Discover Your Symphony with Dan Allcott

Show Notes

Join Kosta and his guest: Dan Allcott, Professor of Music at Tennessee Tech and Music Director of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra.

This episode is a celebration of Dan's career as a musician, orchestral director, conductor and educator as well as a celebration for the 60th Season of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra.

Bryan Symphony Orchestra features faculty and student performers from the School of Music, performing alongside area professionals.  The Orchestra is supported by a collaboration between the Bryan Symphony Orchestra Association and Tennessee Technological University. 

Find out more about Bryan Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.bryansymphony.org/

Find out more about Dan Allcott:
https://www.danallcott.com/

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

This episode of Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is made possible by our partners at Aspire Barber and Beauty Academy. 

Find out more about Aspire Barber and Beauty Academy:
https://aspirebarberandbeauty.com/ 

What is Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev?

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a podcast about business, parenting and living life intentionally. We're here every week to bring you intentional conversations on making your own path to success, challenging the status quo, and finding all the ways we're better. Recorded in Cookeville, TN, Kosta joins guests from all walks of life to bring fresh perspective and start your week with purpose. We're better together.

Kosta Yepifantsev: When I
started college I had no idea

what I wanted to be when I grew
up. Maybe that’s why it took me

14 years to graduate. Getting an
education is what you make it

and that’s a lesson I’ve had to
learn the hard way. Today’s

episode is presented by our
partners at Aspire Barber and

Beauty Academy, an Aveda Concept
School providing a one-of-a-kind

education experience to aspiring
barbers and beauty

professionals. With over 52
years of real-world experience,

Aspire instructors are equipped
with the hands-on knowledge to

help you become the stylist
you’re meant to be.

Dan Allcott: You get to a
certain level and you're the

best at that level. And the only
way to get better is to make

some kind of change that allows
you to improve more, and change

is hard.

Morgan Franklin: Welcome to
Better Together with Kosta

Yepifantsev, a podcast on
parenting business and living

life intentionally. We're here
every week to bring you

thoughtful conversation, making
your own path to success,

challenging the status quo, and
finding all the ways we're

better together. Here's your
host, Kosta Yepifantsev.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey y'all,
it's Kosta. Today I'm here with

my guest, Dan Allcott, professor
of music at Tennessee Tech and

music director of the Oak Ridge
symphony, Bryan symphony

orchestra, and Tennessee
Philharmonic. First of all,

congratulations to you and the
entire Bryan Symphony Orchestra,

as this year marks the
celebration of your 60th season.

Would you give us some
background on how the orchestra

started and how it's evolved to
the orchestra we have today?

Dan Allcott: Well, that's a
interesting story. And one of

the benefits of me arriving
about 20 years ago in

Cookeville, was there are still
a lot of people who were

involved with the founding of
the orchestra. And now there are

just a few left who I get to
talk to. But really the story

that was told to me was that
there were so many people who

moved here from a way to be
faculty members. And at that

time, a lot of the faculty hires
were men, and their wives came

with them. And some of them
said, we're going where? Right,

so they arrived in Cookeville.

And they got together on many
fronts and thought, how can we

make this community even better?

What can we do to make this
place special? And also, how can

we complete this as a
metropolitan or micropolitan

community and they they wanted
to bring some things that they

were used to. And there's a long
tradition of music at Tennessee

Tech anyway, the man for whom
our symphony is named and hold

the Brian fine art centers named
Charles Faulkner. Brian was a

composer from McMinnville,
Tennessee. And he was a teacher

early on at Tennessee Tech. So
there had been that footprint

already there. The Derryberry
family was very supportive of

music, Everett Derryberry and
his wife and then Walter

Derryberry, Everett's son, Dr.

Derryberry, and his wife. And so
this generation of people got

together to say, what can we do
to help the music department and

let's do something really big.

Sure. And so they decided to
have found what was then kind of

a town gown orchestra, which
was, you know, partly music

faculty, students, and they were
hiring people right away from

Nashville Symphony or whatever,
to complement the orchestra. And

at that point, it was a pretty
good gig if you could get a

teaching gig in Tennessee, at
Tennessee Tech paid more than

the Nashville Symphony job.

Yeah. When I got there, there
were still a couple of faculty

members were like, used to play
in the Nashville Symphony. And

then they became full time over
here, because you know, so

Nashville Symphony has since
grown into a more full time

orchestra, of course, but
anyway, it was these, the women,

there was a guild that they
formed, and they decided to make

this work and they push this
idea. Jim Weinberger was the

chair of the music department.

And he was the first conductor.

And, you know, they just kind of
moved forward early on they they

had education initiatives, and
some of those came and went. And

so when I came here, you know, I
kind of learned what the

orchestra had done, kind of saw
where we were at that point. And

then, you know, in 20 years, you
kind of get to make your own

imprint. But the first thing I
did was look at what was the

imprint that was left for me,
what was the legacy? And where

can I move forward with the
board and the community?

Kosta Yepifantsev: Well, and
give us a little bit of

background. So when you got here
20 years ago, it was the early

2000s. Were you guys in the same
building? Were you the same size

as you are now? What was it like
back then relative to now 20

Dan Allcott: years ago, we were
in the same building? The Brian

Fine Arts Center is I think 40
Some years old or and the

building is a great building.

We're lucky that we have that
building, the building you are

in when you have a teaching job
or in an orchestra job. makes a

huge difference. And we have a
wonderful concert hall, which is

getting a facelift next year.

And that makes a big difference
nice studios to teach in the

building is not as modern in
some ways as we'd like it would

keep, you know, trying to
upgrade things and this and that

we need more technology. But we
are lucky to have a wonderful

building and a wonderful place
on campus. You know, we kind of

own that last end of campus. And
the nice thing about us being in

that place is we hope that the
community feels not everybody in

the community always feels like
they can just easily get onto

campus. And, you know, do we
have to pay for parking and the

word there on the end of campus,
on the weekends, the parking is

free people can come in, and
it's an accessible place. So

yeah, other than continuing
cosmetic changes. Now, when I

got here, of course, I was one
of the young faculty members.

