Who Are We – Activities and Highlights

Our Activities

The principal activity of Music City Strings is performance education and is achieved primarily through a weekly group class.  Many more rehearsals and classes are offered when the demands and needs of the group arise.  The weekly group classes are designed to teach attention to detail through repetition of skill and technique. In the process, the student develops discipline, problem solving skills, listening skills, sensitivity, self-expression, and has a large degree of cultural exposure.  The students come together to learn about ensemble, teamwork, and accountability.  In addition, the classes and rehearsals provide a place where friendship and community is cultivated.  All classes are taught by college degreed music professionals.

Music City Strings performances form the balance of the organization’s activities.  The intent of these performances is to create a venue for students to fine tune their performing skills and technique, and to develop a deeper understanding of what it takes to perform at an exceptionally high level. Music City Strings also uses these event performances to reach out to the community and foster an interest and understanding of the benefits of a well-rounded music education.

In addition to the class recitals that are free of charge, Music City Strings also offers professional performances to the public for an admission fee.  Within the realm of the performance activity, Music City Strings will endeavor to engage in an international tour and to produce a CD approximately once every three years.

Music City Strings Achievement Highlights

In 2012 Music City Strings was one of three groups in all of North and South America chosen to perform on the International Ensembles Concert at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Because of this performance, the group was discovered by The League of Astonishing Strings and invited by the founders of Barrage on a 17 day concert tour of Europe during the summer of 2015.  With twelve performances during their travels to Spain, France, England, and Scotland, this was a transformative experience for the group.

As the reputation of Music City Strings has grown, it has attracted the attention of the music industry in Nashville.  The group has performed over 30 concerts with Grammy-Award winning artists Vince Gill, Amy Grant, and Michael W. Smith and has appeared with many other artists in venues such as the Ryman Auditorium, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Bridgestone Arena, the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University and the Franklin Theater in Franklin, Tennessee.

In 2017, Music City Strings was the headline group of a concert tour of China.  They were enthusiastically received by huge audiences in the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Lantian Grand Theatre, the Zhili Grand Theater, and the National Library Concert Hall in Beijing.  While in China, the group also engaged in a cultural exchange performance with the students of Hebei Arts College in Shijiazhuang.

Music City Strings is often engaged in professional shows as well and was hired as the headliner group for the Barrage Next Generation Tours in Wisconsin, Florida, and Arkansas.  Joined by two former Barrage performers, Music City Strings received enthusiastic standing ovations at every performance.

The ensemble keeps busy with a regular schedule of rehearsals, performances, and touring.  Music City Strings toured Western Canada in 2019 with performances in Calgary, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Medicine Hat, Bragg Creek, and Everett, Washington.  The group was also engaged to perform the opening concert at the South Carolina Suzuki Institute in Aiken, South Carolina.

Music City Strings has performed on the TOKENS Show at the Ryman, at the University of Louisville Suzuki String Institute, the Hope Foundation with Steven Curtis Chapman, DayStar Ministries, Music City Roots, the Lighting of the Green with Amy Grant, Channel 4 News at Midday, the Franklin Main Street Festival, Lawrenceburg Crockett Theater, and Dickens of a Christmas in Franklin, Tennessee among many others.

The local community is very important to Music City Strings and the group has been active for more than a decade in community engagement performances in such places as the Sarah Canon Cancer Clinic, the Vanderbilt ALS Clinic, the Tennessee School for the Blind, nursing homes, and retirement communities.