Posts Tagged ‘Classical Performance and Composition’


Portrait of Dale Trumbore

Dale Trumbore shares virtual chorus experience in The Voice of OC

January 21, 2021

Dale Trumbore (MM ‘11), an alum of USC Thornton’s Composition program, was featured in The Voice of OC in an article about how the Orange County Women’s Chorus adapted its programming to offer unique online events. Trumbore was commissioned to compose a new piece, “What We Hand Over,” for the chorus’s holiday event, and shares… Continue reading Dale Trumbore shares virtual chorus experience in The Voice of OC


Midori Goto holding violin

Midori named a Kennedy Center Honoree for 2021

January 15, 2021

Celebrated violinist Midori, who served on the USC Thornton faculty for 14 years until 2018 and is currently a Judge Widney Professor of Music at USC, was named a Kennedy Center Honoree for 2021. This year’s award, which celebrates a lifetime of artistic achievement, also includes Debbie Allen, Joan Baez, Garth Brooks, and Dick Van… Continue reading Midori named a Kennedy Center Honoree for 2021


Portrait of Jerry Blackstone in suit and tie

Jerry Blackstone is artistic director of new documentary series about choral singing

January 13, 2021

Dr. Jerry Blackstone (DMA ‘86), GRAMMY Award-winner, USC Thornton alumnus, and former Artist in Residence with Thornton’s Choral & Sacred Music program, is the Artistic Director of the upcoming documentary series about choral singing in the U.S., “Choral Singing in America: Nurturing the Human Soul.” The series is being developed in response to the COVID-19… Continue reading Jerry Blackstone is artistic director of new documentary series about choral singing


Image of a woman with light brown hair.

Judith Farmer releases new album of chamber music for bassoon

January 12, 2021

Winds & Percussion faculty member Judith Farmer has released a new album of chamber music for bassoon, Judith Farmer Plays Favorites. The album includes performances by Strings faculty member Andrew Shulman and alum Vicki Ray (DMA ’88), as well as a recording of a piece by alum composer Gernot Wolfgang (GCRT ’94). The album is… Continue reading Judith Farmer releases new album of chamber music for bassoon


Marilyn Horne wearing green, smiling to the camera

Marilyn Horne to receive Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award

January 5, 2021

USC Thornton alumna Marilyn Horne was recently announced as one of the Recording Academy’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award honorees. Horne is widely celebrated as one of the world’s most renowned opera singers. Her decades-spanning career has earned her four GRAMMY Awards and 15 nominations, as well as a 1992 National Medal of Arts and numerous… Continue reading Marilyn Horne to receive Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award


Austin Wintory conducting a recording session

Austin Wintory PlayStation blog explores the making of “The Pathless”

December 13, 2020

USC Thornton Composition alum Austin Wintory (BM ‘07) wrote a blog for PlayStation in which he shares a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his score for the game “The Pathless.” The score fuses multiple musical traditions from around the world in what Wintory calls a “global jam band.” “The resulting scope was significantly beyond… Continue reading Austin Wintory PlayStation blog explores the making of “The Pathless”


Danika Banh pictured outdoors

USC Dornsife celebrates Danika Banh and the Music Inspiring Community club

December 9, 2020

Danika Banh, a biological sciences major at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and a piano minor at the USC Thornton School of Music, was featured in an article by USC Dornsife about a music education student club she founded, Music Inspiring Community. Banh initially launched the club last year with the… Continue reading USC Dornsife celebrates Danika Banh and the Music Inspiring Community club


close up portrait of thomas kotcheff

Thomas Kotcheff interviewed in The New York Times

December 7, 2020

Thomas Kotcheff (MM ‘12, DMA ‘19), an alum of USC Thornton’s Composition program, was interviewed in The New York Times about his recent album release, the first commercial recording of Frederic Rzewski’s Songs of Insurrection, which received glowing remarks from the composer himself. In the article, Kotcheff discusses his personal highlights from the recording, and… Continue reading Thomas Kotcheff interviewed in The New York Times


Black and white picture of Lee Ritenour

Lee Ritenour to release new album, Dreamcatcher, Dec. 4

December 3, 2020

GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist and USC Thornton alum Lee Ritenour recently announced the upcoming release of his first studio album in five years entitled Dreamcatcher. Dreamcatcher marks Ritenour’s first ever full-length solo guitar album and will be released on Dec. 4. Ritenour shared with GratefulWeb the significance of his first solo album, particularly during this year.… Continue reading Lee Ritenour to release new album, Dreamcatcher, Dec. 4


Jeffrey Kahane standing against piano.

Jeffrey Kahane launches new podcast series about classical music in America

December 2, 2020

Jeffrey Kahane, a faculty member in the Keyboard Studies program, has released the first episode of a new podcast series, Classical Music in America, which explores the evolution of America’s musical identity through books on classical music. The series is produced in partnership with the Sarasota Orchestra, where Kahane serves as Artistic Advisor. One episode… Continue reading Jeffrey Kahane launches new podcast series about classical music in America