And now there are a couple,
three of us that have you know,

are holding the fort for the
older generation. But that's

also a wonderful thing about
being at a university, that

influx of energy from new young
faculty members, we just we had

a busy year of searches last
year, we've been able to

maintain through even some tough
budget cuts, we've been able to

maintain the size of our
faculty, which is really

important because, you know, if
you have a school of music in

Nashville, sometimes some of
those schools, I won't name any

names will have a smaller full
time faculty because they can

just get somebody to come in one
day a week and teach this

instrument or that instrument,
our faculty are really, really

invested as a whole, we have
many full time faculty and a few

adjuncts as well. But that way,
the students see that that we're

all working together. And also
as a college environment. You

know, I have friends who are
teachers at universities who

don't have kind of I have always
had kind of a foot in both

worlds of professional work and
university work. And at a

university you can get easily
like cordoned off into your

space and defend your space and
not but we all perform together

so much that I think things can
never really get that nasty at a

faculty meeting. Because right
when you leave, you're gonna go

into a rehearsal with somebody
that you know, you might have

been voting

Kosta Yepifantsev: in with
what's really interesting about

our show better together as we
have interviewed, like so many

people that are associated that
are not just musicians, but are

associated to the school of
music or the Bryan symphony

orchestra, and then also the
Dean of the College of Music.

It's the College of Fine Arts
College of Fine Arts is tell me

Jennifer Shannon, Jennifer,
that's it. Yeah. And we did the

great TV auction together. Oh,
yeah. Hosted so and I just

remember, like, I'm thinking to
myself as I'm interviewing you,

and I interviewed Andrew
Buckner, and just a handful, but

Rachel Rachel,

Dan Allcott: Mark Kramer. Yeah,
exactly. Yeah. And so like,

Rachel was my cello student.

Really? Yeah. I've known her
since she was 15. Have

Kosta Yepifantsev: you been to
her bar? Yeah. Yeah. Super cool.

Yeah. She's done an amazing job.

But anyway, it's just, it's
always fascinating to me,

because it's like you said, you
wouldn't expect to have an

orchestra in Cookeville. But the
background? I mean, it obviously

makes sense. It's an
intentionality. Yeah, there was

Dan Allcott: a very as are many
things. I think, if you look at

that, you look at the television
station, and you look at the

hospital. Yes. You know, those
were decisions that people made

a long time ago, like, are we
just going to farm everything

out to somewhere else? Or are we
gonna maintain, and that's what

makes us on micropolitan, a real
micropolitan community. You

know, I'm always saying people
will travel to Nashville,

sometimes for this surgery, or
they'll go see a Nashville

Symphony, which is all fine. But
for the rest of this five to

eight County area, we are the
center of commerce and medicine

and culture in a way that we can
be very impactful.

Kosta Yepifantsev: How did you
get into this? Like when you

were a kid, you picked up your
first instrument? Did you just

immediately fall in love with
it? How did you come to be who

you are today?

Dan Allcott: Well, I would put
most of the responsibility on my

mother. Okay, I had a great
mother. And in fact, my mom

moved here. She lived there for
the last several years of her

life, which was really awesome,
because people had heard about

her. And then she showed up and
they're like, man, he's not

kidding. And also, she would
tell them, you know, that's

Danny. I think I don't come from
a family of musicians. I come

from a family of logistical
people. My father is an engineer

with a MBA. My sister is a
certified project manager has

worked for IBM, eBay, you know,
one of my brothers is a dean

level Foreign Studies. Person
who now works for startup that

has some of his former students
started working in international

studies. My brother who's a
trucker became the guy who hired

all the other truckers and
figured out where the trucks

are. So we're all managers, and
then you're the creative well,

but I'm also that's why I'm a
conductor. Even as a young

person, frankly, I was ahead of
my peers academically, even in

elementary school. You know, I
got in trouble because I was

looking for some way to be the
boss of whatever are. And

there's a great school system
where in fifth grade, everybody

had the opportunity to choose an
instrument. And I chose trumpet.

And I showed up for a band that
day. And Mr. dealio, the band

director said, your mom called,
you're playing cello come back

tomorrow for orchestra. And so I
came back the next day. And I

had a wonderful orchestra
teacher who was an old German

musician, first generation from
Milwaukee, he just kind of took

me under his wing, and really
immediately noticed that I was,

you know, gifted in music and
gifted in storytelling and using

that energy for music. And they
basically just kept trying to

you know, they the cello was
something that was not super

easy for me to do. So it kept me
focused in a way, I still had my

you know, I, I always say, I got
suspended for the first time in

third grade. And then I started
playing the cello. And I didn't

get suspended again till I was
16. So you know that that's

good. That became a focus for
me, my best friends were in

music, and I just connected
those people, I started going

away to summer camps for music.

And I was really active in
tennis up until I was about 15.

And that was kind of when I had
to make a decision a little bit.

And there really wasn't anything
else that I ever really wanted

to do. And again, back to my
mother, I'm pretty sure my

parents probably had a
conversation about my career

choices. But I never heard that
because I'm sure my mom shut

that down right away.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, at
least you weren't like wanting

to be in a rock band and like
live in a van or, like you were

playing in an orchestra I was

Dan Allcott: in I was, I was
making money. I mean, I was in

high school, I was subbing in
professional orchestras and just

making insane amount of money
for a high school kid every once

in a while. But there just
wasn't, you know, I'm sure that

my you know, they talked about
it. And I'm sure my mom just

said to my dad, you're not
talking to him about his career

choice. And so it just worked,
you know, and I kept finding,

you know, these people and
influences. Also, I think there

was so many people who are such
positive influences on me, as

leaders in music and conductors
and cello teachers and stuff.

