Posts Tagged ‘Classical Performance and Composition’


Photo of Duncan Tuomi

Choral Music master’s student Duncan Tuomi wins American Choral Directors Association award

September 22, 2021

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.”


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West Edge Opera commissions Nicolas Lell Benavides to write “Dolores,” an opera about labor organizer and activist Dolores Huerta

September 20, 2021

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

Angela Meade headlines Wexford Festival Opera 2021 season

September 16, 2021

An operatic soprano, Meade has won more than 50 vocal competitions, including the grand prize at the 2009 Montreal International Musical Competition.


Photo of two violinists posing outside their VW bus

Two alums celebrate one year on the road with win from San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Award for streaming documentary series

September 12, 2021

Over the past 12 months, USC Thornton alumni and violinists Etienne Gara (GCRT ’13) and YuEun Kim (GCRT ’15, AD ’17) have traveled from the Mexican border to Canada in “Boris,” the 1971 Volkswagen bus, to bring “music and human bonding at safe distances” to non-traditional venues like organic farms and wineries. The two founding… Continue reading Two alums celebrate one year on the road with win from San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Award for streaming documentary series


Photo of Juliette Herlin

Juliette Herlin named to cello faculty at Texas Christian University

September 1, 2021

This fall, alum Juliette Herlin (DMA ’20) was named a visiting lecturer in cello at the Texas Christian University College of Fine Arts in Fort Worth.


Black and white photo of Nina Shekhar

New York Philharmonic performs Nina Shekhar

August 17, 2021

The music of Nina Shekhar (MM ’20, Composition) will be featured as part of the New York Philharmonic’s 2021-22 season.


USC Thornton faculty member Troy Quinn conducts an outdoor symphony performance

Conductor Troy Quinn Takes Center Stage with the Rhode Island Philharmonic

August 11, 2021

USC Thornton faculty member Troy Quinn leads the 2021 summer pops series for the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra.


Photo of Camae Ayewa (Dennis)

Camae Ayewa (Dennis)

July 6, 2021

A national and international touring musician, composer, poet, visual artist, and curator, Camae Ayewa (Dennis) lives outside of genre with experience with fringe and avant-garde sonic landscapes such as industrial, electronic, noise, punk and hip hop.


Photo of Juan Pablo Contreras

“Mariachitlán” by Juan Pablo Contreras to be performed at Disney Hall with LACO

June 23, 2021

Juan Pablo Contreras, a DMA Student in Composition, will bring his internationally celebrated work, “Mariachitlán,” to both Walt Disney Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall this summer.


Composer Dan Caputo looking into the camera and standing outdoors.

Dan Caputo

June 14, 2021

Dan Caputo (b. 1991) is a Los Angeles-based composer and producer of instrumental and electronic music whose work has been described as “sprawling [and] dreamlike,” “sumptuously depict[ing]” its subject matter (San Francisco Classical Voice). Weaving a range of stylistic influences into his psychologically-bent music, Dan aims to construct immersive sonic experiences colored by curious and thought-provoking… Continue reading Dan Caputo