Curated by USC Thornton faculty member Ronald McCurdy, Rockin’ In Rhythm: Re-Imagining The Legacy of Duke Ellington is a student-driven project celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Ellington’s life. 

The thrust of this project is not to regurgitate the music of Ellington, but rather to re-introduce Ellington’s genius through the lens of 2024. Therefore, we have arranged a sample of the more than 3,000 compositions that Ellington performed during his more than 50-year career. The re-imagined styles will include, funk, classical, rap, latin, etc. The concert will also feature rare video footage of Ellington’s band. This concert will feature arrangements and artists that represent the pop, jazz and classical divisions. The concert will also feature several of our talented students and faculty, including Vocal Jazz Director Luciana Souza. 

There will be a pre-concert discussion from 7:00 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. that will include John Hasse (author of Beyond Category: The Genius of Duke Ellington), and Thornton faculty members Nate Sloan and León F. García Corona.

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Admission is free and open to the public.