And I just kept finding that
energy, and also my peers that

were really excelling. Not all
of them who are in music now.

But it really was clear to me
that that was, this was a place

where I felt the happiest. And I
felt like I also had something

to contribute that was unique.

And, you know, I think if I had
taught to my dad or somebody

about like, what's your end
game? You know, I didn't know

what my end game was until I
just wanted to pursue it to the

furthest extent that I could.

And I share that with my
students. Now. Sometimes, you

know, I talked to parents a lot
whose children are considering

majoring in music. And I tell
them I said, first of all, you

got to it's like an exorcism.

For some kids. You got to just
go in there. You got to get it

done, because you got to see
what you know. And there are so

many careers that musicians can
have. What are they? Oh, they're

actually there's a it's funny. I
have a friend who has a whole

website that she runs and a
group that she runs called

orchestra careers, okay. And she
was an oboe player. And now

she's the manager of the
wheeling West Virginia Symphony.

She used to work in Nashville
Symphony. She also found that

she was really good about behind
the scenes things or logistics,

or support things. I know you
interviewed my former student

Rachel Smalling, Rachel figured
out early on when she started

going to music camp. She loved
being the person who helped make

the events happen. She went to
Swanee summer music festival and

eventually got on the staff
there. Then she was part time

staff for brands and eventually
became my executive director for

several years. And now you can't
keep the entrepreneurial spirit

out of her opening. She owns two
hotels, and she's opening a

speakeasy. It's amazing. This is
the kind of I mean, you learn

such important skills in music,
and you also learn to work with

people. You know, we are
constantly working in compromise

situations with others listening
to others. I think they're just

so many positive things. But
there are a lot of careers in

music that are, you know, not
everybody's going to get a job

in the Nashville Symphony or
something like that. The

teaching careers are actually I
get calls every year do you have

a string teacher that's
graduating, I have another

position here, you may have to
move for it. But I've moved

quite a bit from my work to
maintain what I'm doing. So

there are a lot of the happiest
people I know. And musicians,

they're so hard working. I mean,
I'm now at the point in my

career where I'm kind of slowing
down a little bit to focus on my

family more. And also my
teaching career is kind of like

the real main thing for me right
now. But up until I was you

know, 50 I mean, it was crazy.

You were talking about my I've
actually recently just left the

Tennessee Philharmonic and the
Oak Ridge symphony, because

there were nights where I would
have a concert and on Thursday

night, a concert in Murfreesboro
rehearsal on Friday in Oak

Ridge, Saturday night concert in
Oak Ridge and then Sunday

morning rehearsal here on a
Sunday afternoon concert that

was feeding me in a certain way.

But now my family situation has
changed a little bit. We're not

as comfortable being away that
much and my my wife's working is

more important now. And so now
I'm more choosy. Yeah. But the

opportunity to share so much
music with so many people in one

week was intoxicating.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Can I ask you
something that I just find

absolutely fascinating. And it's
a way to explain to all the

people who are not gifted in
playing any instrument, period,

like at all, because as I'm
reading your bio is talking to

Morgan, you can pretty much play
any instrument orchestral

instrument, and you can teach it
as well,

Dan Allcott: you know what, I
know how all of them work?

Kosta Yepifantsev: Can you
actually play it?

Professionally,

Dan Allcott: I can play several
I can play but none of them I

would not play anything but the
cello in public,

Kosta Yepifantsev: okay. But you
can teach Oh, yes. And also part

of what you know, I

Dan Allcott: mean, I know a lot
of people say, Oh, if you want

to be the head of a company, you
have to have done every job.

That's not always the case. Or
you don't always have that

opportunity. I do know people
who can play really, really

well, multiple instruments. But
I have always been even when I

was a tennis player. When I was
in middle school, I had a really

good friend who was a super
competitive player. And I was

never, I didn't have that
competitive drive or edge like

he did. But he loves to play
tennis with me, because I would

talk to him about how tennis
worked all the time, we were

always talking about what now I
refer to as technique. I ended

up studying cello with one of
the great teachers of the mid to

late 20th century, who what is
still revered for his technical

facility, but also as an amazing
teacher, somebody who could

teach you how to do things, and
he was very direct about what he

thought of other people's
teaching, you know, that people

would, you know, try and make
you do this and flowery, this,

and he was very good about
talking about the one thing that

was holding you back the most at
that point. And I think for me,

I have that kind of also,
because of my father, you know,

problem solving with my dad, who
was an engineer, we were always

looking at the system. And so
for me, the orchestra, in fact,

the first time I saw an
orchestra score, when I was

about 14, I looked at this and
it reminded me of a schematic

that I looked at with my father.

And I was just looking at it
like, wow, look at all these I

was I was entranced by the
possibilities. And I started

studying how does this work
right away. And so that, for me,

is a wonderful thing to be able
to do. It's a skill that I've

learned and honed, and also to
be able to pass on to students

who are going to be you know,
directing ensembles, and this

and that, but I actually really,
really love that process of the

imagination of the page, and
then trying to bring that to

life.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So there's
something like going on in your

brain, right? Yeah. Music
picture. Yeah. So I mean, you're

gifted with that. And that's
what gives you the ability to be

able to play multiple
instruments because I mean, like

I said, I can't even play one.

So the fact that you can play
multiple and you can teach most

of them is it's fascinating to
me, it's like I said, it's part

of the brain that's just not on
for me, right.

Dan Allcott: It's a different
skill set. But you know, I I

know people who are I have
friends who are super musically

talented, like, in a way that
I'm not, like, just digitally

talented. But that has never
been my talent. I've worked hard

to become a really fine cellist.

I'm not going to apologize about
my cello playing. I worked super

hard. I went through graduate
school, I went all the way

through the doctoral coursework
and cello performance, so that I

wouldn't be a conductor who
couldn't play an instrument.

There are conductors like that
out there. I'm not gonna say

that. I mean, I really, I mean,
I conducted an orchestra the

first time I was 16. My high
school orchestra teacher, let me

conduct the orchestra nice at a
regional like orchestra contest.

