School of Music alumnus and adjunct faculty member Chester Thompson will be awarded the Curtain Call Award Thursday night at a concert in his honor. The award is presented annually to a School of Music alumnus in honor of achievement in the field of commercial and popular music. The concert and award presentation will be at 7:30 p.m. in Massey Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
From jazz to rock or pop to gospel, Chester Thompson has surpassed the boundaries of musical genres. He has performed and recorded with artists as varied as the Weather Report, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Genesis/Phil Collins and Ron Kenoly. Chester has been a member of the Belmont faculty since 1998.
Previous Curtain Call Award winners include Josh Turner, Ginny Owens, Jill Phillips Gullahorn, Will Denton, Fleming McWilliams, Melodie Crittenden, Jozef Nuyens, Gordon Mote, Tammy Rogers King, Bernie Herms and Chris Rodriguez.