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“ After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

— Aldous Huxley

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A MessAGe FRoM ouR deAN

Musicians in today’s world practice their art in an environment that is evolving more rapidly and dramatically than ever before. The blurring of borders between peoples and cultures in our increasingly global society has inspired spectacular fusions among musical genres. Technological advances are changing the way music is made and how people receive it, yielding exciting new modes of artistic expression. unlimited opportunities await those with the talent, the artistic integrity, the imagination, the resilience and the sense of adventure to seize them. It is truly an exhilarating time to be a musician.

And there is no place like the usC Thornton school of Music to nurture that sense of musical adventure. Internationally recognized as one of the top-tier conservatories and music schools in the united states, usC Thornton is an anchor institution in los Angeles — often billed as the “Creative Capital of the World” — and a magnet for gifted students and faculty from all corners of the globe. For more than 125 years, we have prepared our students to excel as composers, industry leaders, educators, and performers in studios and on stages around the world.

As we look to the future, we know that we must provide our students with even more innovative and wide-ranging opportunities to hone their craft and express their unique musical language. We must make greater efforts to cultivate the artistry and intellectual vitality of our renowned faculty. We must continue to explore and help define the amazing advances in our discipline that will influence and inspire the next generation of musicians. And we must find new ways to leverage los Angeles’s rich cultural resources. To realize these aspirations, the usC Thornton school of Music is launching the most ambitious fundraising initiative in our history, with a goal of raising $75 million to support students, faculty, programs and infrastructure. success will ensure that we can help fulfill the potential each one of our students has to become an individual of great talent, expression and vision — and make usC Thornton a leading force in music for the 21st century.

Robert A. Cutiettadean, usC Thornton school of Music

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T H e R I G H T p e o p le

The Very Best students

The usC Thornton school of Music enrolls approximately 1,000 students representing more than 40 countries, from Ireland to Czechoslovakia to Brazil. These talented students are drawn to usC Thornton because of our outstanding academic programs — and also because of our location on the pacific Rim in los Angeles, one of the most diverse and culturally rich cities in the world. each of these students brings a unique artistic and cultural perspective to the usC Thornton community, making it a vibrant, stimulating and exciting learning environment.

The competition to recruit these remarkable young men and women is fierce. Most of our peer institutions do so by offering attractive scholarships that extend well beyond traditional financial aid or merit-based packages. While usC also offers an array of scholarship and financial aid opportunities, these funds generally

cover only a portion of tuition and living expenses. As a result, many promising students who would prefer to study at usC Thornton decide to enroll at other schools or conservatories.

For student musicians, the price of a first-rate education far exceeds the basic necessities of tuition, room and board. To be competitive, music scholarships must include funds to support student performances, instrument maintenance and repair, scholarly projects, tours and travel to national and international festivals and competitions, and other costs associated with the unique requirements of a musical education.

A significant increase in endowment for scholarships and student support is essential if usC Thornton is to continue to attract, enroll and graduate music students of the highest caliber.

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“ Reflecting upon a half-century’s association with usC Thornton, I endowed the Morten lauridsen Graduate Composition Fellowship as one way of repaying the aid given me by previous donors. The satisfaction of knowing that I am helping future composers achieve their dreams at our beloved music school is incalculable — and in itself an enduring gift.”

— MoRTeN lAuRIdseN, B.M. ’66, M.A. ’68, d.M.A. ’74, dIsTINGuIsHed pRoFessoR oF CoMposITIoN ANd ReCIpIeNT, 2007 NATIoNAl MedAl oF ARTs

The usC Thornton school of Music boasts legendary musicians and educators on its faculty, including internationally renowned performers and musicologists, Academy Award- and GRAMMy-winning composers, and other leaders in the music industry. These distinguished individuals are committed not only to teaching but also to developing close mentoring relationships with students, and our small class sizes foster such relationships. This means that all of our students receive personalized attention to help prepare them for lasting success in their chosen careers.

For generations, the opportunity to study under the close mentorship of

world-class faculty has made usC Thornton a global destination for talented students who are serious about their musical aspirations. To continue to offer this individualized approach to music education, we must continue to recruit and retain exceptional faculty.

endowed chairs and professorships enable us to bring the most renowned artists and scholars to the university and to los Angeles, enhancing both our students’ education and the cultural life of our city. Funds to support visiting artists and faculty professional development also will ensure an outstanding and inspiring faculty at usC Thornton.

T H e R I G H T p e o p le

The Very Best Faculty

“ With its world-class faculty, any student seeking the best programs would want to come to usC Thornton. When I received news of my acceptance and unbeatable scholarship offer, I didn’t even wait to hear from other schools.”

— HAN BIN yooN, M.M. ’12, GRAduATe CeRTIFICATe ’14 (Cello peRFoRMANCe)

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“ science and technology are the means to an end, but the arts and humanities are our true end as complete human beings.”

— C. l. MAx NIkIAs, usC pResIdeNT

“ I thought I’d leave a legacy. I’d like to honor the name of my sister, as she was very active here for so long.”— Professor AlIce schoenfeld, nAmesAke of the

AlIce And eleonore schoenfeld symPhonIc hAll

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At the usC Thornton school of Music, our students’ aspirations play out in our classrooms, practice rooms, rehearsal spaces and recital venues. our faculty and artists-in-residence also rely on first-rate facilities for teaching, performing and academic study.

But our facilities are currently stretched beyond capacity. With the usC Thornton initiative, we have the opportunity to create more classrooms, and to upgrade existing classrooms to support the latest learning technologies. We will refurbish and add new rehearsal spaces. We will build performance venues configured to showcase the extraordinarily talents of our students, faculty and visiting artists. And we will design and construct a dedicated performance hall to accommodate our largest ensembles.