It's amazing now to think about
letting somebody do that. But I

always wanted to make sure that
I had that proficiency. But I

learned so much great music
making from some of those

instrumental teachers. They're
the ones that taught me to

listen and be able to talk to
other people about their

instrumental playing. Whether it
be I can't play the oboe, but

I'm certainly know how to get a
woodwind section to breathe

together or what my preference
is. And so I'm not afraid to do

that. Because I did that
exorcism myself. I went the

distance.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Well, on that
note, something I think you've

done quite skillfully throughout
your career is utilize the power

of collaboration with non
traditional partners like new

birth Missionary Baptist Church,
choir and Indigo Girls during

your time at the Atlanta Ballet
and Cookeville master singers

Stage One Dance Company and
center stage at Bryan Symphony

locally, what inspired you to
push the boundaries for

community involvement? Well,

Dan Allcott: I think there's a
long tradition of music

directors in cities being
culturally prominence and you

know, depending on the city, if
you go back to Johann Sebastian

Bach was, you know, one of his
jobs as general music director

of you know, if you've got The
biggest church job in town,

everybody just expected that,
you know, all their good music

was going to flow from that
place and right. And so I've

always been the beneficiary of
towns that valued music

education, especially. So the
thought of like just conducting

concerts is never been enough.

You know, and also depends on
the size organization with, I

think the smaller town you are
in, the more important that is

the Chicago Symphony doesn't
have to collaborate with

everybody in community. They are
the big, you know, how right and

deservedly so and they have
another responsibility level,

you know, that's different. They
still do some collaboration. But

I'll tell you, when I got my job
at Atlanta Ballet, my mentor

there, the artistic director was
a man named John McFaul. And he

was so brave. It was never a
question of if something was too

challenging, or whatever. And
the great thing is, we would, we

would dream up these
collaborations, some of which

took place some of them which
didn't, but like the new birth

Missionary Baptist church choir,
we were collaborating with their

200 voice, gospel choir, and an
eight piece gospel ensemble,

that weren't used to dancers who
count eight everything, you

know, yeah. And like, when we're
done dancing, the music is over.

And you know, that, like, they
had a very fluid way of learning

things, because they learned
everything by rote from their,

their awesome music. And he was
a Grammy winning record

producer, gospel music producer,
Kevin bond, I mean, just the

fact that I got to work with him
now. Um, every once awhile, I

find somebody who knows who
Kevin was no, like, really? I

said, Yeah, we did a ballet
together. That was a huge

collaboration at that time, that
was a 20,000 member church, and

just very interesting, but we
were trying to bring two very

different that's an African
American church with the Gospel

Choir, we were trying to bring
them together with Atlanta

Ballet, and, you know, join
hands in something. And so that

was wonderful. I saw that when
we were working with Indigo

Girls. That was a long process
where we didn't talk to Indigo

Girls for a long time. You know,
we were talking to their manager

and this and that, and then I
happen to go to church with Amy

raise dab. And then Emily
sailors actually lived in my

neighborhood a little bit, okay,
after a while, you know, it's

like, it just felt a little,
there's a little bit of comfort

there. Because we were all in
Atlanta. And eventually, when we

are all get together, that was
just a wonderful collaboration.

But they were also like, we want
to make sure we're, I mean, are

we doing the right amount of
measures and, and we want to do

the right tempo, they were like
so musically keyed into the

dancers. And we actually had
them on stage with the dancers,

and then the orchestra in the
pit. And we wrote orchestra

charts for the, you know, Indigo
Girls tunes. And so just that

dreaming thing, and John was so
good, my mentor, my boss, about

taking a project all the way
don't let money, don't let the

nose happen first, let's not
back down on the dreaming until

it's just like, okay, because
first of all, sometimes the

money came through. You know, I
mean, just imagine, like the,

the daunting process of trying
to calendar with Indigo Girls.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, how
expensive is it to produce a

show like that?

Dan Allcott: Well, first of all,
it's, you know, in a house, like

we did that at the Fox Theater,
okay, you know, which is a 3500

seat, you know, theory. And you
know, that organization, Atlanta

Ballet was running on about a $6
million annual budget at that

time. And so, you know, the
thing I learned was these big

collaborations had serious
financial risk. But he was so

brave. And like I said, we would
go all the way until we had to

back out, we had the rights from
the Margaret Mitchell estate to

set a ballet on Gone With the
Wind, oh, exclusive rights for

the longest time. And we banged
our heads against that project

for the entire 10 years that I
was there and it never happened.

I mean, it would have been a
hit. It would have been but also

it was it became a cultural time
where that would have it was

there was too difficult to see
because we couldn't glorify

parts of the story right? In
Atlanta, especially this is a

you know, this Atlanta as a very
strong community, which we we

really enjoyed. There was a lot
of collaborations across color

lines.

Kosta Yepifantsev: It's one of
the least and most segregated

right communities in so many
different aspects. Well, no one

will understand, right?

Dan Allcott: Because you've
lived there, and you know, that

there are parallel
organizations, dance

organizations and theatre
organizations and they drive

right they both thrive but also
when you're planning your you

know, like, you know, Atlanta
Symphony is like, well, a city

of this size, could have an
orchestra, this budget, well,

everything's a little bit
divided that right and then

there are these great
collaborations that come across

there. So I learned to dream so
when I came here, I like I

produced a semi staged opera my
first year that I was here and

and then I got hired. I was
principal guest conductor for

Asheville Lyric Opera for
several years. And so I would

get hired to produce an opera
over there and conduct and then

I'd bring the whole cast over
here, and then we crammed the

set on the stage. and the
singers would say, oh my god,

your orchestra is so good here.

So they were glad they're keep
this, you know, collaboration Do

you

Kosta Yepifantsev: have a dream
like collab that you would love

to have Brian Symphony
Orchestra?

