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 itself, the Thornton school is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Southern California. 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.

The USC Thornton School is noted for quality programs such as orchestral studies, opera, jazz, Film Scoring and Music industry.

Thornton is one of two universities in the country to offer an undergraduate program in Music Industry. Thornton is one of only two schools that offer a comprehensive program in Scoring for Television and Film. It also has a unique program in studio guitar performance.

Notable faculty

Cello

*Lynn Harrell
*Ralph Kirshbaum
*Ronald Leonard
*Gregor Piatigorsky
*Nathaniel Rosen
*Eleonore Schoenfeld
*Peter Stumpf

Choral Music

*Paul Salamunovich

Clarinet

*Yehuda Gilad

Classical guitar

*Pepe Romero
*Scott Tennant
*James Smith
*William Kanengiser
*Brian Head

Composition

*Buddy Baker
*Elmer Bernstein
*Bruce Broughton
*Ingolf Dahl
*Jerry Goldsmith
*Morten Lauridsen
*Marty Paich
*David Raksin
*Miklós Rózsa
*Frank Ticheli
*Ernst Toch

Conducting

*Lucinda Carver
*Sergiu Comissiona
*Daniel Lewis
*Larry J. Livingston
*H. Robert Reynolds
*Carl St.Clair

Jazz

*John Clayton
*Peter Erskine
*Russell Ferrante
*Bruce Forman
*Alphonso Johnson
*Vince Mendoza
*Alan Pasqua
*Bill Watrous

Keyboards

*Bernadene Blaha
*Lucinda Carver
*Kevin Fitz-Gerald
*Norman Krieger
*John Perry
*Daniel Pollack
*Alan Smith (pianist)

Viola

*William Primrose
*Donald McInnes
*Pamela Goldsmith

Violin

*Midori Goto
*Jascha Heifetz
*Robert Lipsett
*Alice Schoenfeld
*Hagai Shaham
*Endre Granat

Vocal Arts and Opera

*Ken Cazan
*Rod Gilfry (beginning fall 2008)
*Gary Glaze
*Elizabeth Hynes
*Brent McMunn
*Cynthia Munzer

Notable alumni

*Michael Abels, composer
*Herb Alpert, trumpeter and co-founder of A&M Records
*Christophe Beck, film and television composer
*Marco Beltrami, Film score composer
*Bruce Broughton, composer
*Harold Budd, ambient/avant-garde composer
*Roberto Cani, violinist
*William Edward Childs, jazz pianist and composer
*Gerald Clayton, jazz pianist
*Lori A. Custodero, music educator
*Tamar Davis, R&B singer
*Martin Denny, creator of exotica music
*Gigi Drums, percussionist
*William Eddins, conductor
*Taylor Eigsti, jazz pianist
*Grant Gershon, conductor and pianist
*Rod Gilfry, opera singer
*Renee Elise Goldsberry, actress
*Jerry Goldsmith, Film score composer
*Donald Grantham, composer and music educator
*Maria Grenfell, composer
*Lionel Hampton, jazz musician
*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
*Jerry Kirkbride, clarinetist
*Morten Lauridsen, composer
*Christopher Lennertz, film and television composer
*Charles Lloyd, jazz musician
*Amy R. Martin, soprano
*Bear McCreary, television composer
*Ronald Muldrow, jazz musician
*Richard O'Neill, Korean-American violist
*Christopher Parkening, classical guitarist
*Leonard Pennario, pianist
*P. Q. Phan, composer of contemporary classical music
*Elizabeth Pitcairn, violinist
*Harvey Pittel, saxophonist
*Basil Poledouris, Film score composer
*Derek Polischuk, Professor of Piano, Michigan State University
*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 composer
*Nathaniel Rosen, cellist
*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
*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
*Fiona Thompson, cellist
*Zeynep Üçbaşaran, pianist
*Walter Werzowa, composer and founder of Musikvergnuegen
*Andrew York, classical guitarist-composer
*Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Guitar Quartet
*Calder Quartet, String Quartet

ee also

*Colburn School

External links

* [http://www.usc.edu/music USC Thornton School of Music]
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/ USC Polish Music Center website]
* [http://www.uscsmptv.com/ Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television website]
* [http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/locations/music/ Music Library of the University of Southern California]