Ted Hearne a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music

Composer and USC Thornton faculty member Ted Hearne was selected as a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music. His politically-charged album, Sound from the Bench (Cantaloupe Music), was recorded with the Philadelphia-based Crossing Choir and explores subjects including the Iraq War, white privilege, and the Supreme Court’s “Citizen’s United” decision. In a review for The New Yorker, Russell Platt called Hearne “one of the brightest compositional talents of the millennial generation.”

“Hearne’s pieces burn with an ecclesiastical fervor,” noted Platt. “From the timeless echoes of injustice, Hearne has forged a fierce and timely grace.”

On Tuesday, April 17th, Gustavo Dudamel leads the LA Phil New Music Group in Hearne’s 2013 orchestral work, Law of Mosaics, as part of the Green Umbrella series at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The piece, originally composed for the string ensemble A Far Cry, was inspired by author David Shields’ digitally-inflected literary collage, Reality Hunger. Veronika Krausas, also a member of the Thornton Composition faculty, will lead a pre-concert talk.