Dan Allcott: You know, it's so
funny. I've checked so many,

like bucket list items off. I've
done so many things that I

wouldn't have dreamed of. I
mean, one of the things that we

did recently was and this was
really Rachel, Smalling just

pushing me because she loved
she's, you know, experienced

several operatic productions
while I was here, and after

Asheville Lyric Opera, and I
were no longer collaborating,

you know, she's like, What are
we doing? And I was like, amen.

So she just drove me to we self
produced an opera Lebo M, which

is one of the most famous operas
and we kind of set the whole

scene on the west side, in
Cookeville, where, you know, we

knew many artists who were
living in Garrett apartments,

and this and that another thing,
and the whole thing had that

kind of look, there was like a
Ralph's doughnut box on stage

and the artists, apartment
stuff. So you know, we keep

doing those things. Yeah, I
think the other thing, that's

the obvious one is that, you
know, Cookeville is a rich town

for dance education. I mean, we
couldn't believe it when we got

here. And there's, you know, you
can take dance at the high

school, you can take AP dance, I
think, or whatever, you know, my

reaching out to stage one and to
Jennifer crater to work with

them. And we've had several
valleys where we've had ballet

dancers on stage with us in our
orchestra and stuff. So anyway,

yeah, it's been that's been
really exciting. And we're doing

another collaboration with them,
as well. But what I like to do

is find people who have
strengths and connections to the

community and work with them,
and then we're all richer for

it. And I did the same thing in
Oak Ridge, you know, with a

children's show choir over
there, we were able to do some

very important things. And we
had a choir over there. So yeah,

we're stronger for them.

Collaborations all take their
pound of flesh, you know, you'd

have two groups with different
goals, you know, especially if

there's box office involved that
that's challenging, but our

costs are always the highest in
a collaboration because we have,

you know, orchestra that's a
professional orchestra, and

we're paying a lot of those
musicians. So

Kosta Yepifantsev: the moral of
the story is, stay tuned,

because it seems like Dan may be
thinking of something new. Now,

I

Dan Allcott: definitely gotta, I
actually do have some big plans

for like, the one thing if I was
saying, like, kind of a big

thing that I'll do before I
retire, whatever my favorite

composer is, Franz Schubert. And
2028 will be the 200th

anniversary of his untimely
death. He was 31. But he wrote,

you know, 600 songs, and he
wrote these beautiful

symphonies. So I want to kind of
have a, you know, two week kind

of celebration of chamber music
and bring in some scholars to

talk about Schubert and then
we're going to perform one of

his great symphonies, which I
haven't performed in a while,

and just really celebrate
somebody who I think, you know,

it's kind of a small guy from a
small town outside of Vienna,

was loved by musicians and was
not just typically not

celebrated until he was gone.

But, you know, that's something
that I can pass on to my

students and say, you know, find
something that you're passionate

about, and like, really, really
make something of it.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Here at
Better Together we want to

challenge the status quo, create
new ideas, and never take

“that’s the way we’ve always
done things” for an answer. At

Aspire Barber and Beauty
Academy, their instructors feel

the exact same way. The beauty
industry is changing every day,

and if you’re going to a school
that’s only concerned with you

passing the state boards, you’ll
never make it behind the chair.

From the owners of Loxx Salon
and Spa, Aspire Barber and

Beauty Academy was created to
redefine education in the beauty

industry and give future
stylists, barbers, and beauty

professionals the tools they
actually need to succeed.

Schedule your tour today at
aspirebarberandbeauty.com. You

recently concluded a two year
term on the board of trustees at

Tennessee Tech representing the
Faculty Senate. How did this

opportunity influence your
perspective as a professor and a

faculty member at TTU?

Dan Allcott: Well, I was honored
to be elected by the faculty

senate to that position. Board
of Trustees is a relatively new

organization as a local board of
trustees, and I was the third

representative. And I'm not a
person who's afraid to speak my

mind. I'm a fully tenured, you
know, full professor of music.

You know, at this point in my
life, I feel free to speak my

mind. I've been a good observer
of the university. I've worked

with a lot of people across the
university for years. And so I

felt it was a great opportunity
for me to share in kind of real

time when we were talking about
decision making. Well, here's

how that would affect me as a
professor, or here's how I think

you're misunderstanding that and
At best, I may have moved the

needle a little bit because the
perspective of Trustees is much

different than mine. But you
know, educating them as to what

is really happening on campus or
the the result of their

decisions. And so it's super
important. And it was great. I

would say chair Trudy Harper was
very generous in learning about

different areas of the
university and helping the other

trustees learn about things. So
she, because I was there, she

said, we're going to learn
about, you know, music a little

bit, we had the choir perform
for them one night at a social

event, my university orchestra
came and played at lunch one

time, and with no mechanician by
any of us, the two students who

got the top two awards, were
spoken about at my last board of

trustee meetings, were both non
major members of the university

orchestra. And in fact that
Derryberry winner the basically

our valedictorian was my concert
master at the University of

Exeter, the less so she's like,
I think I'm finally getting it.

You know that this is an
important part of our university

that that people they all people
have to find their villages. And

that music is an incredible
village for a lot of people at

the university. It brings people
together. Oh, yeah, we you know,

conduit. And it's funny when I
when I was still music director

in Oak Ridge, every once awhile,
I would go to Oak Ridge High

School orchestra performance.

And I was friends with the then
director of Putnam County

Schools, and I would take a
picture of their 300 member,

high school and middle school
orchestra. And I'd say, hey,

look, it's going out at the best
high school in the state. And he

would text me back to the I
know, all the aspirational

schools that Putnam County looks
at or whatever, they all have

great, artful programs in music,
and we don't have an orchestra

in our, in our public school.

That's something I like to
agitate about every once awhile,

and I only have so much power,
but we should feel bad about it.

