Tuesday at the 20th Anniversary Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteers of the Year Awards Luncheon held at the Franklin Marriott Hotel.
Belmont nursing students were nominated for the Volunteer Group award and a top five finalist in the category for their work with the nonprofit organization Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee (PCAT). For the last two years, Belmont nursing students have given their time and expertise to the Parent Pathway program sponsored by PCAT. Parent Pathway seeks to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect by providing home visits to young, at-risk parents. The nursing students fill a crucial gap in the program, since social workers who carry out home visits are not typically trained to manage their clients’ medical issues and questions. The nursing students’ rapport with their clients has enabled young mothers to often feel more comfortable asking questions of their Parent Pathway nurse than of their doctor.
Belmont student Heather Coleman was a finalist for the Youth Volunteer award for her work with Belmont Volunteers for Literacy. Coleman has been active in organizing Belmont’s annual Family Literacy Day and founded Belmont Volunteers for Literacy in order to increase campus visibility of the issue and to provide access to student government funding for Literacy Day. Last fall, she led the Volunteers for Literacy into a partnerhip with Better World Books, a for-profit that funds literacy initiatives all over the world. Through this partnership, 471 books were collected in an end-of-semester book drive and were donated for use during Family Literacy Day.
The Strobel Awards were established in honor of Mary Catherine Strobel who selflessly gave her time to hundreds of homeless, hungry and less fortunate people in Middle Tennessee. Over 200 Middle Tennessee volunteers are recognized at the annual luncheon.
School of Music Faculty Spend Time in Germany
Kris Elsberry and Elisabeth Small of the School of Music have just returned from Germany as part of an exchange program with the Hochschule fuer Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden.
Since 1993, the School of Music has had an exchange program with the school for both students and faculty. This year Elsberry and Small spent seven days at the Hochschule, observing classes, meeting with students in seminar settings, teaching one-on-one and performing a recital on April 11. Prior to going to Dresden they performed in Magdeburg, a sister city of Nashville.
BU Student Nominated for Strobel Award
Heather Coleman, President of Belmont Volunteers for Literacy, and the student who spearheaded this year’s Family Literacy Day, is a finalist for the Mary Catherine Strobel Youth Volunteer of the Year award. The awards luncheon will take place April 18 at the Franklin Marriott Hotel.
