Student


Senior Logan Nelson finalist for World Soundtrack award

September 18, 2018

The World Soundtrack Academy organizes a composition contest every year for young, international film composers. If selected, the composer will write a symphonic score for a selected film or TV excerpt and will be given the SABAM Award for the Most Original Composition by a Young International Composer, worth $2500. This year, USC Thornton Composition… Continue reading Senior Logan Nelson finalist for World Soundtrack award


Caroline Wilkins

Harpist Caroline Hales wins Music Academy’s Concerto Competition

August 20, 2018

Harpist Caroline Hales (BM ’16), a master’s candidate in the USC Thornton Strings program, recently won the Music Academy of the West’s 2018 Concerto Competition. Hales, who studies with JoAnn Turovsky, serves as principal harpist with the American Youth Symphony, the Debut Chamber Orchestra, and the USC Thornton Symphony. Winners of the Concerto Competition will… Continue reading Harpist Caroline Hales wins Music Academy’s Concerto Competition


Choral & Sacred Music students find professional success

July 23, 2018

Several graduate students of the USC Thornton Choral & Sacred Music program have recently brought their work to larger audiences. DMA candidate Irene Apanovitch-Leites presented at the Canadian Choral Directors’ Summer Conference in late June. She will bring her presentation, “How Do Singers Relate: Exploring the Connection Between Empathy and Choral Singing,” to the ACDA… Continue reading Choral & Sacred Music students find professional success


Bokyung Byun wins prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition

June 21, 2018

Classical Guitarist and USC Thornton doctoral candidate Bokyung Byun has won first place and Musician’s Choice in the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, one of the world’s top events for guitarists. The biennial competition, hosted by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra of New York state, featured eight semi-finalists in performance with the orchestra under music… Continue reading Bokyung Byun wins prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition


Yoon Joo Hwang appointed to University of Central Florida faculty

March 28, 2018

Bassoonist and USC Thornton graduate student Yoon Joo Hwang was recently appointed Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) at the University of Central Florida, where she will begin teaching in the fall.


Daniel Linder earns Graduate Student Government research award

March 21, 2018

Daniel Linder, a DMA candidate in USC Thornton’s Keyboard Studies program, was recently awarded 1st Prize in the Humanities division of the USC Graduate Student Government’s 10th annual Research Symposium awards. Linder’s research explored the musical language of 20th Century French composer Maurice Ohana, focusing on his Six Études d’Interprétation (1981-82). Under the guidance of… Continue reading Daniel Linder earns Graduate Student Government research award


Eric Abramovitz named associate principal/Eb clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony

March 16, 2018

Clarinetist Eric Abramovitz, a graduate student of USC Thornton Winds & Percussion faculty member Yehuda Gilad, was recently named associate principal/Eb clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This new appointment comes less than a year after he won a position with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and took 1st prize for Classical Clarinet at the 2017… Continue reading Eric Abramovitz named associate principal/Eb clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony


Alvin Liang wins USC Thornton 2018 Kanter Award

February 20, 2018

USC Thornton Music Industry senior Alvin Liang has been selected as a recipient for the USC Thornton 2018 Kanter Award, taking home $7,250. He previously won the USC Stevens Award with his EventAll app, which he describes as “The WordPress of the event-planning world.” The Kanter Endowed Music Industry Project Fund provides upper-level students with… Continue reading Alvin Liang wins USC Thornton 2018 Kanter Award


Patrick O’Malley wins Sioux City’s Composer of the Year Award

January 31, 2018

Patrick O’Malley (MM ’15), a doctoral candidate in the USC Thornton Composition program, was recently selected as the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra’s Composer of the Year for 2018. He earned the title with Loneliness in a Beautiful Place, a string work that also won the 2017 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award. O’Malley will travel… Continue reading Patrick O’Malley wins Sioux City’s Composer of the Year Award


Clarinetists earn prizes at the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition

January 19, 2018

Two USC Thornton clarinet students recently took prizes in the 2018 Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition. Masters candidate Ryan Toher earned 1st Prize in Classical Clarinet. This month, Toher will also participate in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program traveling to New York City for an intensive ten days of training, rehearsal, and performance… Continue reading Clarinetists earn prizes at the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition