University of Southern California

Resident conductor Sharon Lavery leads the USC Thornton Symphony in an all-Dvořák program featuring the Carnival Overture and New World Symphony. Written in 1893 by Dvořák while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America, New World Symphony earned its place in history when a recording of the piece was taken to the moon on the Appollo 11 mission.

Joseph Lin, distinguished violinist and former leader of the Julliard String Quartet, leads a masterclass in violin and chamber music. Lin was named a Presidential Scholar in 1996 and was the youngest musician to receive the Pro Musicis International award in 1999.

Students from across the Strings program present an evening of unaccompanied and collaborative works.

Strings students perform virtuosic solo works, including Paganini caprices, Ernst caprices, Popper etudes, Piatti caprices, and other showpieces.

A prelude to the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in March 2020, USC Thornton will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the formal conclusion of World War I. USC history professor emeritus Elinor Accampo and Ralph Kirshbaum, Chair of the Strings program and artistic director of the Piatigorsky Festival, will explore the impact on the social fabric and artistic sensibilities of Europe and America. Visual art, juxtaposed with emotionally laden musical masterpieces featuring the cello by composers who were deeply affected by World War I, will serve as a masterful, beautiful, and cautionary tapestry revealing the wide-ranging human and societal turmoil that arose from this previously unimaginable and brutal military conflict. The program, featuring performances by some of the brilliant young artists of the USC Thornton, will be followed by a Q&A. Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative.

Outstanding representatives from selected studios within the Strings program present an evening of unaccompanied and collaborative works.

Outstanding representatives from selected studios within the Strings program present an evening of unaccompanied and collaborative works.

USC Thornton Strings students collaborate to explore the wide-ranging chamber music repertoire.

Outstanding representatives from selected studios within the Strings program present an evening of unaccompanied and collaborative works.

Lina Bahn leads USC Thornton Strings students in a survey of iconic chamber works as part of a winter festival.

Lina Bahn leads USC Thornton Strings students in a survey of iconic chamber works as part of a winter festival.

Lina Bahn leads USC Thornton Strings students in a survey of iconic chamber works as part of a winter festival.