Alumni Milestones
To submit an alumni milestone, email the USC Thornton Alumni Office at alumni@thornton.usc.edu
Submitted since January 2009
2000s
Kazem Abdullah MM ’02, Winds and Percussion
Conductor Kazem Abdullah made his Metropolitan Opera Debut on January 28, 2009. Assistant Conductor for the MET under Music Director James Levine, Abdullah, conducted two performances of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, the second of which took place on Saturday, January 31. Abdullah's debut was broadcast on Met Opera Sirius Radio channel 78.
Jessica Rose Cambio MM ’06, Vocal Arts
Soprano Jessica Rose Cambio will be going to Tel Aviv, Israel to sing Magda in Puccini's La Rondine. Following that performance, she will be heading to St. Petersburg, Russia for a concert and then back to Como for La Boheme and Rigoletto in the fall and winter.
Almanova Duo (Jessica Pierce MM ’04 & Almer Imamovic MM ’06)
Flutist Jessica Pierce and guitarist Almer Imamovic, also known as the AlmaNova Duo, recently won two awards from Just Plain Folks, the world's largest independent music awards organization. Chosen from over 42,000 albums from 160 countries, they were awarded in two categories: 2009 Best Instrumental Album for Debut by AlmaNova and 2009 Best Instrumental Song for "Sarajevo Nights" by Almer Imamovic.
Rob Frear MM '03, Trumpet
Rob recently released his first solo CD, In the Big City. It features music for trumpet, both in solo and chamber settings; composers include Theodore Holdheim, Kim Scharnberg, Rychard Cooper, Nick Lane and Michael Galib. To celebrate this CD release, Rob is playing an October 16th Faculty Artist Series Recital at CSULB where he is an Assistant Professor and Director of Brass Studies.
Sara Gazarek ’04, Jazz Studies
Jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek headlined the GLT Jazz Masters Concert at Illinois State University's Center for the Performing Arts on February 7, 2009.
Ian Gibson ’04, Studio Guitar
Guitarist Ian Gibson recently worked as a session player for the Emmy Award-winning theme for The Tudors, blockbuster films such as Transformers,and the G.A.N.G. Award-winning video game score for Electronic Art's Need For Speed: Carbon. He also performed live on the Survivor X Season Finale.
In 2007, Gibson launched a music library called LA Studio Tracks, LLC. Through his business, he has been able to secure licensing for artists in top tier programs such as HBO's Entourage.
Gibson is currently in the top third of his class at Chapman University School of Law, Vice President of the Entertainment Law Society, and developing an artist-focused entertainment law blog. He is also writing a series of articles translating essential copyright, trademark, contract, and tort law into plain language that can be easily read and understood by the musical community.
Deborah H. How, Ph.D. ‘09
Deborah has always been dedicated to promoting awareness for developmental disabilities in Asian families, both in the United States and abroad. On Saturday, November 14, 2009, she will be playing a movement of Tyzen Hsiao’s Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 53 in Pasadena, CA in a Benefit Concert for the Love Taiwan Society. Thornton alum Melody Kuo ’86, MM ’88, DMA ’93 will also be performing. All proceeds from this benefit concert will go toward programs at the Tainan (Taiwan) YMCA for children with developmental disabilities, as well as aid for victims of the recent catastrophic typhoons in south-central Taiwan.
Courtney Huffman MM ’07, Vocal Arts
Soprano Courtney Huffman appeared in the Santa Maria Philharmonic's recent production of La Traviata where she sang the principal role of Violetta. In addition, Huffman made her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall in June.
Eric Jasper GCRT ’08, Scoring for Motion Pictures & Television
Eric received an LA Area Emmy Award in the Children/Youth Programming category for his work as co-producer and composer on Larry Newman's Children's Music Workshop's 2008 production of the All Schools Elementary Honor Orchestra.