Anyway.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Were you the
only faculty member on the board

of trustees? Yes. There's only

Dan Allcott: one? Yes. Okay. So
there's only as an elected,

yeah, there's an elected faculty
member. And all the others are

appointed by the governor. You
know, imagine the difference of

somebody being appointed by the
governor and me, that's a little

bit different position. But I
knew several of the trustees

already because of my work in
the community. And so that was,

you know, to my advantage, I
think that we had to work

together on some projects.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Can I ask you
an off topic? Question? Yeah. So

I spend a lot of time listening
to podcasts. And one of the

things that always comes up is
something about how higher

education has been blah, blah,
blah, hijacked, you know, or

whatever, whatever you whatever
criticism people have about

societies, for some reason, they
slap it on higher education,

like, that's where it all goes
wrong. You know what I'm saying?

And I'm sure you probably
resonate in the sense of hearing

those things. But why do you
think higher education gets this

stigma?

Dan Allcott: Well, I think it's
been that that attack is part of

a plan, actually, higher
education is where the United

States has always made up the
gains. That's, you know, when

that people look at education
systems in other countries, we

always made up, you know, the
difference in higher education.

So I think saying that our
education system, you know, has

flaws or as major flaws and
needs to be tinkered with, is

actually part of a plan. You
know, if you call something bad

enough, you get to change it.

And so I think that there's just
been an effort to change things,

you know, and also there's been
an effort to corporate ties it,

and faculty members cannot teach
freely, if they're under threat

of unemployment all the time.

And you don't want an education
system to vacillate back and

forth so quickly. It should
change slowly. And what should

change, I mean, our university
is changing, we're moving along

with making changes, it has to
evolve. But if everything is at

the whim of one political
meaning or another, you don't

maintain a great tradition, you
don't maintain these great

universities. And I know I mean,
this is not even a political,

it's not a conservative or
liberal thing. I went to Indiana

University for my master's
degrees. And, you know, that's a

conservative state, but they
have the largest music school in

the world in Bloomington,
Indiana, because that tradition

was set down and that footprint
was there. And they've

maintained it. And it's a
wonderful university, and we

have the opportunity. I think
our isolation from the big

cities, in a way is a boon for
Tennessee Tech. I think that

we're a little less vulnerable
in some ways. But yeah, it's

part of a plan.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Do we have
the biggest and best music

program? In terms of higher
education in the state of

Tennessee?

Dan Allcott: I think we have the
strongest undergraduate

education program, when I see
day to day what our students

have opportunities to do. And I
work in other campuses a lot and

I have friends that teach at
these schools. And I can just

look at my own program, what
I've wanted to build what I'm

able to do and where my students
my former students are now I

feel like we've been successful
in that There's a National

String Project consortium that
was founded because in the 90s,

I think it was, people started
realizing that that a lot of

string teachers were retiring,
and there weren't enough string

educators to replace them. And
so high schools would give the

orchestra to a bad teacher, and
then it would be awful. And then

it would die of attrition. There
is this real push. And this is

by the American string teachers
association helped with the

founding of this string. So we
founded a String Project here,

which is an after school string
program for young people where

they are taught by college
students under the My mentorship

and the mentoring mentorship of
the lead teacher, Mia Haggerty,

we're growing those students
that we don't have a high school

roster, but we're growing those
and my teachers from that

program are getting jobs. And so
I had a great thing happened in

auditions. Last spring, a young
lady came played the violin, she

was a non major, but she wanted
to play in university orchestra

and we get some scholarships and
stuff. And I said, No, where did

you start violence goes in your
String Project. And that's

amazing. I was like, wow,
that's, that's crazy. And I

know, she was a young woman by
now. And then I she told me her

name. And I was like, oh, man, I
remember you when you had braces

and whatever. So you know that
that's a wonderful feeling. And

you know, we've got that we've
got the Bryan Symphony where

students are sitting next to
faculty members performing

alongside finest musicians in
Tennessee. When people come to

play in the Brighton symphony,
or this, our soloists come,

they're so impressed, they can't
believe the script. And I

sometimes can't believe I go
away, and I conduct other

orchestras and friends of mine
in bigger cities, or whatever.

And then I come back and I, my
string section is actually

better than that. Like right
now, my Viola section is really,

really strong. I'm super excited
about them. Viola is violin,

viola is larger than a violin,
okay? It's the middle voice in

the orchestra in the string
section. You know, we've just

cultivated we have these people
who I've for 20 years and

longer, some of them have been
traveling to Chattanooga to play

with us, or, you know, this at
the end of the season. One of my

dear friends is coming. He's
principal cellist of the

Cleveland Orchestra, which is my
into my mind, the finest

orchestra in the world. And he's
coming back to play with us for

his fourth time. But the Brian
seven he played my first concert

when he was a doctoral student,
but you know, they come back

here because we treat them well.

And, you know, we try and pay
them well, but it's not their

outcome. They they come here
because they know they're going

to be valued by and they can
make an impact in our community.

Kosta Yepifantsev: What projects
are you guys working on right

now at Bryan Symphony Orchestra?

You know,

Dan Allcott: it's starting our
60th season. October 1 is our

first concert as a subscription
season. Well, they have our

outdoor concert, which we had
perfect weather for. And we had

2500 people there. So if you
think about our county, l

60,000, or whatever, I always
tease my friends who live in big

cities. I like if you had the
percentage turnout that I did,

they'd have to call the National
Guard, you know. So that was at

dogwood Park. Amazing. Yeah. And
we had a it was a super fun

night. And we you know, we're
now of a generation where like,

you know, some of our pops music
is like 80s, rock or whatever.

