University of Southern California

The USC Collegium Workshop presents Flow of My Tears: Lutes Songs of Early-Modern England, a concert featuring songs, madrigals and dances from the Golden Age of English lute song.

Jason Goldman leads the USC Thornton Concert Jazz Orchestra in a performance of Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite. The evening also includes student ensembles led by faculty members Kathleen Grace and Edwin Livingston. The Nutcracker Suite was released by famed bandleader Duke Ellington in 1960, a jazz interpretation in nine movements of "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky, arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

Classical guitar master and Thornton faculty member Pepe Romero offers an up-close glimpse into his renowned artistry in three masterclasses. Romero is the second son of "The Royal Family of the Guitar." His contributions to the field of classical guitar have inspired a number of distinguished composers to write works specifically for him, including Joaquín Rodrigo, Federico Moreno Torroba, Rev. Francisco de Madina, Lorenzo Palomo, and Celedonio Romero.

Classical guitar master and Thornton faculty member Pepe Romero offers an up-close glimpse into his renowned artistry in three masterclasses. Romero is the second son of "The Royal Family of the Guitar." His contributions to the field of classical guitar have inspired a number of distinguished composers to write works specifically for him, including Joaquín Rodrigo, Federico Moreno Torroba, Rev. Francisco de Madina, Lorenzo Palomo, and Celedonio Romero.

Classical guitar master and Thornton faculty member Pepe Romero offers an up-close glimpse into his renowned artistry in three masterclasses. Romero is the second son of "The Royal Family of the Guitar." His contributions to the field of classical guitar have inspired a number of distinguished composers to write works specifically for him, including Joaquín Rodrigo, Federico Moreno Torroba, Rev. Francisco de Madina, Lorenzo Palomo, and Celedonio Romero.

USC Thornton School of Music professor Ron McCurdy celebrates the 1935 collaboration of celebrated Chinese musician Li Jinhui and jazz musician Buck Clayton with a unique blend of American jazz and Chinese traditional music. In 1935, Los Angeles–based musician Buck Clayton formed a jazz band called Harlem Gentlemen to perform in Shanghai. Li Jinhui, who is considered the father of Chinese popular music, had been performing in the “Paris of the East” for years when Clayton and his colleagues arrived. Clayton and Li eventually worked together to form a new and unique blend of American jazz and Chinese traditional music. This boundary-breaking performance will celebrate Li Jinhui and Buck Clayton’s collaboration. USC Thornton professor Ron McCurdy and alum Gary Shields have reimagined and orchestrated three suites of Li Jinhui’s folk songs. Blending three cultures—Western art music (classical), American jazz, and traditional Chinese music—the concert will feature the Ron McCurdy Quintet, Feng Bian on piano, and Min Xiao Fen on pipa, a traditional Chinese string instrument. The performance will also include historical video footage reflecting the artists, iconic buildings, and culture of Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s. Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative.

Donald Crockett leads the USC Thornton Edge new music group in a program surveying colorful and virtuosic new music from northern Europe, focusing on works from Norway and Finland. Also featured, is the premiere of a new work for sinfonietta by recent Thornton DMA graduate Georgi Dimitrov.

Made up of Studio Guitar, Jazz Studies and Popular Music performance majors, the award-winning ensemble Superaxe performs music from Brad Paisley, D'Angelo and more.

Outstanding representatives from selected studios within the Strings program present an evening of unaccompanied and collaborative works.

The USC Thornton Opera, in collaboration with the USC Thornton Symphony, presents Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The opera, which premiered in 1960 and is set to a libretto adapted by Britten and his partner Peter Pears from Shakespeare’s play, is a fantasy about how myth affects the lives of mortal beings. In a production that is updated to current day, Shakespeare's lovers and fairies roam the dark streets and hidden alleys of the Downtown Los Angeles Garment District. Oberon and Titania the King and Queen of the Fairies are at war and the earth has turned barren. Will the struggles of four young lovers lost in the woods bring Titania and Oberon together again, reinvigorating the natural order of life? Britten’s masterful music weaves a dream-like atmosphere, heightening the fantastical elements of what is perhaps The Bard’s bawdiest play and one of the most successful adaptations of Shakespeare in the operatic canon. A pre-performance discussion on Friday, Nov. 22nd, 7pm is presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative.

Students from Thornton's jazz programs showcase contemporary jazz works.

ALAJE, the USC Thornton Afro-Latin American Jazz Ensemble led by Aaron Serfaty, and CreSCendo, the Vocal Jazz Ensemble led by Sara Gazarek, headline this ongoing series of contemporary jazz.