Emily Humphreys, Tracy Frist
The Nashville Symphony, in conjunction with Green Hills fashion staple Gus Mayer, will present the 19th annual Nashville Symphony Fashion Show on April 23 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Janice Elliott, designer buyer for Gus Mayer, has procured style star Prabal Gurung as the featured designer. Elliott, who has been involved with retaining the featured designer for 14 of the event’s 19 years, is passionate about bringing fashion’s emerging and established designers to Nashville for the show. Previous designers include Zang Toi, Carolina Herrera, Brandon Maxwell, Isaac Mizrahi, Zac Posen, and Jason Wu, ensuring this is Nashville’s must-see fashion event of the year. This year, the event also includes performers Brothers Osborne and emcees Kelleigh Bannen and Colson Horton.
Tracy Frist and Emily Humphreys, the 2024 co-chairs for this year’s event (alongside Executive Chair Sandra Lipman), graciously joined us for some insight into their roles for this year’s event, which raises funds for the Nashville Symphony. (nashvillesymphony.org)
Nashville Lifestyles: What made you want to chair he Symphony Fashion Show?
Emily Humphreys: This event has always been one of my favorite fundraisers because it combines art, music, fashion, and a full runway show like you’d see in New York or Paris. As a Nashville Symphony board member, I am especially interested in ensuring that its music education engagement programs continue to be offered to underserved communities, and that’s the goal of this fundraiser.
Tracy Frist: The Symphony Fashion Show has a wonderful commitment to funding the Symphony’s engagement programs. As an educator myself, I am deeply committed to making education multifaceted. The arts are too often devalued and underfunded, and it is important to make them available to all.
NL: How are the funds raised from the event utilized and how much has been raised over the years?
Frist: It’s important for American orchestras to reflect the rich diversity of their communities, but that’s unfortunately rare—less than 10 percent of orchestral musicians are from underrepresented ethnicities. The funds we raise from the Symphony Fashion Show go to programs that directly affect whether those numbers will improve. Music education isn’t a guarantee. Without these programs, the potential of so many children may never be realized. For instance, the students in the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando program are incredibly impressive, and they go on to pursue majors and careers in music. That outcome would likely be very different without the instruction, mentorship, and performance experiences the Symphony provides them.
NL: Why do you think supporting the Symphony is important and why is it vital to our community?
Humphreys: I don’t think you can name any great city that doesn’t have a thriving performing arts community. To achieve that, it takes more than an audience. You have to have a large base of generous donors who appreciate and understand the benefits to their community. Live performances—whether from symphony orchestras, dance, or theater—create a cultural layer that strengthens everything else. The Symphony enriches our schools, adds to the architectural landscape, and employs our residents, but most of all, it brings us together to share and be inspired by an experience at the same moment.
Frist: The Symphony is an essential component of Nashville’s cultural landscape. Its diverse programming appeals to so many different communities, making it an inclusive space for all Nashvillians to treasure. As Music City USA, institutions like the Symphony are central to Nashville’s heritage. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the fact that we have this incredible treasure in our city and see a performance from our world-class symphony orchestra at the breathtaking Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
NL: What in your background most prepared you to chair an event of this magnitude?
Humphreys: Every event I’ve been involved with is so different, so there’s always a lot to learn and figure out. Fortunately, we have so much guidance and help from Sandra Lipman, whose vision and love of fashion and music started this event that’s endured almost 20 years.
Frist: I’ve been honored to participate in many community events, including chairing the 2019 Heritage Ball. When committing my time and efforts to an event, I ensure that the mission and goals align with my passions. Collaborating with humanitarian and community-minded people such as Prabal Gurung, Brothers Osborne, Kelleigh Bannen, and Colson Horton in support of the Symphony’s education and outreach programs is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
NL: What inspires you to use your time, talents, and treasure to support nonprofits?
Humphreys: Recently, I was leaving a Symphony board meeting just as an Accelerando student was coming in for a lesson. I thought about how amazing it must be for that teenager to practice inside the Schermerhorn and to be taught by Nashville Symphony musician Chris Farrell, one of the best viola players and composers in the country! Without the Accelerando program, would these students be playing at all? Would they have ever dreamed that colleges might offer full scholarships to study music? Not only do these students have the opportunity to pursue advanced degrees in music, but they will also have the proper training and experience to begin to shift the landscape of the music workforce and form a more diverse generation of orchestra musicians.
Frist: I have wide experience in education, agriculture, conservation, and preservation, and I have witnessed firsthand the impact nonprofits can have on the communities they serve, locally and at the national level.