Composition students, faculty win American Academy of Arts & Letters Awards

Two doctoral candidates and a faculty member of the USC Thornton Composition program have received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. DMA candidate Brett Banducci received the $10,000 Andrew Imbrie Award for “a composer of demonstrated artistic merit.”

DMA candidate Thomas Kotcheff (MM ’12) and faculty member Jeffrey Parola were each awarded $7,500 Charles Ives Scholarships, along with four other composers. The Ives scholarships, funded through a bequest from the composer’s widow, Harmony Ives, are awarded to composers “of great promise.”

The Academy awarded a total of $205,000 to 17 recipients this year. These awards will be presented at the Academy’s annual ceremony in May.