Seth Parker Woods appointed Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at USC Thornton

Seth Parker Woods has been appointed by the USC Provost as the new holder of the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at the USC Thornton School of Music. Woods has been a USC Thornton Strings faculty member since the fall of 2022. He also serves as the founder and director of the Thornton Chamber Virtuosi, a chamber collective of both faculty and students that performs local and national concerts.

A celebrated cellist, Woods was nominated for a 2024 Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Classical Solo category for his album, Difficult Grace. He is the recipient of the 2023 Pew Grant for the Arts with Barbara Earl Thomas, the 2023 Seattle Symphony Silver Gala Honoree and the 2021 Chamber Music America Visionary Award.

“Professor Woods embodies the forward-looking artist and musician that the Thornton School of Music aims to cultivate in its students. He is an inspiring beacon of excellence for our school,” Dean Jason King said.

Woods will join the USC Thornton Symphony on Friday, September 13 for the opening concert of the semester, performing breathe/burn: an elegy by Joel Thompson (for solo cello and orchestra). His other upcoming concert engagements include performances as a soloist with the Spoleto Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic.

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Photo by Ben Gibbs