Alex Park to perform concerto by Elmer Bernstein with Culver City Symphony Orchestra
Alex Park, a doctoral candidate in the USC Thornton Classical Guitar program, will perform Elmer Bernstein’s Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra – “For Two Christophers” with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra on June 24. The orchestra will be conducted by Steven Allen Fox (GCRT ’00), who studied with the late Bernstein, a luminary of Thornton’s… Continue reading Alex Park to perform concerto by Elmer Bernstein with Culver City Symphony Orchestra
Tengyue (TY) Zhang and Strauss Shi of The Bestfriends Duo win 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition
USC Thornton DMA candidate in Classical Guitar Tengyue (Ty) Zhang and Strings program alumnus Strauss Shi (MM ’19) were announced as winners in the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. The award has earned them joint international representation by the Concert Artists Guild and Young Classical Artists Trust, performances at Merkin Hall in New… Continue reading Tengyue (TY) Zhang and Strauss Shi of The Bestfriends Duo win 2023 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition
Bill Kanengiser and Alexander Strings Quartet release British rock tribute album “British Invasion”
Classical guitarist and USC Thornton faculty member Bill Kanengiser has collaborated with the Alexander String Quartet for the album “British Invasion,” released on April 7. A tribute to British rock, the album features adaptations of music by Sting, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Elizabethan lutenist John Dowland, re-cast and re-imagined by contemporary composers Duśan Bogdanović,… Continue reading Bill Kanengiser and Alexander Strings Quartet release British rock tribute album “British Invasion”
2022-2023 Year in Review
Looking back on a remarkable year at USC Thornton.
Bokyung “Bo” Byun announced as a winner of Avery Fisher Career Grant
USC Thornton Classical Guitar program alumna Bokyung “Bo” Byun (DMA ’20) was announced as a winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant on March 28 by The Violin Channel. In 2021, Byun became the first woman in 20 years to win the Guitar Foundation of America competition, and her list of accomplishments is only growing.… Continue reading Bokyung “Bo” Byun announced as a winner of Avery Fisher Career Grant
Fall 2022 Semester in Review
Looking back on an amazing fall 2022 semester at USC Thornton.
Pardy Minassian finds lost songs in Shoah Foundation archive
USC Thornton Classical Guitar program graduate certificate alumna Pardy Minassian was featured on USC Shoah Foundation’s website for discovery of lost Armenian testimonies and songs from the Armenian Genocide. Last year, the Armenian guitarist was awarded a project grant from the Calouste Gyukbenkian Foundation for her multimedia series focused on unpublished Armenian folk songs that… Continue reading Pardy Minassian finds lost songs in Shoah Foundation archive
Chris Garwood launches online learning platform for violinists
Online classical music education company tonebase, founded by Thornton Classical Guitar program alumnus Chris Garwood (’15), recently launched a learning platform for violinists. The new platform features a curated library of pre-recorded lessons and courses taught by renowned violinists and pedagogues including USC Thornton Jascha Heifetz Chair in Violin Glenn Dicterow, Aleksey Igudesman, Shmuel Ashkenasi,… Continue reading Chris Garwood launches online learning platform for violinists
Pardy Minassian receives grant for composition highlighting folk songs of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian guitarist Pardy Minassian, a graduate certificate student in the USC Thornton Classical Guitar program, was awarded a project grant from the Calouste Gyukbenkian Foundation for her multimedia series based on forgotten, unpublished Armenian folk songs, which she’s gathered from her father’s collection of interviews with Armenian genocide survivors. Minassian began working on this project… Continue reading Pardy Minassian receives grant for composition highlighting folk songs of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide
William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant perform at the Albany Symphony season finale
USC Thornton faculty members William Kanengiser and Scott Tenant perform a weekend of solo and duo works for classical guitar as part of the Albany Symphony’s season finale.