University of Southern California

Legendary drummer and USC Thornton faculty member Peter Erksine leads students in a Jazz forum. Please note: this event has moved to Carson Center.

GRAMMY award-winning choral conductor Jerry Blackstone presents a masterclass for choral conducting students. A highly respected conducting pedagogue, Blackstone is an emeritus professor at the University of Michigan where he led the graduate program in choral conducting and oversaw the University’s eleven choral ensembles as director of choirs for thirty years.

Violinist Scott St. John leads a masterclass on chamber music for students of the Strings program. A Juno award-recipient, St. John is the Concertmaster of the ROCO Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas and founder of the Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award at the Canadian Music Centre. He is director of chamber music at The Colburn School.

Strings students perform virtuosic solo works, including Paganini caprices, Ernst caprices, Popper etudes, Piatti caprices, and other showpieces.

Duos from Thornton's jazz and studio guitar programs team up to showcase contemporary jazz works.

The USC Thornton Chamber Singers and Concert Choir explore repertoire that describes human emotions–from despair and fear to ecstasy and love–featuring the world premiere of two commissioned movements by Connor Koppin on the texts of Brian Newhouse, I Call Your Name, in memory of Dominic Gregorio. The Chamber Singers will perform works by Saunder Choi, Craig Hella Johnson, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Halsey Stevens, and William Dawson. The Concert Choir showcases repertoire by composers such as Einojuhani Rautavaara, Vic Nees, Richard Strauss, and Lili Boulanger, among others.

The USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra, led by guest conductor and Thornton faculty member Vince Mendoza, present an evening of standards and original compositions featuring guest vocalist Luciana Souza.

A prelude to the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in March 2020, USC Thornton will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the formal conclusion of World War I. USC history professor emeritus Elinor Accampo and Ralph Kirshbaum, Chair of the Strings program and artistic director of the Piatigorsky Festival, will explore the impact on the social fabric and artistic sensibilities of Europe and America. Visual art, juxtaposed with emotionally laden musical masterpieces featuring the cello by composers who were deeply affected by World War I, will serve as a masterful, beautiful, and cautionary tapestry revealing the wide-ranging human and societal turmoil that arose from this previously unimaginable and brutal military conflict. The program, featuring performances by some of the brilliant young artists of the USC Thornton, will be followed by a Q&A. Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative.

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

The Christine Ofiesh Lecture Series in Choral Music presents a lecture with VOCES8, a renowned British a cappella octet. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the VOCES8's performance and education ethos. The group's touring highlights of the season include concerts throughout the UK and Europe, across USA and Japan, and debut visits to Australia and Lithuania.

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

H. Robert Reynolds and Sharon Lavery lead the USC Thornton Wind Ensemble in works by Aaron Copland, Charles Gounod, Igor Stravinsky, Joel Love, and Gunther Schuller. PROGRAM: Aaron Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man Charles Gounod – Petite Symphonie Igor Stravinsky – Symphonies of Wind Instruments Joel Love - In Memoriam for Saxophone Quartet Gunther Schuller – Symphony for Brass and Percussion, Op. 16