USC Thornton School of Music

The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States. Founded only four years after the University of Southern California itself, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Southern California.^[1] The School is located in the heart of the USC University Park Campus, south of downtown Los Angeles.

The school gets its name in honor of a $25 million gift by Flora L. Thornton in 1999. At the time, this was the largest donation to a school of music in the United States. In 2006, she donated an additional $5 million to support the facility needs of the school.^[2]

The USC Thornton School is noted for quality programs such as orchestral studies, opera, jazz, early music, composition, Film Scoring and Music Industry. Rolling Stone magazine named the music school as one of the top-five in the country.^[3]

A diverse school of music, Thornton is one of the few highly regarded music schools in the United States to offer a degree program in early music. Students of baroque, renaissance and medieval music (vocal or instrumental) may enroll in a specialized degree program in early music.

Thornton was one of the first universities to offer an undergraduate program in Music Industry, a program still regarded as among the best in the country. Thornton offers the only comprehensive program in Scoring for Television and Film. It also has a unique program in studio guitar performance.

In 2009, the Thornton School was again a trailblazer in collegiate music when it became the first university to offer a major in popular music performance and songwriting alongside its already prestigious classical and jazz programs.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, four alumni (out of six nominated) and four faculty members received awards, in addition to one faculty member receiving a special honor.^[3] At the 2009 Grammy Awards, faculty and alumni won six awards.^[4]

Notable faculty (past and present)