So like, we did a journey medley
that I was singing to the

orchestra while I was conducting
and getting the audience to sing

along. Just had a great, great
evening to start. But so we, you

know, the thing that we're
always doing in our concerts is

we're trying to honor our
tradition. There's about 400

years worth of music, I get to
choose from turn 300 years

anyway to perform. So we're
honoring that tradition, but

also doing new things and
finding that new thing. So like

on our opening concert, there's
a violinist his name's Tracy

Silverman, and he's a Juilliard
trained violinist, but he's kind

of gone rock and roll. And he
plays an electric violin. And

he's had a great Puerto Rican
American composer read a new

concerto new solo for him to
play with the orchestra. And

also Tracy's gonna do a whole
workshop the day before. This is

also collaboration with center
stage at Tennessee Tech, and

he's going to teach all these
alternate techniques on his

violin at

Kosta Yepifantsev: here. Yeah.

Wow. That's your train? Yeah,
yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Dan Allcott: I'll make a big
deal about that Juilliard thing,

because that's Indiana
University. We get a little

Kosta Yepifantsev: it's well,
you know, it's popular culture.

Dan Allcott: Or whatever. No,
Tracy's a great guy, but he's

gonna so he's gonna work with
our String Project and our

university orchestra students
and then we're inviting area

string teachers in to come and
learn this new method. He's kind

of teaching

Kosta Yepifantsev: and is that
the Discover Your symphony? Is

that kind of

Dan Allcott: discover our
symphony is like for it?

Basically, we're really inviting
people to discover what is their

orchestra about and we're
discovering new things, and

we're doing new things all the
time. So most of our new

subscribers, of course, are
people that are new to the

community. Right. And there's a
lot of them. Yeah, and they are

surprised. You know, they come
in, they're like, this isn't the

you know, what we call your
income orchestra. This is a real

I mean, they're, they're really
impressed. So we want to make

sure that people are constantly
you know, discovering what we're

doing, and we're we're doing new
things. And we're really excited

that concert actually is in
conjunction with Hispanic

Heritage Month. So we've got
this Puerto Rican composer and

then another friend of mine from
Knoxville who's coming he's a

Latin composer is coming, we're
doing a piece of his. So we're

always looking to make every
concert special. Of course,

we're designing a season. But,
you know, November, we're doing

a memorial for Angela Volpe,
who's the former president of

the university, who was on our
board of directors pretty

recently, even. And so we're
having a singer come back

because Angelou love, he and I
both loved opera and baseball,

but we can only do the opera
part on the concert. And then

we're doing a collaboration with
stage one and February, every

concert has something special.

And they also have something
that hones the our tradition,

like we have a symphony by
Haydn, you know, in this concert

that was written in the 18th
century, and then we have a

piece that was written two years
ago. So it's fun for us to do.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, I
find it fascinating because it

seems like every 20 years,
there's a huge influx of people

that come to Cookeville
unclickable changes

dramatically. But because you
guys have been consistent the

orchestra that is, has been
consistent in being able to sort

of cast that wide net and bring
people in. That's why it's

continued to grow. So even as
the population grows, that

percentage stays the same,
right? And so I can't I can't

wait to see in 2045, how many
people are going to attend a

outdoor symphony? And yeah, it's
pretty incredible.

Dan Allcott: It's been that's
been a really, you know, great

thing. Dogwood Park, again, is
one of the things that, you

know, that pavilion that took
some doing that took some people

basically Sam and Diane Glasgow,
you know, really pushed that

along with some others. The
pavilion was already here, but

the next wave was to fix the
park, because there used to be

like an old department store and
bar down there.

Kosta Yepifantsev: And so yeah,
yes, my wife told me that. So

Dan Allcott: my wife was on the
committee. In fact, my wife was

the one on the committee said,
we need to have a water feature.

So she likes to think that the
reason we have that found or we

like to think that but but we
both, you know, that was

something she was interested in,
people realize that my wife was

very community minded as well.

And so we're glad to have seen
the growth. But we also see the

challenges with the growth, it's
a little harder, it's actually

harder to raise money, in a way
because we don't know who to

talk to at some of these big new
corporations. Yeah, it's there's

more screening, because if you
have somebody that's an

international corporation, you
know, their philanthropy chair

is in Madrid or something. My
next

Kosta Yepifantsev: door neighbor
used to be Tony, that runs by

cosa. And so you know, I'm sure
you can talk to me, Oh, yeah.

Dan Allcott: I will hit you up.

But I mean, that's, that's part
of our challenge. And we used to

be you know, that our board was,
like all the doctors or

whatever, and they just talked
to every other doctor, and

they're like, We need $1,000 for
the symphony this year. So it's

changed, because Cookeville is a
little bit bigger place, and

there are other competing
interests, and that's fine. When

the symphony started. We were
the only Gala. We were the first

Gala. You know, I still have no,
because I mean, it's you guys

should have well, there's so
many. Now, it's actually kind of

that kind of has run its course
almost we feel and you know,

you're working harder to raise
that money than than it was

worth sometimes there are a few
that everyone's want has

somebody has a really good Gala.

But that takes a lot of work.

And it depends on what the
makeup of your board and who

those people are. So we keep
finding other ways to do things.

