People


Photo of electronic musician Tom Hall.

Tom Hall

August 2, 2023

Tom Hall is a Tasmanian, Australian electronic audio-visual artist who now calls Los Angeles, CA his home. With a two-decade career in the music industry across multiple continents, Hall’s journey has been expansive. His educational background includes graduating from the Australian National University, majoring in Media Arts and pursuing further studies in sound at Kyoto… Continue reading Tom Hall


Jane Davidson smiling into the camera in front of a blue painting.

Jane Davidson 

July 12, 2023

Jane Davidson is an attorney who focuses her practice on Entertainment Law and Litigation at Munck Wilson Mandala.  After graduating from USC Thornton’s Music Industry program, Davidson worked full-time in the music industry while pursuing her law degree from Loyola Law School’s evening program.   As a litigator, her primary focus area is intellectual property in entertainment… Continue reading Jane Davidson 


Photo of Joe Poindexter wearing a mustard colored sweater standing in front of a grey wall and smiling at the camera.

Joe Poindexter

July 5, 2023

Joe Poindexter is the chief communications officer and executive vice president of digital at PULSE Music Group, an independent music publisher, record label and music services company based in Los Angeles. The company’s roster of talented artists, producers and songwriters includes Brent Faiyaz, James Blake, Turnstile, Kehlani, FNZ, Ty Dolla $ign, Cordae, Tyler Johnson, Freddie… Continue reading Joe Poindexter


Photo of Clarence Penn standing on a city street in front of a mural.

Clarence Penn

May 2, 2023

Clarence Penn, a highly accomplished jazz drummer, is renowned for his remarkable talents in music composition, production and education. Since his arrival in New York City in 1991, Penn has collaborated with an impressive list of A-list artists, including Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Maria Schneider, Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker and Fourplay, among others.… Continue reading Clarence Penn


Photo of Derrick Lawrence smiling on an outdoor staircase.

Derrick Lawrence

May 2, 2023

Derrick Lawrence, baritone, has sung roles on the stages of Philadelphia Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Charlotte Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Piedmont Opera, Opera North, Zurich Opera House, Budapest, Wiesbaden, Düsseldorf, The Royal Danish Opera, Stuttgart, Luzern, Aachen, Freiburg, Statts Opera Berlin, Kaiserslautern, La Monnaie, Teatro Massimo, Opera Lyon and National Theater Brünn. Lawrence… Continue reading Derrick Lawrence


Emily Sung smiling outside in the sunlight.

Emily Sung

May 2, 2023

Emily Sung is a Chinese American conductor, scholar and teacher from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Before her appointment at the USC Thornton School of Music, Sung previously served as the associate director of Choral Activities at Princeton University, the director of the Chamber Choir and Choral Society at the University of Pennsylvania, and a member of… Continue reading Emily Sung


Headshot of Amy Andersson

Amy Andersson

February 8, 2023

Amy Andersson is an award-winning concert conductor, producer and session conductor who has appeared internationally in over 22 countries, thrilling audiences with concerts, opera productions and live-to-film video game shows. Known for her expressive technique and deep musicality, she is the recipient of a 2021 Grammy in Best Classical Compendium, a BMI Impact Award, and… Continue reading Amy Andersson


Photo of Jason King wearing a green blazer.

Jason King

January 24, 2023

Jason King is the USC Thornton School of Music Dean and Holder of the Tracy and Gene Sykes Chair in Music. He has been described as one of the most innovative figures at the intersection of music, education, media and cultural curation. A polymath with wide-ranging expertise over the past 25 years—as a scholar, journalist,… Continue reading Jason King


Otmaro Ruiz wearing a dark coat against a black background.

Otmaro Ruiz

January 17, 2023

Otmaro Ruiz is a jazz pianist with a diverse musical skill set, ranging from straight-ahead and pop-rock, to fusion, salsa and Afro-Cuban jazz. Of Venezuelan heritage, he worked intensively in the Venezuela jazz scene before moving to Los Angeles in 1989. He has since received an honorary doctorate in musical arts from Shepherd University, and… Continue reading Otmaro Ruiz


A black & white photograph of Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson

November 16, 2022

Pianist and composer Josh Nelson has been an active and creative artist for over twenty years. With ten albums as a leader, numerous other recordings, accolades and accomplishments, Nelson is one of the most in-demand pianists around. Recent projects with Brazilian legend Ivan Lins and superstar Michael Bublé are evidence that his piano and arranging… Continue reading Josh Nelson