Choral Music Cristian Grases Jo-Michael Scheibe Nick Strimple Tram Sparks Classical Guitar Brian Head William Kanengiser Pepe Romero James Smith Scott Tennant Composition Donald Crockett Sean Friar Stephen Hartke Ted Hearne Morten Lauridsen Andrew Norman Frank Ticheli Conducting Lucinda Carver Sharon Lavery Larry J. Livingston Michael Powers H. Robert Reynolds Carl St. Clair Early Music Elizabeth Blumenstock Susan Feldman Rachelle Fox Adam Knight Gilbert Rotem Gilbert Charles Koster Paul J. Sherman Scott Shubeck William Skeen Shanon Zusman Jazz Studies David Arnay Glibert Castellanos Ndugu Chancler John Daversa Peter Erskine Russell Ferrante John Fumo Sara Gazarek Jason Goldman Kathleen Grace Alphonso Johnson Kristin Korb Edwin Livingston Thom David Mason Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy Roy McCurdy Vince Mendoza Bob Mintzer Darek Oles Alan Pasqua Otmaro Ruiz Aaron Serfaty Bob Sheppard John Thomas Jacques Voyemant Bill Watrous Keyboard Collaborative Arts Joel Clifft Kevin Fitz-Gerald Dr. Alan L. Smith Keyboard Studies Bernadene Blaha Lucinda Carver Kevin Fitz-Gerald Stewart Gordon Aron Kallay Norman Krieger Sung-Hwa Park Antoinette Perry John Perry Daniel Pollack Dr. Alan L. Smith Music Education Robert Cutietta Christine DeMore Susan Helfter Dean Raymond Immel Lisa Smith Tina Vartanian John L. Whitener Shelia C. Woodward Paul Young Music Industry Ted Ancona Bill Biersach Stacy Brightman Steve Cunningham Jerry Del Colliano Andrew Garver Mark Goldstein Kenneth Lopez Stephen McCurry Scott Page Richard McIlvery Katie Casson Ruble Christopher Sampson Rick Schmunk Chris Stone Paul Young' Musicology Bruce Alan Brown Paul Chalkin Joanna Demers Adam Knight Gilbert Leah Morrison Tim Page Bryan R. Simms Mina Yang Organ Studies Cherry Rodes Ladd Thomas Pedagogical Technology Brian K. Shepard Polish Music Center Marek Zebrowski Popular Music Andy Abad Jeffrey Allen Robert Anderson Adriana Balic Ndugu Chancler Lamont Dozier Anne Farnsworth Karin Harris Alphonso Johnson Tim Kobza Jacob Reed Patrice Rushen Christopher Sampson Richard Smith Andrea Stolpe Nick Stoubis Steve Trovato Sean Holt Mark Harrison Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Peter Anthony Chris Brooks Jon Burlingame Sean Dougall Steve Juliani Brain King Patrick Kirst Richard Kraft Deborah Lurie Joel McNeely Eric Schmidt Rick Schmunk Jack Smalley Frederik Wiedmann Chris Young Ludwig Göransson Strings/Harp Margaret Batjer Martin Chalifour Paul Ellison Midori Goto Henry Gronnier John Hayhurst Ralph Kirshbaum Peter Marsh Donald McInnes David Allen Moore Alice Schoenfeld Alexander Suleiman JoAnn Turovsky Kathleen Winkler Suli Xue Studio/Jazz Guitar Reeve Carney (Alum) Adam del Monte Bruce Forman Pat Kelley Tim Kobza Frank Potenza Richard Smith Nick Stoubis Steve Trovato Carl Verheyen Theory/Aural Skills Neal Desby Brian Head Veronika Krausas Alex Miller Robert S. Moore Chris Roze Mark Weiser Trojan Marching Band Art Bartner Tony Fox Vocal Arts and Opera Ken Cazan Parmer Fuller Rod Gilfry Gary Glaze Elizabeth Hynes Jonathan Mack Shigemi Matsumoto Brent McMunn Janice McVeigh Cynthia Munzer Dr. Vicki Muto Lisa Sylvester David Wilkinson Winds and Percussion James Babor Amy Bowers Terry S. Cravens Judith Farmer Yehuda Gilad Donald Green Boyde Hood David Howard Tommy Johnson Kristy Morrell Shawn Mouser Norman Pearson Joseph Pereira James Rötter Jim Self James Thatcher Joel Timm Doug Tornquist Allan Vogel James Walker David Weiss Gary Woodward Michele Zukovsky Performance halls and studios the Alfred Newman Recital Hall the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Symphonic Hall the Bing Theatre the Bovard Auditorium the Harold Lloyd Motion Picture Sound Stage the Jeanette MacDonald Recital Hall the Johnny Carson Sound Stage the Marcia Lucas Post-Production building the Roland Drumlab[5] the Simon Ramo Recital Hall Notable alumni Michael Abels, composer Herb Alpert, trumpeter and co-founder of A&M Records Piotr Anderszewski, pianist Michael Balzary, bassist, trumpeter, and actor Christophe Beck, film and television score composer Marco Beltrami, Film score composer Robert Bernhardt, conductor Jerry Blackstone, choral conductor Bruce Broughton, composer Harold Budd, ambient/avant-garde composer Roberto Cani, violinist Todd Carey, singer-songwriter and musician William Edward Childs, jazz pianist and composer Nicolas Chumachenco, violinist Gerald Clayton, jazz pianist Rozzi Crane, singer-songwriter Alfred Darlington, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tamar Davis, R&B singer John Dearman, classical guitarist Martin Denny, creator of exotica music Eldar Djangirov, jazz pianist Dean Drummond, composer and conductor William Eddins, conductor Taylor Eigsti, jazz pianist Jack Eskew, arranger/orchestrator John Frizzell, film and television score composer Grace Fong, pianist and music educator Neil Galanter, concert pianist Sara Gazarek, jazz musician and singer Grant Gershon, conductor and pianist Rod Gilfry, opera baritone Renee Elise Goldsberry, actress Jerry Goldsmith, Film score composer Donald Grantham, composer and music educator Maria Grenfell, composer Patrick Greppi, music industry Tina Guo, cellist Lionel Hampton, jazz musician Lisa Harriton, singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Jane Henschel, soprano Wataru Hokoyama, composer Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano James Horner, Film score composer James Newton Howard, Film score composer Paul Jackson, Jr., fusion guitarist Tommy Johnson, tubist on film scores Martin Katz piano accompanist, conductor, music educator Jerry Kirkbride, clarinetist Robert Kral, Film score composer Giorgi Latso, concert pianist, composer Morten Lauridsen, composer Benjamin Lees, composer Lesley Leighton, vocal performance Christopher Lennertz, film and television score composer Charles Lloyd, jazz musician Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung, classical pianist Amy R. Martin, soprano Bear McCreary, television score composer Mark McKenzie, composer Angela Meade, Metropolitan Opera Principal Artist, soprano David Allen Moore, classical bassist Ronald Muldrow, jazz musician Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano Martin O'Donnell, composer Christopher Parkening, classical guitarist Leonard Pennario, pianist Jeff Peterson, slack key guitarist P. Q. Phan, composer of contemporary classical music Cynthia Phelps, violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn, violinist Harvey Pittel, saxophonist Basil Poledouris, Film score composer Harve Presnell, singer and actor Brian Ralston, Film score composer Robert Ralston, pianist and organist Lee Ritenour, session musician Jessica Rivera, soprano Leroy Robertson, composer and music educator Douglas Romayne, film and television score composer Nathaniel Rosen, cellist Elizabeth Rowe, flutist Patrice Rushen, R&B singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist Stefan Sanderling, conductor William Schmidt, composer Garry Schyman, composer for film, television, and video games Tom Scott, session musician Jason Solowsky, Film score composer Lya Stern, violinist Thomas Stevens, trumpeter, composer, and educator Tomas Svoboda, composer and music educator Salli Terri, singer and songwriter Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor and pianist Oleg Timofeyev, musicologist and classical guitarist Fiona Thompson, cellist Martin Tillman, composer and cellist Dale Turner (songwriter), singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer/arranger Zeynep Üçbaşaran, pianist Walter Werzowa, composer and founder of Musikvergnuegen Mack Wilberg, conductor, composer, and arranger; Mormon Tabernacle Choir director Wanda Harasimowicz Wilk, musicologist and founder of USC Polish Music Center[6] Pauline Yang, pianist[7] Andrew York, classical guitarist and composer Robert H. Young, Professor Emeritus of Baylor University References "About Us". USC Thornton School of Music. Retrieved 2009-09-13. "Flora L. Thornton". USC Thornton School of Music. Retrieved 2011-05-28. Ljiljana Grubisic, Thornton Faculty, Alums Win Grammys, USC Public Relations, March 12, 2007, Accessed March 4, 2009. Jennifer Pons and Allison Engel, USC Shines at the Grammys, USC Public Relations, February 12, 2009, Accessed March 4, 2009. "Beat the Drum: New Lab First of Its Kind". University of Southern California. Retrieved 2009-09-09. Profile page for Wanda Harasimowicz Wilk of the Poles in America Foundation, Inc. Pauline Yang, student of John Perry External links USC Thornton School of Music USC Polish Music Center website Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television website Music Library of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music