Zaka
Jennifer Higdon
 
As the dictionary might say: Zaka, pronounced “za!- ka“…verb: To do the following almost simultaneously and with great speed: zap, sock, race, turn, drop, sprint.
 
–Jennifer Higdon
 
 
Concerto Grosso
Jessie Montgomery
 
Concerto Grosso is a two-movement work for mixed ensemble with a featured solo violin part. It is a contemporary take on the baroque practice of solo against ripieno dynamics, and improvisation in the solo part. The piece is composed in a way that allows the soloist to decide in the moment either to play what is on the page or to depart and add their own flourish against the ensemble backdrop — a kind of “choose your own adventure” spontaneity that can either blend or add unexpected textures.
 
The single wind instrument becomes a secondary solo line at times, adding color and counterpoint to the solo violin line. Both movements are shaped primarily by interweaving melodic lines that provide the form and build their emotional evolution.
 
–Jessie Montgomery
 
 
Lilith
Hannah Rice
 
This cycle is based on the mythical character Lilith who was said to have been the first wife of Adam. There are hundreds of writings, poems, and religious texts discussing Lilith, referencing her as a “night demon,” “woman scorpion,” and “betrayer of Adam” all because she refused to ‘lie beneath Adam” upon her creation. Though Lilith begins this cycle horrified by what others have said about her, throughout this ten-minute journey, she slowly begins to accept and reclaim the terms that have been used to hurt her in the past and finds a new internal strength and power as the “Queen of Lust.”
–Hannah Rice
 
 
Crayons and Colors
Julia Moss
 
Crayons and Colors was written for Laura’s last recital, for us to play together. We always say our friendship is like two kids kicking a paper ball back and forth: simple and consistent, without purpose or expectation, but brimming with boundless joy and discovery. It goes nowhere and it goes everywhere all at the same time. Sometimes, Laura will paint her friends and give the paintings to them as a gift. Since I can’t paint, this piece was my attempt to paint our friendship as a dedication to Laura. I am so excited that Nico and Laura will be playing the piece together for Edge. They are both such special people to me, and Thornton Edge is how it all started!
 
–Julia Moss
 
 
pas de deux
Sarah Gibson
 
pas de deux plays with the idea of pairs and two of the same bodies trying to find their footing. Historically, a pas de deux is for a male and female dancer and in four parts. This piece loosely takes influence from the traditional form but supports the idea that the dance can be performed by any solo or duo of instruments or people. In my mind, the piano – who triggers changes in form throughout – gradually takes over the center stage screaming to be heard as a soloist. Its dance embodies Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quote, “I ask no favor for my sex, all I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
 
–Sarah Gibson

Donald Crockett
 
Donald Crockett is professor and chair of the composition department and director of Thornton Edge at the USC Thornton School of Music, and senior composer-in-residence with the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (Composer-in-Residence (1991-97), Kronos Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hilliard Ensemble, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and the California EAR Unit, among many others.
 
Recent projects include commissions from the Harvard Musical Association for violist Kate Vincent and Firebird Ensemble, the San Francisco-based chamber choir, Volti, for its 30th anniversary season, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Claremont Trio, and a chamber opera, The Face, based on a novella in verse by poet David St. John.
 
The recipient in 2013 of an Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for outstanding artistic achievement, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006, Donald Crockett has also received grants and prizes from the Barlow Endowment, Bogliasco Foundation, Copland Fund, Copland House, Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards, Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA and many others.
 
His music is published by Keiser Classical and Doberman/Yppan and recorded on the Albany, CRI, Doberman/Yppan, ECM, innova, Laurel, New World, Orion and Pro Arte/Fanfare labels. Two all-Crockett recordings were released in 2011, on New World Records with Firebird Ensemble and on Albany Records with Xtet. Active as a conductor of new music, Crockett has presented many world, national and regional premieres with the Los Angeles-based new music ensemble Xtet, the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble, and as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Hilliard Ensemble, California EAR Unit, Firebird Ensemble and Ensemble X.
 
As conductor of the USC Thornton Symphony’s annual New Music for Orchestra concert, Donald Crockett has premiered well over a hundred orchestral works by outstanding Thornton student composers. He has also been very active over the years as a composer and conductor with the venerable and famed Monday Evening Concerts in Los Angeles. His recordings as a conductor can be found on the Albany, CRI, Doberman/Yppan, ECM and New World labels.
 
