![Photo of piano keys](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Piano_Square_240-150x150.jpg)
Thornton students take home top honors at international piano competitions
Rixiang Huang and Barry Tan, DMA candidates in the Keyboard Studies program, each recently took home top honors at international piano competitions.
![Photo of Jaco Wong](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/News_JacoWong-150x150.jpg)
Jaco Wong releases choral work and premieres new commission
San Francisco-based composer Jaco Wong (MM ’16,) an alum of the Composition and Choral Music programs, recently released a sixteen-part choral work, “Psithaura,” with See-A-Dot Music Publishing.
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Thornton faculty member Thomas Hooten premieres trumpet concerto with LA Phil
Thomas Hooten, faculty member in the USC Thornton Winds & Percussion program and principal trumpet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performed the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s trumpet concerto, “Shivaree: Fantasy for Trumpet and Orchestra.”
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Composition faculty member Frank Ticheli premieres new work with Pacific Symphony and collaborates with New York Choral Society
Frank Ticheli premieres new work with Pacific Symphony and collaborates with New York Choral Society.
![](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/JuanPabloContreras_01_240-150x150.jpg)
Las Vegas Philharmonic to premiere new piece by Juan Pablo Contreras
The Las Vegas Philharmonic will perform the world premiere of a new piece by USC Thornton Composition alum Juan Pablo Contreras.
![Photo of Irene Gregorio](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/CM_LayoutSquareIG-150x150.jpg)
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir names Irene Gregorio as collaborative pianist
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has named USC Thornton alum Irene Gregorio (DMA ’12) as its new collaborative pianist.
![Portrait of Leaha Maria Villareal against white backdrop](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Leaha-Maria-Villareal-150x150.jpg)
DMA student and composer Leaha Maria Villarreal premieres art song with Prima Voce Emerging Artists Fall Concert Series
DMA student and composer Leaha Maria Villarreal premieres art song with Prima Voce Emerging Artists Fall Concert Series.
![Photo of Duncan Tuomi](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Duncan_News-150x150.jpg)
Choral Music master’s student Duncan Tuomi wins American Choral Directors Association award
Duncan Tuomi, a Master’s student in Choral Music and associate conductor of the USC Thornton University Chorus, took home top honors at the 2021 ACDA Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition for his submission, “The Rose that Bare Jesu.”
![Photo of Nicolas Lell Benavides](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Unknown-150x150.jpeg)
West Edge Opera commissions Nicolas Lell Benavides to write “Dolores,” an opera about labor organizer and activist Dolores Huerta
Post-doctoral candidate Nicolas Lell Benavides has been commissioned by Berkeley’s West Edge Opera to write “Dolores,” an opera about United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.
![Photo of Angela Meade](https://music.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NewsSquare_240_AngelaMeade-150x150.jpg)
Angela Meade headlines Wexford Festival Opera 2021 season
An operatic soprano, Meade has won more than 50 vocal competitions, including the grand prize at the 2009 Montreal International Musical Competition.