These enhancements are essential to support the creative and scholarly work for which usC Thornton is rightly renowned. In addition, we are pursuing funding for a new building that will centralize our programs, leverage new music pedagogy and support music instruction in the 21st century.

Renewed investment in usC Thornton’s facilities will ensure new generations of students the finest educational experience, build their enthusiasm for learning, provide our stellar faculty with the resources they need to achieve new heights in music teaching and research, strengthen community, and further cement usC Thornton’s already exemplary reputation as a powerhouse in music teaching and research.

T H e R I G H T p l AC e s

Where Music Comes Alive

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To support and complement the work of our students and faculty, the usC Thornton school of Music offers a broad range of institutes, seminars, performance series and other signature programs that are unique in the field of music education. The school’s polish Music Center, for example — the only center of its kind outside poland — is a resource for research in polish music and culture that is second to none.

Visionary alliances with the los Angeles philanthropic Committee for the Arts and other generous partners and friends enable us to bring world-renowned visiting guest artists to campus, providing our students with an extraordinary range of master class opportunities. Macy Gray, Ben Folds, yo-yo Ma, Randy Newman and Michael Tilson Thomas (all pictured here) are just a few of the distinguished guest musicians who have taught master classes at usC Thornton.

In addition, outreach initiatives, such as the newly established usC Thornton Gluck Fellows program, prepare our students to present their art in the community, with the added advantages of engaging in service-learning while also reaching out to new generations of musicians.

Additional educational initiatives span chamber music, songwriting, film scoring, jazz studies, popular music, music industry market research and more — placing the school on the leading edge of professional training in an unparalleled range of musical genres and disciplines.

Funding for these and other programs will further enrich music teaching and research at usC Thornton, and secure our continued leadership among the world’s elite schools of music.

T H e R I G H T p R o G R A M s

enriching Mind and spirit

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We invite you to join us in ensuring the usC Thornton school of Music’s continued leadership as a vital cultural resource, an exciting source of innovation across the entire musical spectrum and the perfect place to launch a music career. With your generous support, and the support of other alumni and friends, we know we will make this ambition a reality.

your investment in the usC Thornton school of Music’s $75 million fundraising initiative is an investment in:

• The Right People — students with exceptional promise and drive, faculty who are consummate musicians and music professionals, and relationships that inspire both to achieve their highest potential

• The Right Places — state-of-the-art spaces for music teaching, learning and research, drawing from the resources of a world-class research university located in heart of the world’s most vibrant music industry hub

• The Right Programs — pioneering initiatives to create a rigorous, stimulating, relevant and uniquely diverse culture of music teaching and research

USC Thornton’s fundraising initiative is a crucial part of the Campaign for the University of Southern California, which seeks to raise $6 billion to fuel USC’s success and impact far into the future. The campaign will touch and transform every aspect of the university.

usC Thornton Initiative Fundraising Goals

USC Thornton Fund for Student Scholarships $25 million

At USC Thornton, the greater the diversity of our student body, the richer the educational experience for everyone. But not all have the resources to pay for a USC Thornton education. We are committed to recruiting the top performers and music industry leaders of tomorrow, regardless of their financial situations. To ensure that we continue to attract and retain the highest potential student talent, we must dramatically increase our endowment for scholarship support.

USC Thornton Endowment for Faculty, Teaching and Instruction $20 million

Outstanding faculty are the foundation of any first-rate music school. To accelerate USC Thornton’s ascent into the ranks of the world’s preeminent schools — especially in the face of increasing competition for internationally renowned faculty — we must generate resources that enable us to recruit, retain and support a critical mass of educators who are at the pinnacle of their fields. These teacher-scholars play an essential role in developing innovative programs, nurturing the creative spirit and providing an unsurpassed educational experience for our students.

USC Thornton Capital Projects $15 million

Our aspirations play out in our classrooms, rehearsal spaces and performance venues. Our facilities must both reflect and define the constantly evolving nature of music education. Continued investment in USC Thornton facilities will ensure the students and faculty of today and tomorrow the opportunity to fulfill their creative promise, and help catapult the school to ever-higher levels of achievement.

USC Thornton Student Academic Programs and Priorities $15 million

USC Thornton is committed to providing our students with an exceptional range of educational experiences. Increased financial support will sustain the extraordinary programs already in place, expanding their reach and increasing their impact. It also will enable us to create new programs to advance knowledge, develop talent and challenge students to realize their unique artistic vision for music in the 21st century.

Total $75 million

los Angeles’ longest-standing cultural institution, the usC Thornton school of Music is on the leading edge of professional training in an unparalleled range of musical genres and disciplines. Today, with your support, we are poised to take our place in the firmament of the world’s preeminent music schools.

your investment in students, faculty, facilities and programs at usC Thornton is an investment in the transcendent power of music to enrich lives. Together, we will inspire new generations of performers, composers, educators and industry leaders to dream big, perform at the highest level and invigorate the diverse musical world of the 21st century.

T H e u s C T H o R N T o N I N I T I AT I V e

On the cover: David Castillo, MM Vocal ArtsPhoto credit: Dietmar Quistorf

Contact Information

www.usc.edu/music

Office of AdvancementUSC Thornton School of Music840 West 34th Street, MUS 408Los Angeles, CA 90089-0851Tel: (213) 740-6474Fax: (213) 821-1860Email: advancement@thornton.usc.edu

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