NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s School of Music recently partnered with The University of the Bahamas for an international collaboration that showcased a special student choral performance at the Murfreesboro university, highlighting the universal power of music to bring different cultures together in song.

Jennifer Snodgrass, director of the MTSU School of Music, and Matt Taylor, director of choral activities, joined WKRN-TV host Stephanie Langston inside the station’s studios for the Friday, Oct. 23, “MTSU on 2”segment to discuss the joint private performance between the MTSU Schola Cantorum and the Bahamian student choir inside the university’s Wright Music Building.

“One of the amazing things about this experience was that we made it kind of intimate. It wasn’t open to the general public,” Snodgrass noted. “So when the students got together to perform, it was all about them. It was all about the interaction with the students. And I think that for the students to have that moment that they knew was theirs created a really, really special environment.”

Watch the full segment below:

Taylor gave special praise to professor Adrian Archer, choir director from The University of the Bahamas, for having his students so well prepared for the collaboration.

“So the day was just joyous from the very start because the kids walked in prepared and ready to go. One of the songs that we sang was, ‘In Meeting We Are Blessed,’ which was actually written for the combining of two choirs from different countries. And so it felt super appropriate,” Taylor said. “And it speaks to the fact that just by coming together and getting to make music together, we’re inherently blessed. … But the day went by so smoothly, which was just a testament to how ready to go the students were.”

The joint choir also sang a version of the Bahamian national anthem with a unique twist: the arrangement they performed was created by Bahamian native Ezekiel Thompson, who earned his undergraduate degree at The University of the Bahamas and then came to MTSU to pursue his master’s degree.

But in addition to the special musical connection, both Taylor and Snodgrass said the students made what seem to be lasting interpersonal connections that have continued after such a memorable joint performance.

“I think one of the things that we’re really focusing on in the School of Music is that community aspect. We talk about ‘where every note counts’ and where everybody has that sense of belonging there,” Snodgrass said.

“So this experience, beyond just a typical choral ensemble experience, they were able to relate to each other, talk about what’s happening in their classes in the Bahamas in a music school, what’s happening here in America in a music school. And it’s my understanding there’s still a text thread going on between all of these students.”

Snodgrass hopes that MTSU’s choir will be able to visit the Bahamas in the future for a similar collaboration.

To learn more about MTSU’s School of Music within the College of Liberal Arts, visit music.mtsu.edu.

— Jimmy Hart ([email protected])