As Senior Associate Dean of Blair Academy at Vanderbilt, Pamela Schneller oversees the program’s 800 precollege and adult students. Pam directed a wide array of choirs at the school for 20 years, and founded five of the school’s nine choirs. Passionate about music education, she has created community partnerships with area public and private schools and retirement communities. She was a member of the Nashville Symphony Accelerando Program Advisory Council under the leadership of Walter Bitner. Currently a member of the Nashville Symphony Education and Community Outreach committee, Blair Academy’s partnership with Accelerando includes hosting Internet2 coaching sessions for Accelerando students with New World Symphony fellows and a Town Hall Masterclass with Michael Tilson Thomas.
COVID-19 has opened a window for schools like RSSoM and Blair Academy to pursue an aggressive virtual platform of music education. Blair’s online platform enables local students without transportation to participate. Students all over the world may learn from high-quality faculty. Students from eight states and seven countries in Central and South America are enrolled in Blair programs. For senior adults, online classes in theory, history, and songwriting have been a great addition to life at home. Under her guidance, Blair Academy created an active program of Zoom concerts for seniors in their homes and retirement centers. The virtual platform is an ideal way for schools like RSSoM to reach out and serve the broader community, and Pam is honored to be part of this exciting new school.
