In Memoriam: Janice McVeigh

Janice McVeigh, former USC Thornton Vocal Arts & Opera faculty member, soprano and voice teacher, has died at the age of 87.

McVeigh was an esteemed instructor at the USC Thornton School of Music for 30 years until her retirement, while also maintaining a private voice studio in Diamond Bar. Prior to USC Thornton, she taught at Pomona College, CalArts and Mt. San Antonio College. Among her career accomplishments, she sang the role of Abigail Miller in San Francisco Opera’s west coast premiere of The Crucible by Robert Ward. With pianist collaborator and former USC Thornton faculty member in Keyboard Collaborative Arts, Alan L. Smith, she performed 10 recitals. Among these include the west coast premiere of “Simple Daylight” by John Harbison, the world premiere of “Bouquet” by Alan L. Smith, “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson” by Aaron Copland, and “Four Songs for Soprano, Cello and Piano” by Andre Previn. Her recitals also included music composed by USC Thornton Composition Chair Donald Crockett and former chair and Composition faculty member Frank Ticheli.

She was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Western Regional Auditions and attended the Music Academy of the West, where she studied with Martial Singher and Maurice Abravanel. As a doctoral student at USC, she studied with Herta Glaz, in addition, naming Lotte Lehman, William Vennard, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, Henrietta Pelta and Fred Carama among her teachers and coaches.

Janice McVeigh is survived by her daughter, Lori Cuda, and her grandchildren.