SongFest finds enduring home at Furman University

This summer, Furman University will be brimming with the sounds of music-making when SongFest takes up permanent residence on the Greenville, South Carolina, campus. The long-running and internationally known summer festival is dedicated to the study and performance of classical art song. It happens June 29-July 20 and draws musicians from far and wide seeking to hone their skills as young artists, professional singers or pianists.

Furman students participate in SongFest 2019 in Los Angeles. Front row: Tyrese Bryd ’20, Kirby Burgess ’20 and Bryce McClendon ’15. Back row: John Potvin ’22 and Matthew Gavilanez ’21. Photo: Jeanie Hill Photography

Traditionally held at Los Angeles’ Colburn School and other locations over the last 30 years, the festival will benefit from a renewed vision and an expanded faculty roster, which already boasts artists and clinicians from Yale University, the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Longtime SongFest faculty member Grant Knox, associate professor of voice and opera at Furman University, and now program director for the festival, said, “Songfest sought an institutional partner that could offer stability, strong facilities and a shared commitment to song as a central artistic discipline.

“SongFest has always been about the highest level of musical and intellectual engagement with song,” he added. “This move allows us to honor that legacy while expanding the festival’s reach, deepening collaboration and welcoming new artistic voices.”

It’s a partnership Knox has forged over the last several years – one that has wide-ranging benefits for the university.

“SongFest heightens the university’s role as a cultural and educational hub. It brings world-class performers, teachers and young artists from all over for an extended residency,” Knox said. “It strengthens Furman’s national profile in vocal and collaborative music while creating direct connections between students, faculty and internationally recognized artists.”

A venue for the ages

“It’s a big coup for Furman,” said Randall Umstead, the Gordon and Sarah Herring Chair and professor of music. And it’s only fitting that Furman be named SongFest’s enduring home, he argued.

“The Furman Music Department has punched above its weight for decades. If you look at the music faculties of U.S. universities, we are overrepresented on a per capita basis,” said Umstead, reeling off Furman alumni on the music faculties of Juilliard School of the Arts, Yale School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Michigan School of Music.

Beyond Furman’s reputation in academia, there are other compelling factors that make SongFest the right fit for the university.

“Furman is a great place to host musical events,” Umstead said. “It’s beautiful and the weather is generally mild, so it’s a perfect place for people to learn about, perform and study this music. Being in an idyllic setting like this one for a retreat makes a tremendous amount of sense.”

Umstead noted there will be opportunities for community engagement through selected SongFest performances and master classes that will be open to the public. “It will be great to have some of the world’s foremost champions of art song on the Furman campus,” he said.

For more information about SongFest, visit https://www.songfest.us/, or email Grant Knox at [email protected].