USC Thornton School of Music

Have you ever wondered what a week in the life looks like as a USC Thornton undergraduate student?

In our latest Student Ambassador blog, Vocal Arts sophomore Aileen Conner and Popular Music junior Samson Rabinowitz share how they organize their schedules and balance major core classes with GE's.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3NMR8Mt

Earlier this month, the incredibly talented Jacob Collier visited students in USC Thornton's Choral & Sacred Music department! He coached and conducted the Chamber Singers ensemble in a rendition of his original composition, "World O World."

USC Thornton had a wonderful time welcoming families and students to Trojan Family Weekend this year. The weekend featured musical performances, a breakfast reception with faculty presentations, and Popular Music Forum with the legendary Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis!

Read our Trojan Family Weekend recap: https://bit.ly/3YaxOyT

We are thrilled to share that USC Thornton faculty member Juan Pablo Contreras (DMA ’21) was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in the Best Classical Contemporary Composition category for his violin concerto, “La Minerva.”

The recording of "La Minerva" was performed by Orquesta Latino Mexicana, an ensemble Contreras founded in 2019, and soloist Angélica Olivo.

Congratulations to this year's Latin Grammy nominees!

Read more about Contreras' nomination: https://bit.ly/3BruMNE

📸: Jorge Kick

On Sept. 15, USC Thornton alumni Carlos Rafael Rivera (MM ’04, DMA ’10), Ben Schor (‘02) and Jeff Toyne (GCRT ’01) won 2024 Emmy Awards for excellence in composition and music editing. Congratulations to this year's Emmys / Television Academy winners and nominees!

Read more about the 2024 Emmy Awards: https://bit.ly/47zEFoI

📸: Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services

Last Friday, we kicked off our 2024-2025 Signature Series of events with an exceptional performance by the USC Thornton Symphony. The concert was conducted by Carl St.Clair and featured cellist Seth Parker Woods.

Explore Thornton's Signature Series lineup: https://bit.ly/3B3Xkgb

Please join us in congratulating celebrated cellist and USC Thornton faculty member Seth Parker Woods on his new appointment as Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music.

"Professor Woods embodies the forward-looking artist and musician that the Thornton School of Music aims to cultivate in its students. He is an inspiring beacon of excellence for our school," Dean Jason King said.

Woods will join the USC Thornton Symphony on Friday, September 13 for the opening concert of the fall semester, performing "breathe/burn: an elegy" by Joel Thompson.

Read more about this announcement: https://bit.ly/4dEd9bO

Welcome to a new semester, Trojans! We had a wonderful time meeting with all of our USC Thornton students, faculty and staff during this year's Welcome Week.

"You are part of a long and magnificent legacy of creative and scholarly excellence where some of the world’s foremost performers, conductors and composers, professionals and researchers have received their training," said Dean Jason King in his welcome speech. "My goal is to make sure you as students feel empowered and have everything you need to succeed."

✌️

USC Thornton is delighted to announce Quincy Jones: Beyond Category, our year-long event series dedicated to celebrating, exploring and elevating Quincy Jones’ life and work. This series celebrates seven decades of Jones' unprecedented creativity and excellence as a trailblazer whose work bridges classical, jazz, pop, R&B, gospel and film scoring.

Join us on September 20 at 7 p.m. in Norris Cinema Theatre for the kick-off event, Screening Quincy Jones: "Duke Ellington...We Love You Madly."

Learn more about Quincy Jones: Beyond Category: https://bit.ly/3YSqIQ8

Congratulations to the USC Thornton alumni who have been nominated for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards by the ! This year’s nominees include Sara Barone (MM ‘18), Nick Chuba (’14), Chanda Dancy (GCRT ’04), James Newton Howard, Carlos Rafael Rivera (MM ’04, DMA ’10), Ben Schor (‘02) and Jeff Toyne (GCRT ’01).

Best of luck to all the nominees!

Read more about the nominations at the link in our bio.

Congratulations to the USC Thornton alumni who have been nominated for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards by the Television Academy! This year's nominees include Sara Barone (MM ‘18), Nick Chuba (’14), Chanda Dancy (GCRT ’04), James Newton Howard, Carlos Rafael Rivera (MM ’04, DMA ’10), Ben Schor (‘02) and Jeff Toyne (GCRT ’01).

Best of luck to all the nominees!

Read more about the nominations: https://bit.ly/3LvF6WL

The Keyboard Collaborative Arts program at USC Thornton remains one of the leading programs in the field of collaborative arts. Its innovative history traces back to two pioneering women: Gwendolyn Koldofsky, who founded the program in 1947, and her student Jean Barr, who earned the first doctoral degree ever given in the field in 1977.

Read more about the history of Thornton's KCA program: https://bit.ly/3LnTwrH

The Keyboard Collaborative Arts program at USC Thornton remains one of the leading programs in the field of collaborative arts. Its innovative history traces back to two pioneering women: Gwendolyn Koldofsky, who founded the program in 1947, and her student Jean Barr, who earned the first doctoral degree ever given in the field in 1977.

Read more about the history of Thornton's KCA program: https://bit.ly/3LnTwrH

In our latest "Office Hours," USC Thornton Strings faculty member JoAnn Turovsky shares her teaching philosophy, advice for young harpists and stories behind the artwork in her on-campus studio.

Turovsky is principal harpist with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Los Angeles Master Chorale and Sinfonia Orchestra. She has performed on numerous film and television soundtracks, including "Avatar," "The Karate Kid," the "Toy Story" franchise, "The Kite Runner" and more. In 2015, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Harp Society.

