In 1992, Mervyn Warren, a five-time Grammy Award–winning composer-arranger and original member of Take 6, and a longtime collaborator of Quincy Jones— spearheaded a soulful rendition of Handel’s Messiah. Featuring an incredible array of special guests, the album spanned spirituals, blues, jazz, ragtime, big band, fusion, R&B, and hip hop, and won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. The album was executive produced by Quincy Jones. 

Schedule:

6:30 pm – 7:45 pm – All audience members are invited to participate in a “close listening” of the album. Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration will be played in its entirety, in sequence. If you have never heard the album, or want to re-hear it, or if you simply want to be part of a collective listening experience to hear the album in a public setting, please join. 

7:45 pm – 8:00 pm – Intermission 

8:00 pm – 9:30 pm – After the close listening session, stay for a discussion panel / Q&A with Mervyn Warren and special guests, as they reminisce and share captivating stories about the album’s unique creation and recording near USC during the Los Angeles uprising and riots. This panel will be moderated by Jason King, dean of USC Thornton School of Music, and Dr. Tram Sparks, chair of the USC Thornton Choral & Sacred Music program.

"The Making of Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration" is part of Quincy Jones: Beyond Category, an event series organized by the USC Thornton School of Music to explore, elevate, and celebrate Quincy Jones’s life and legacy. Working across styles and idioms including classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and film scoring—and breaking ground for African American achievement in the entertainment industries—Jones has garnered the highest levels of critical and commercial acclaim. 

This event is presented by USC Visions & Voices: the Arts & Humanities Initiative. 

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Admission is free and open to the public. Reservations required. RSVP beginning Tuesday, October 1 at 10 a.m.