MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — When Jennifer Snodgrass was a child, she knew music and performing were essential parts of her life. What she didn’t know as an 11-year-old was that she’d one day work at the same university as one of the performers she shared the stage with all those years ago.

Now the new director of the Middle Tennessee State University School of Music, Snodgrass recalls the tears streaming down her young face inside a Virginia theater, eventually comforted by the actor playing the role of Don Jose in the opera “Carmen” — an actor who was none other than MTSU music professor and highly accomplished vocalist H. Stephen Smith.

Instead of going backstage to get ready to take her bow, Snodgrass stayed in the wings and watched the production of the popular opera unfold, eventually overwhelmed with emotion.

“It was one of the last nights of the performances, and there’s this part where Don Jose, one of the main characters, is singing this impassionate vocal line,” Snodgrass recalled. “That night, I just wanted to see the opera’s end. I sat in the wings so nobody could really see me, so that I could hear the end.”

Calling that memory one of three genuinely moving moments in her life, Snodgrass said she just started sobbing, overcome by the music.

“When Don Jose (H. Stephen Smith) comes off the stage, he stops and says, ‘Are you OK?’ I said something like ‘It’s just the music. It just gets into me and I love it so,'” Snodgrass said.

The next day, she said Smith found her and handed her an autographed picture, which she now has in her office inside the Wright Music Building.

“I kept that picture because in that moment I knew I was going to go into music,” Snodgrass said.

Smith said that while he doesn’t remember that moment as clearly as Snodgrass, he has a “vague recollection” of walking off stage at the end of a performance and seeing a little girl from the children’s chorus crying and asking if she was alright.

“I mostly remember the children’s chorus in that production and how well-behaved they were,” he said. “It had to be difficult for them waiting around so much and waiting for their opportunities to be on stage. I remember making a point of speaking with the kids in the chorus, just saying ‘hello’ and thanking them for helping out with the production.”

Snodgrass said she emailed Smith about 10 years ago, thanking him for his impact on her life as a young child: “I’d written him and said, ‘You don’t remember me, but you had a real impact on my life.'”

Small musical world

However, what Snodgrass didn’t know when she accepted her current role at MTSU was that Smith worked at the university, too. It wasn’t until her mother saw him on MTSU’s School of Music faculty list online that she made the connection.

“She said, ‘Oh, my gosh. Don Jose (H. Stephen Smith) is on your faculty.’ I said, ‘That’s not true.’ She said, ‘It is him. I’d know those eyes.’ Sure enough, it was him,” Snodgrass said.

When the connection was realized, Smith said it was a bit surreal.

“I’m happy to have her on board,” he said. “They say a broken clock is right twice a day, and I guess once in a while I do something right. Clearly, I did something right after the performance that night. It feels warm and cozy knowing an act of kindness on my part is still remembered after all these years.”

Snodgrass and Smith have since reconnected, and he even stopped by her home to welcome her to the area.

“My wife was the assistant director for the ‘Carmen’ production in question, and we dropped by Jenny’s house about a week after she moved in to offer a house-warming gift and welcome her to the neighborhood,” he said. “I met my wife at the first rehearsal of that production, and we’ve been together for some 39 years now. I guess that means I’ve done at least two things right during my lifetime.”

About Snodgrass, her School of Music vision

Before arriving at MTSU in August, Snodgrass was the music director at Lipscomb University in Nashville for three years. Before that, she was the director of graduate studies and professor of music theory at Appalachian State University from 2005 to 2022.

Her husband, Greg, is the school coordinator for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. They are raising their 14-year-old daughter, Katie.

“When the director of music position opened up at MTSU, I said, ‘I want my family to be together.’ We had always worked on the same campus together,” Snodgrass explained, adding that she’s thrilled to work at a school like MTSU and wants to empower faculty and students.

“Some of our students come from really strong high school band programs, and some come from smaller programs and haven’t had a lot of opportunities. They come here and are just like, ‘Holy cow, I get to be in an ensemble with these amazing vocalists or whatever it may be,'” she continued.

“There are a lot of growth opportunities here for the School of Music. I love that the program brings students in from all over and different backgrounds.”

For more information about MTSU’s School of Music, visit https://music.mtsu.edu/.

To learn more about MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts, visit https://liberalarts.mtsu.edu/.

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)