MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s School of Music recently launched its first-ever capital campaign, “Where Every Note Counts.” The campaign focuses on expanding scholarship opportunities for students in the School of Music and for members of the Band of Blue, which includes majors beyond music and students across the university.

Program host Andrew Oppmann, vice president for marketing and communications, spoke with MTSU’s School of Music director, Jenny Snodgrass, on the July edition of “Out of the Blue” to discuss how the campaign came about and what she hopes it will do for current and future students.

Snodgrass said “Where Every Note Counts” has been a priority and a point of pride after completing her first year at MTSU.

“When I asked the students when I first came here last year, and the faculty, I asked them, ‘What do you want to be known for?’ They said they wanted to be known as a place where every voice can come to the table and where everybody is represented and a sense of belonging,” she said.

Watch the full interview below.

To accomplish that, Snodgrass said the School of Music revised its mission statement, and while talking with students and faculty, the “Where Every Note Counts” tagline emerged.

“It was all student-focused; we didn’t write that. The students did,” she said.

Snodgrass said with the first capital campaign in the history of MTSU’s School of Music, she had a very specific idea of how she wanted to implement it.

“We wanted it to all be about scholarships because we want every student to have an opportunity who wants to be involved in music. And so, when you’re doing a capital campaign with ‘Where Every Note Counts,’ it just goes to those stories of those students. If it’s a major, a minor, or just a participant, we want every single student who wants to be involved to be able to be involved.

“That’s what scholarships do for the School of Music,” Snodgrass said.

She added that she compares music students to college athletes.

“I always compare our musicians to athletes because they start training so young,” Snodgrass said. “Some string players start at the age of six or seven, and they invest money and time into lessons. Vocalists and pianists, it’s the same thing. So when you’re looking to go to college, all the universities are going after those top musicians, just like athletes. It’s a very competitive field, and we’re all competing for the same students, and scholarships help to give us just that little bit of an extra edge.”

Snodgrass said her goal is always to work inside a loud music building.

“A music building that is quiet is not a good thing,” she said. “A music building that is robust and full of energy, that’s what I want.”

To learn more or to support the “Where Every Note Counts” campaign, visit give.mtsu.edu/pages/music-campaign.

“You can watch our performances; you can see what our majors are doing. You’re going to find student stories about how music has affected their life, but always ways to give,” Snodgrass said of the website.

Ways to watch, listen

• “Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

• It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays; WNPX “The Spot – Nashville 28” at 4:30 a.m. on Saturdays; and streamed on the MTSU Jazz Network through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month; and on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings.

• It is also available as a podcast on iTunes and Google Play and as individual interview segments on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3.

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

—       DeAnn Hays ([email protected])