A group of popular music students gather together and smile on stage.

Celebrating Trojan Family Weekend

By Deanna Gasparyan

USC Thornton welcomed students and families to campus for Trojan Family Weekend.


Trojan Family Weekend is an annual celebration that allows families to explore campus and experience our scholastic community. The weekend kicked off on Oct. 5 and featured a variety of on-campus activities, programs, lectures, tours and workshops through Oct. 8. This year, USC Thornton hosted its special events on Oct. 6 for students and families to attend.

Smiling people gather outside a university for a picnic with tables and chairs.
Smiling people gather outside a university for a picnic with tables and chairs.

(Photos By Willow Cai)

The first event of the day was “A Day in the Life: the Thornton Student Experience.” This lively breakfast gave Trojans a chance to learn more about the School of Music through presentations by the school’s leadership and honored guests.

Next up, USC Thornton Dean Jason King led a conversation with award-winning composer, producer and songwriter Ludwig Göransson (GCRT ’08) at “Music Beyond Boundaries.” They discussed the composer’s eclectic and genre-defying approach to music and answered questions from current students. 

Jason King speaking with a guest speaker on a television set in a university classroom.
A audience listening to a conversation with a guest speaker on a Zoom screen in a classroom.

Guests also had the rare opportunity to attend the Popular Music Forum, a long-running class for Pop Performance, Music Industry and Music Production majors at Thornton. Popular Music program chair Patrice Rushen facilitated a discussion with David Paich, founder of the rock band Toto. The students surprised their guest of honor, Paich, with a live performance of some of his greatest hits. 


All photos by Willow Cai, a student at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

TAGS: Arts Leadership, Choral and Sacred Music, Classical Guitar, Composition, Early Music Performance, Jazz Studies, Keyboard Collaborative Arts, Keyboard Studies, Music Industry, Music Teaching and Learning, Music Technology, Musicology, Organ Studies, Popular Music, Screen Scoring, Strings, Studio Guitar, Vocal Arts and Opera, Winds and Percussion,

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