Standing Room Only
By
Click to enjoy a slideshow of photos from the week's events.
Popular Music Senior Showcase at the El Rey Theatre - March 26, 2018. (Photo by Dario Griffin/USC Thornton)
Fabriq, featuring Daniel Davila (lead vocals), Cooper Bell (keys and programming), Sam Yun (guitar), Grant Ellman (bass), Carter Couron (drums)
Georgia Greene (lead vocals and acoustic guitar) with Cooper Bell (keys), Mallory Hauser (guitar), RC Rossell (bass), Madi Vogt (drums)
Celeste Butler (lead vocals) with Tiah Barnes, Nyallah Noah, Amir Kelley (background vocals), Sam Yun (guitar), Josh Jurkosky (guitar), Eddie Stone (bass), Matt Richards (saxophone), Adam Miller (trombone), Jarren Heidelberg (drums)
"West Side Story" (Photo by Craig Schwartz/USC)
"West Side Story"
"West Side Story"
Opening night, the cast of "West Side Story" got a visit from two castmembers from the iconic 1961 film - Russ Tamblyn (Riff) and George Chakiris (Bernardo) (Photo by Ryan Miller)
Lines outside Bovard Auditorium before Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/USC)
Carl St.Clair led the USC Thornton Symphony and USC Thornton Choral Artists in Beethoven's Ninth.
Soloists Mary Wilson, Milena Kitic, Scott Ramsay, and Rod Gilfry.
Beethoven's Ninth required a huge number of performers squeezed onto the Bovard stage.
The performance was received to rapturous applause by a capacity crowd.
It was quite a week to be a concert-goer at USC Thornton. From Monday to Friday, the school offered everything from a sold-out Popular Music showcase to jazz concerts with internationally-celebrated artist/faculty and even a performance of Beethoven’s 9th that packed Bovard Auditorium to the rafters.
On Monday night, Thornton’s Popular Music program filled the historic El Rey Theatre for the annual Senior Showcase, having outgrown its long-standing home at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. The crowd-pleasing event featured original songs by young artists on the cusp of exciting careers, but it wasn’t the only remarkable show that evening. Across town, at USC’s Carson Center, an all-star group of jazz alumni—Alex Hahn, Jon Hatamiya, Corbin Jones, and Aaron Reihs—returned to perform with the USC Thornton Concert Jazz Orchestra.
Tuesday night featured a musician’s wellness event and a faculty recital with Chris Rozé, surveying his extraordinary composition work. On Wednesday, it was a brass spectacular at the weekly Music@RushHour concert, as well as a chamber music showcase for the celebrated Strings program.
On Thursday, West Side Story opened. The first collaboration between USC’s three performing arts schools—the USC School of Dramatic Arts, USC Kaufman School of Dance, and Thornton—the night was a major success and was immediately followed by a week of sold-out performances. Meanwhile, just a few doors down at Carson Center, the USC Thornton Honors Combo was joined by Thornton professor and legendary drummer Peter Erskine for a performance of original works.
Finally, on Friday, lines of eager music-lovers snaked down Trousdale Parkway for a sold-out performance of Beethoven’s awe-inspiring 9th Symphony, as maestro Carl St.Clair led the USC Thornton Symphony, USC Thornton Choral Artists, and soloists in the iconic piece before a rapturous crowd at Bovard Auditorium.
With 8 official concerts and 10 student recitals, it was certainly an exciting week, but by no means unprecedented. Looking ahead, there are 12 more events on our calendar for the coming week – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
