USC Thornton School of Music

Jazz pianist Donald Vega ’99 talks about working on a very personal album — and his Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition.

The USC Thornton School of Music shares music performed, written and/or produced by some of the school’s Black faculty and alumni.

The multihyphenate musician and scholar comes to USC from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

USC program — supported by the university’s Good Neighbors Campaign — connects implant recipients with musicians to recapture and rediscover the feelings one gets from listening to music.

As the music school unveils a new master’s degree in popular music teaching and learning, graduates who are already teaching are adapting to the growing demand for music instruction beyond band, choir and orchestra.

Alumni and faculty from the Jazz Studies program lead a lengthy list of USC Thornton nominees

The alumnus and former faculty member — a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in music — will return as an associate professor of composition in fall 2023.

The journey now starts with a class that mixes students from the classical, jazz, popular music and music production programs, and examines big ideas that cross all disciplines.

The new degree is designed for musicians wanting to transition into teaching as well as current K-12 teachers who want to immerse themselves in popular music pedagogy.

The celebrated musician was the first artist-in-residence for USC Thornton’s Popular Music program.