Learn more about JoAnn Turovsky: https://bit.ly/3W4j03z

We are thrilled to celebrate the release of USC Thornton alumnus Patrick O’Malley’s (MM ’15, DMA ’19) debut orchestral album “The Horizons” with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Constantine. Featuring violist Brett Deubner, O’Malley’s viola concerto is accompanied by his pieces “Soliloquy,” “Obliviana” and “Rest and Restless.”

“While composing the piece in 2022, at the same time coming out of the Covid lockdowns, I felt a strong feeling of capturing this sense of rebirth with the concerto, using Brett Deubner’s immense lyricism on the viola to explore a world of both fragility and strength,” said O’Malley.

Read more about the album at the link in our bio.

We are thrilled to celebrate the release of USC Thornton alumnus Patrick O’Malley's (MM ’15, DMA ’19) debut orchestral album "The Horizons" with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Constantine. Featuring violist Brett Deubner, O'Malley's viola concerto is accompanied by his pieces "Soliloquy," "Obliviana" and "Rest and Restless."

"While composing the piece in 2022, at the same time coming out of the Covid lockdowns, I felt a strong feeling of capturing this sense of rebirth with the concerto, using Brett Deubner’s immense lyricism on the viola to explore a world of both fragility and strength," said O'Malley.

Read more about the album: https://bit.ly/3VzRSJr

Have you heard about USC Thornton’s Music Mentorship Program? The newly revamped program is among the many ways Thornton connects music majors with industry leaders.

Students are paired with mentors in a customized way in order to receive productive feedback, advice and guidance on their creative or entrepreneurial work, their scholarship and their future careers. The primary goal of the program is to make professional development and guidance accessible to as many undergraduate and graduate students as possible.

Discover the USC Thornton Music Mentorship Program at the link in our bio.

Have you heard about USC Thornton's Music Mentorship Program? The newly revamped program is among the many ways Thornton connects music majors with industry leaders.

Students are paired with mentors in a customized way in order to receive productive feedback, advice and guidance on their creative or entrepreneurial work, their scholarship and their future careers. The primary goal of the program is to make professional development and guidance accessible to as many undergraduate and graduate students as possible.

Discover the USC Thornton Music Mentorship Program: https://bit.ly/4aRrPlE

Growing up in Nevada, award-winning podcaster Shima Oliaee (’05) was a classically trained singer and determined to make it in music. In our latest alumni spotlight, she shares how she found herself as an artist.

Since graduating from Thornton, Oliaee has worked on the Golden Globe-winning “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and earned a Peabody Award for her “Dolly Parton’s America” podcast series. Her new series, “The Competition,” takes listeners behind the scenes of the Distinguished Young Women program (formerly America’s Junior Miss), one of the most lucrative scholarship competitions for high school girls.

“I thought I had to have it all figured out at a very young age, but USC showed me that maybe that’s not true,” Oliaee said. “For the series, I was very interested in what this competition says about how we’re setting up girls for success or failure. They all feel that if they win the competition, things will be figured out, but we know as adults that the working world is not that simple, and unfortunately, a lot of society is set up to stop a woman from achieving her dreams.”

Learn more about Shima Oliaee and her new podcast at the link in our bio.

Growing up in Nevada, award-winning podcaster Shima Oliaee (’05) was a classically trained singer and determined to make it in music. In our latest alumni spotlight, she shares how she found herself as an artist.

Since graduating from Thornton, Oliaee has worked on the Golden Globe-winning "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and earned a Peabody Award for her "Dolly Parton’s America" podcast series. Her new series, "The Competition," takes listeners behind the scenes of the Distinguished Young Women program (formerly America’s Junior Miss), one of the most lucrative scholarship competitions for high school girls.

“I thought I had to have it all figured out at a very young age, but USC showed me that maybe that’s not true," Oliaee said. "For the series, I was very interested in what this competition says about how we’re setting up girls for success or failure. They all feel that if they win the competition, things will be figured out, but we know as adults that the working world is not that simple, and unfortunately, a lot of society is set up to stop a woman from achieving her dreams.”

Learn more about Shima Oliaee and her new podcast: https://bit.ly/3VfM6N0

Earlier this month, USC Thornton celebrated its incredible graduates, faculty and staff at both the 69th Annual Honors Convocation and the 141st Commencement Ceremony. We invite you to relive some of our favorite moments captured at the end of another incredible school year.

View the entire gallery of photos: https://bit.ly/3Keeysi

Please join us in welcoming acclaimed jazz pianist, composer and USC Thornton alumnus Gerald Clayton ('07) as a 2024-2025 Artist-in-Residence in Jazz! Clayton will teach classes on improvisation, ensemble performance, and composition as well as providing private instruction.

A six-time Grammy-nominated artist, Clayton was honored with the 2018 ASCAP Vanguard Award for his innovative work helping to shape the future of music. He has served as musical director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour and director of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. This year, he completed a 35-date North American tour with the Blue Note Quintet in celebration of the label’s 85th anniversary.

Learn more about Gerald Clayton and his new appointment: https://bit.ly/4bGTruE

We had a wonderful time celebrating our USC Thornton graduates at today's commencement ceremony. The day featured an inspiring speech given by composer and Outstanding Alumnus Michael Abels ('84):

"Many inspirational speakers will tell you that failure is a required step along the way to success. I can only add that, in the arts, failure and success may also be the same thing. Your most embarrassing professional experience may be the one that brings you the greatest accolades, and your magnum opus may be greeted with stony silence," Abels said.

"Through it all, don’t lose sight of your declaration—that you are an artist, or helping bring artistic expression into the world, and you will not allow life to separate you from your joy."

Congratulations to the Class of 2024!

This morning, USC Thornton honored its incredible graduates, faculty and staff at the 69th Annual Honors Convocation. Congratulations to all who received awards! Tomorrow the celebration continues with Thornton's Commencement Ceremony beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Pardee Lawn.