 
Laura Gamboa
 
Laura Gamboa is a Colombian American violinist currently pursuing her doctoral degree in violin performance at the University of Southern California under Martin Chalifour, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gamboa is currently minoring in music theory, viola performance, and jazz violin. Gamboa received Bachelor’s Degrees in Violin Performance and Music Theory as well as a minor in Eurhythmics from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Afterwards, she completed her Master’s Degree in Violin Performance as a fellowship recipient from the University of Michigan, where she also completed a Specialist Degree in Violin Performance and a Master’s in Chamber Music. She attended the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2014-19, 22’, 24’ with various fellowships including the New Horizons fellowship and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble fellowship and premiered Jessie Montgomery’s Concerto Grosso as the featured soloist. In her free time, she likes to run, watch comedy T.V., draw, and watch birds.
 
 
Nico Valencia
 
Nico Valencia is a Colombian-American violist currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Viola Performance at the University of Southern California studying with Professor Yura Lee. Valencia completed his Bachelor of Music Degree in Viola Performance at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Dr. Susan Dubois. Recently, Nico was selected as a recipient of the 2023 Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Fellowship, and received the inaugural viola position in the Thornton Virtuosi Chamber Ensemble. He has also been selected as a finalist for the Keston Max Fellowship at the London Symphony Orchestra, and is currently a substitute violist at the New World Symphony. Nico has held principal viola positions with ensembles such as the Music Academy of the West, Thornton Symphony Orchestra, Thornton Opera Orchestra, University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra, UNT Opera Orchestra, the Fantasmi Ensemble, and the New Spain Baroque Orchestra.
 
 
Hannah Rice
 
Composer and soprano Hannah Rice is drawn to extremes. She writes with dense textures and stark contrasts to highlight the experiences of womxn and queer folks. She is interested in capturing the politics of non-verbal communication through a feminist lens and channeling its energy through raw, cathartic, and sometimes child-like sounds in concert music.
Hannah’s music has been performed at notable festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall, Cadogan Hall in London, New Music on the Point, the International Clarinet Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, and more. Her film music has also been featured on APM Music’s sound library, MPATH.
 
A champion of vocal music, Hannah was recently commissioned by Vox Anima London to write a choral piece for their 2024 International Women’s Day Concert in London. In 2021, she was 1 of only 10 composers selected by the National Association of Teachers of Singing to be a part of their 2021-22 Composer Mentorship Program which included a commission from NATS, with major support from Lori Laitman, and the Cincinnati Song Initiative for their June 2022 concert, Let it Be New. That same year, her choral piece “To Fly a Plane” from Dear World was published by Hal Leonard under the Craig Hella Johnson series. Currently, she is working on a new art song for the Prima Voce Emerging Artist 2025 Season.
 
Not only is Hannah a composer but she is also an active performer of opera and new music. Her recent roles include the Soprano Soloist in Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone, Controller in Flight, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmelites, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her own chamber opera Seneca Falls. She is also an avid performer of chamber and choral music, recently appearing as the soprano soloist in Thornton Edge’s performance of Nina Shekhar’s Quirkhead and singing weekly as a chorister in the Choir of St. James.
 
Currently, Hannah is pursuing a double M.M. at USC’s Thornton School of Music under the direction of Ted Hearne, Nina C. Young, Frank Ticheli, and Elizabeth Hynes where she was recently awarded the Peter David Faith Endowed Memorial Award in composition for her orchestra piece, [æ]. She holds a B.M. in Composition (Mara Gibson) and Voice (Lori Bade) from LSU where she was named a Presser Scholar and University Medalist.
 
 
Benjamin Beckman
 
Benjamin Beckman is a composer, conductor, and pianist based in Los Angeles. Compositional career highlights include performances on the BBC Proms and Tanglewood Music Festival and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and Yale Symphony Orchestra. His 70-minute chamber opera Passage won the Beekman Cannon Friends Prize for the best-submitted thesis in the music major at Yale, from which he recently matriculated. As a pianist, assistant conductor, and vocal coach, Beckman has worked for the Sarasota Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Palm Springs Opera Guild, Opera Company of Middlebury, Chicago Summer Opera, and Classic Lyric Arts France and Italy. He is the Artistic Director of Park City Opera, a rapidly growing opera company serving Park City, UT, which he co-founded in 2024. While a student at Yale, Beckman was the Artistic Director of both the Opera Theater of Yale College and the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra, through which he facilitated the premieres of 21 student compositions. Beckman is currently pursuing graduate studies in composition with Andrew Norman at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he also manages and performs in the conservatory’s new music ensemble, the Thornton Edge.