Administration & Staff

Dr. Sarita Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Creative & Entertainment Industres in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.  Her journey to becoming a college professor was circuitous at best.  Sarita, a native of Oregon City, Oregon, grew up dreaming of a career in the music business.  Soon after her graduation from Oregon State University armed with a degree in Business Administration, she headed to Los Angeles.  She soon met legendary record company executive Mike Curb, and became a receptionist at his company. 

Sarita learned the business from the ground up, working with such top musical artists as Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna Judd, JoDee Messina and many other artists over the course of her 14-year employ at Curb Records.  She also earned a Masters of Business Administration at Claremont Graduate University during her time in Los Angeles.  One of the highlights from that time was the opportunity to take a class from management theorist Peter F. Drucker.  Following her graduation, Sarita transferred to the Curb Records Nashville headquarters, having received a promotion to Director of Marketing for the label.  She eventually left to become the U.S. Marketing Director for the Vienna-based microphone and headphone manufacturer, AKG Acoustics in 2000. 

Dr. Stewart began teaching part-time as a Belmont adjunct in 2005, prior to becoming a full-time instructor in the Entertainment Industry Studies program in 2007.  She went on sabbatical leave in 2009 to undertake a Ph.D. in Communication at The University of Alabama.  While at Alabama, Sarita received UA’s Graduate Council Fellowship award, which allowed to her study with the communication scholar, Dr. Jennings Bryant, prior to his retirement.  Her 2013 dissertation, Artist-Fan Engagement Model: Implications for Music Consumption and The Music Industry, was overseen by her Graduate Studies Dean, Dr. Shuhua Zhou. 

As an entertainment researcher, Dr. Stewart continues to focus upon varied research interests, including music consumption, video games, artist fandom, and mood management.  She has several published book chapters, including an essay on LeAnn Rimes’ album Blue in Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself: Essays on Debut Albums(Ashgate).  Her most recent book chapter, “TV, Radio, and Music Research,” written in collaboration with Dr. Louisa Ha of Bowling Green University and Jeff Green of Stone Door Media Lab, was published in Research Methods in Communication (Third Edition) (Vision Press).  She has also served as a participant at various academic and industry panels.

Most importantly, Dr. Stewart loves working with her undergraduate and graduate students.  Her teaching expertise is in the areas of public relations, music marketing, and consumer research.  It is very important to her to pass along her passion for, and love of, the entertainment business.  It is indeed an honor to help educate the next generation of entertainment and music industry artists and executives.

Hello! I am the Director of the Advising Center in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. I am a 2002 graduate of Belmont University with a BBA in Music Business. I knew at the young age of thirteen that I wanted to attended Belmont University. I loved it so much, I decided to stay and become a part of the family and team in the School of Music Business starting in November of 2002 (one month before I graduated).  I love working with our seniors in assisting with graduation, course planning and their future in the entertainment industry! We have a wonderful faculty & staff in which I love working with regarding curriculum and advising.

Outside of my life at Belmont, I have also had a fairly successful career in the music industry.  My first record deal was with Sugar Hill Records in 1996 (I was 17 at the time). Fast forward to 2012 and I co-founded an all-female bluegrass band called SISTER SADIE.  Since the formation of the band, we have been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Bluegrass Album Category at the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.  In March of the same year, we were honored to get to debut on the Grand Ole Opry and have played there several times since.  Close to the end of 2019, Sister Sadie made history as being the first all-female band to win “Vocal Group of the Year” at the International Bluegrass Music Awards.  In 2020, the band, once again, made history by being named “Entertainer of the Year” – the first all-female band to win this award! We also won the Vocal Group of the Year Award for the second year.  In March of 2021, Sister Sadie will be featured in the “American Currents: State of the Music” Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame of which I will have a lot of fun artifacts placed including one of my mandolins!

Belmont is a wonderful place to be.  It has been my home away from home for over 20 years now.  I love being able to share my current industry experience and knowledge with our students that are getting prepared to embark on similar journeys in the business. I love sharing and giving back to them as much as I can. Touring the entire time, I was attending Belmont, I feel like I couldn’t have had a better college experience anywhere else!

Gabriel is a Curb College alumnus who found his way from music to film early on in his undergraduate career. Having graduated from the Motion Pictures program, he believes in its constructive ability, as well as that of the university as a whole. Further, he has a passion for the cinematic medium and for storytelling as both an art form and a way of life. These passions inform his interaction with the personnel and student body in his department, and have given him a sincere excitement about helping students develop their own storytelling voices through logistical facilitation and technical media support.

Gabriel is originally from Louisiana, but now calls Nashville “home,” along with his wife and two cats. In his free time, he enjoys reading, writing (in all forms), and of course, watching movies. 

Dave joined the staff at Belmont University in 2015 after having spent over a decade working in the TV and Film industry in Los Angeles. Dave grew up in North Platte, Nebraska and received a degree in Audio Production from Emerson College in Boston, MA.  He moved to Los Angeles his final semester of college and began his career in motion picture post-production at a boutique post facility working on indie films. There, he managed the facility while working as a Sound Assistant, Sound Editor, Foley Mixer, and ADR Mixer.

In 2007 Dave joined the Post Production Sound team at NBC Universal.  As Manager of TV Sound Post Production Services, he managed the Universal Television Mix Stages, the Television and Feature Sound Editorial Staff, and the Universal Foley Stage and Foley Crews.  He also oversaw the creation of Music and Effects mixes for all NBCUniversal Television content.  Dave has worked on feature films and television shows for nearly every major studio and broadcast network and while at Universal his sound editorial and mixing crews have won multiple Emmy Awards, CAS Awards, MPSE Awards, and garnered nominations for several Academy Awards.