Like we started doing beers for
Brahms, that father Tom's now as

a part of the great give back
from the Middle Tennessee

Community Foundation. And so we
figured out a way that we could

game that system, they were
having an online event every

year forgiving, and there's
like, it's the great payback. We

said, we'll pay back, but we're
going to invite everybody to

Father Tom's to do it. Yeah. And
we consistently were one of the

biggest awardees in that great
payback. So we'll just keep, you

know, inventing the next new
thing, and you have to be brave

to move on from something that
maybe has run its course and you

can revisit them. But yeah,

Kosta Yepifantsev: let's talk
about aspiring musicians. As

someone who has notably
succeeded in their career as a

professional musician, what is
your advice to students and

aspiring performers that know
their calling is in the musical

arts,

Dan Allcott: there are two
things that I share with my

students frequently. One is you
never know who's watching in any

situation. Don't be late, and be
prepared. You know, I've been in

a situation where somebody came
in to sub with the Atlanta

Ballet orchestra, you know,
their first time, and the

personnel manager would come to
me and say, What do you think of

that, you know, person subbing,
and I would get my opinion, and

sometimes that person would go
on to have a very successful

time subbing in orchestras and
be and then sometimes that

person wouldn't come back. I
said, Don't be, you know, for

any reason, any dumb reason,
people, musicians, make

mistakes, be a good person to
work with, and work hard. I

would say with the exception of
maybe one thing. Most of my best

opportunities and music came
when I didn't know someone was

watching. I was conducting
somewhere and somebody else saw

me. I was conducting a school
orchestra in Bloomington,

Indiana, on a Schubert symphony,
and the principal clarinet

player of the Vienna
Philharmonic was there visiting

a friend. And he saw me. He
spoke to my teacher. And then I

got connected to a fellowship at
the Salzburg Festival that

summer where I spent the entire
summer you know, I mean, I

didn't, well, you weren't in
your head. I was right, you were

just trying to do a job, you
know, yeah. And so, so many, my

job at Atlanta Ballet, came the
same way somebody was from

Atlanta Ballet was visiting
somewhere where I was conducting

the ballet orchestra. And they
started talking to me, and I

ended up moving to Atlanta. So I
share that with my students. The

other thing is, you know, that
you have to be brave enough to

change my cello teacher, Yano,
Straker, there's a great online

lecture, it's on YouTube,
because he's passed away where

he it's called a lesson in
music, but it's also a lesson in

life, really. And he talks about
the levels, in his case of music

making, and you know, you get to
a certain level, and you're the

best at that level. And the only
way to get better is to make

some kind of change, that allows
you to improve more. And change

is hard. You know, if you've
always held your bow a certain

way, and then only thing that's
gonna get you to the next level

is you have to make a little
change. And musicians are very,

you know, horn players will tell
you like, oh my gosh, my teacher

told me, I have to change my
ombre sure, you know, or

whatever. And it's very
difficult. But that's where that

next, and I'm still doing that.

And I'm sharing that with my
students. So I tell them, Don't

be afraid to do that. And we and
I have this like, I call it the

levels of Sucka tude, I tell
them, you're at the highest

level that you're going to get
to right there, you got to move

to the next level of Secretariat
so that you have all that, that

room and I learned that from
from my teacher. So that was

wonderful advice. And it makes
me confront I have, you know,

fears and this and that. And so
in my, you know, non music life,

I kind of present myself with
challenges. I'm like, Well, why

why should I be afraid that so
like, you know, I have a

sailboat that I sail on the
ocean, and I'm like, don't be a

certain standard. Don't be
afraid to do that. Just because

there's eight knots of tidal
current pushing you

Kosta Yepifantsev: back and
saying that sounds like

something I would never know.

It's, you know,

Dan Allcott: everybody does
things. I just try not to do

things where I endanger my life.

So,

Kosta Yepifantsev: so we always
like to end the show on a high

note, who is someone that makes
you better when you're together?

Dan Allcott: Does anybody not
say their spouse, because I'm

gonna not say my wife, but I'm
gonna say that my wife is

wonderful. And we have a great
partnership. And people talk to

us about our partnership. We've
even had bankers say, Wow,

that's great how you guys talk
about things things, but I'm

gonna say this, my son, Carter,
my son is 27. And he has autism.

And he has had so many
challenges, but he is literally

a person who lights up a room,
you have to kind of go to him,

you know, he gets along really
well with adults, because adults

can be very accommodating. But
he makes everybody better. He

brings an enthusiasm. He's still
an all caught. He's a little

bossy. He talks with his hands
like I do. He's verbose,

especially for somebody with
autism. He has a trait called

cocktail personality, which
means he thinks you're

interested in what he's saying.

And he's going to convince you
whether it's Power Rangers or

fossils or whatever. But he is
really an inspiring young man,

and probably changed me more
than anybody that even then my

teachers, a special needs
families are can be volatile,

and a lot of the marriages break
up because it's, it's shocking

you it's not something you
expected, maybe or whatever. But

I think that Carter, you know,
changed me and our marriage and

my wife and his sister for the
better and continues to do that.

And a lot of people in
Cookeville know him. He's very

recognizable. He looks quite a
bit like me, especially now that

he has a beard. So yeah, I think
most people who have met him

kind of feel that same way. And
also in our family, we're like,

if somebody doesn't pass the
Carter tests, we're not hanging

out with them anyway. They don't
like Carter, there's something

wrong with him because he's,
he's a lot of fun. And he and

I've, I think now especially as
he's an adult, and you know,

we're looking at this next years
together, we still have a lot to

do together.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Thank you to
our partners at Aspire Barber

and Beauty Academy for
presenting this episode. Aspire

is an Aveda Concept school
providing a one-of-a-kind

education experience to aspiring
barbers and beauty

professionals. Created by the
owners of Loxx Salon and Spa,

Aspire’s instructors bring over
52 years of real-world

experience, equipping students
with the hands-on knowledge to

help you become the stylist
you’re meant to be. New classes

are now enrolling. Visit
aspirebarberandbeauty.com

Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of

Better Together with Kosta
Yepifantsev. If you've enjoyed

listening and you want to hear
more, make sure you subscribe on

Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or
wherever you find your podcasts.

Leave us a review or better yet,
share this episode with a

friend. Today's episode was
written and produced by Morgan

Franklin post production mixing
and editing by Mike Franklin.

Want to know more about Kosta
visit us at

kostayepifantsev.com. We're
better together. We'd like to

remind our listeners that the
views and opinions expressed

during this episode are those of
the individual speakers and do

not necessarily represent or
reflect the official policy or

position of this show its
producers or any related

entities or advertisers. While
our discussions may touch on

various topics of interest,
please note that the content is

intended to inspire thought
provoking dialogue and should

not be used for a substitute for
professional

advice.Specifically, nothing
heard on this podcast should be

construed as financial, legal,
medical or any other kind of

professional advice. We
encourage our listeners to

consult with a professional in
these areas for guidance

tailored to their specific
circumstances.