University of Southern California

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.

Celebrate the holidays in style with our annual gala concert, featuring 250 singers and instrumentalists ringing in the season with carols and songs, in support of scholarships for USC Thornton's most talented students. An optional, pre-concert dinner at the USC University Club will take place at 5:00 PM, before the gala concert, for an additional fee.

The Opening Gala Concert of the 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival features the USC Thornton Symphony, conducted by Carl St. Clair with cellist Mischa Maisky and violist Yura Lee, performing Richard Strauss' Don Quixote.

An intimate forum with an eye to professional development, renowned cellist Mischa Maisky will speak to PICF Fellows and the general public about his career as a solo cellist–that now spans over 50 years–and give advice on how to generate, develop, sustain and enjoy a successful musical career.