Jenny Snodgrass, Academic Director & Chair
Jennifer Sterling Snodgrass is professor of music theory and academic director and Chair in the School of Music where she teaches courses in music theory and aural skills. Before joining the Lipscomb University faculty in 2022, she was professor of music theory and director of graduate studies at Appalachian State University from 2005-2022.
Dr. Snodgrass has received numerous grants and awards in relation to technology and music instruction including grants from the Microsoft Corporation, Textbook and Academic Authors Association, Sigma Alpha Iota, and the Appalachian State University Research Council. Studies involving both pedagogical and theoretical research have been published in numerous journals including Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy Online, Sacred Music, The TI:MEs, Music Theory Online, College Music Symposium, and the Music Educators Journal. Snodgrass maintains an active presentation schedule, most recently presenting research at the national meetings of the Society for Music Theory, College Music Society, and the National Association of Schools of Music.
Snodgrass has received numerous awards in relation to excellence in undergraduate education, including the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award, the Plemmons Leadership Medallion, the Outstanding Professor Award from the Appalachian Student Government Association, the Hayes School of Music Outstanding Teaching Award, and the College Music Society Innovations in Technology and Teaching Award. In 2016, Snodgrass was named Faculty of Distinction at Appalachian State and in 2017 was named an official quarter finalist for the Grammy Foundation Music Educator Award. In 2024, she was awarded the Bledsoe Faculty Excellence Award in Humanities in the Arts from Lipscomb University.
Along with Dr. Susan Piagentini, Snodgrass serves as the co-author of Fundamentals of Music Theory (Pearson, 2012, 2019) and the sole author of Contemporary Musicianship: Analysis and the Artist (Oxford University Press, 2015, 2020). Her latest research endeavor focuses on a field study of pedagogical approaches in music theory and aural skills. The result of this research is the culmination of the text, Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches. (Oxford University Press, 2021). The ongoing blog associated with the text can be found at https://bridgingthemusictheorygap.wordpress.com/.
Snodgrass continues to be active in service, currently serving the College Music Society as the co-chair of the national Student Advisory Council and the chair of the 2019 national program committee. Snodgrass also serves as the Co-Director of the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Center for Music Theory Pedagogy.
Based on her expertise in technology and education, Snodgrass leads workshops on both the K-12 and university level and acts as a consultant for college and university music divisions. She lives in Nashville, TN with her husband Greg and daughter Katie. Outside of music she loves to ride her bike, read books, spend time with family, and travel to the Gulf of Mexico.
Brown Bannister, Director & Industry Outreach
Brown Bannister brings nearly four decades of industry experience to his work as Director of the School of Music. Best known as a successful mentor and producer for top Christian artists, his work actually includes a broad range of production, engineering, arranging and writing credits across contemporary music genres. He has collaborated with artists such as B.J. Thomas, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Steve Wariner, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kenny Rogers, Kris Allen, Third Day, Mercy Me, CeCe Winans and Michael Tait.
In the process of selling more than 50 million records, Bannister has won 15 GRAMMY® Awards, more than 20 Dove Awards and has been named “Producer of the Year” five times by the Gospel Music Association. He is a member the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
“At this point in my career, I am eager to have an opportunity to make an impact on future music professionals by sharing my experiences and lessons learned in my nearly 40 years in the business,” says Bannister of his move to university teaching. “I look forward to mentoring these students, helping them make connections with industry experts, giving them hands-on learning opportunities and preparing them for their careers by providing a strong inter-disciplinary educational foundation. I look forward to this opportunity, and am especially excited about being a part of a Christian institution with which I share common values and beliefs.”
In the fall of 2017, Brown Bannister, GRAMMY® award-winning producer, songwriter and musician was named the Director of the School of Music.