Paul Kwo ’03, Keyboard Studies
Paul released two CD's this year: Blue, a soothing melodious piano improv album and Ocean of Thoughts, an art improv album on 15 art photographs he took which are all printed on the insert of the CD. He also has two other CDs coming out this month called Red and From the Krystal Epic Library Collection. Paul will be performing his original music, including his newest works, on piano along with five other musicians in June. The concert will also feature original music by George Shaw, another Thornton alum. In addition to his musical career, Kwo has also played principal roles in an IBM National Commercial & Marshalls National Commercial, which have been airing since the end of March.
Cindy Lam ’07, Piano Performance
Last year Cindy won an Honorable Mention in the Torrance Symphony Young Artists' Concerto Competition playing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #2. She also helped organize and performed in the 1st annual benefit concert for the Joseph F. Garabet Foundation on January 31, 2009. The concert raised over $15,000 for the foundation.
Cindy will make her chamber music debut in January 2010, playing the Franck Piano Quintet with the California String Quartet, as well as the Moszkowski Suite for 2 violins and piano with violinists Bruce Dukov and Katia Popov.
Min Na Lee, MM ’06, Clarinet
Min Na recently won the position of 2nd/Eb Clarinet in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Olli Leppaniemi GCRT ’09, Clarinet
Olli recently won 1st prize in the 4th Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition on June 9, 2009. He also won the position of Principal Clarinet in the Danish Radio Orchestra.
Angela Meade MM ’04, Vocal Arts
Soprano Angela Meade received a rave review in the New York Times for her recent concert performance of Rossini's Semiramide with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. "In the title role Angela Meade fully conveyed the poignancy of the additional scene, concluding an impressive evening in which she wielded her voluminous soprano and fine coloratura technique to elegant effect," the reviewer wrote.
Greg Milliren, MM ’07, Flute
Greg recently won the position of Associate Principal Flute in the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Aaron Monty ’04, Music Industry
Aaron was recently featured in Billboard's "30 under 30", an article that recognizes rising young executives in the music industry.
Rebecca Morris MA '06, Music History and Literature
Rebecca's article, “Universal Design and Adaptive Equipment: Ideas and Solutions for Music Schools”, was published in the August 2009 issue of Music Theory Online.
Olivier Ochanine MM ’07, Conducting
Olivier recently became the new Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in Manila.
Tish Oney DMA ’07, Jazz Studies
Tish recently released an album on the Rhombus label entitled Dear Peg celebrating the songwriting talents of Peggy Lee. This historically important recording featured former members of Lee's band, John Chiodini (guitar), Bill Watrous (trombone) and Bob Leatherbarrow (vibraphone) as well as noted jazz artists Joel Hamilton (bass) and Kendall Kay (drums). Dr. Oney has since embarked on a national tour with her concert presentation "The Peggy Lee Project" which has premiered in New York and Las Vegas, eliciting many favorable reviews.
Harish Raghavan ’04, Jazz Studies
Harish is a semi-finalist in the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.
Brian Ralston GCRT ’02, Scoring for Motions Pictures & Television
Composer Brian Ralston recently scored the feature film Don't Fade Away directed by Luke Kasdan. The film stars Beau Bridges, Ryan Kwanten, Mischa Barton and Ja Rule. A story about his score was recently picked up by industry trades and IMDb.
Austin Wintory ’07, Composition
Composer Austin Wintory recently scored the psychological thriller Grace, which premiered at Sundance in 2009. The film won the Jury Prize at France’s prestigious Gerardmer Film Festival in early February. Last year, Wintory earned the title of “Best New Film Composer” at the Hollywood Music Awards in recognition of his score for Jordanian film Captain Abu Raed. The film won the Audience Award for World Dramatic at Sundance in 2008. Wintory is currently scoring The River Why, starring William Hurt and Amber Heard.
Kayla Wong MM ’06, Piano
Kayla will make her Hong Kong debut at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre's Cencert Hall on September 7, 2009. The program includes Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 by Frederic Chopin, “Pagodes” from Estampes by Claude Debussy, Jeux d’Eau by Maurice Ravel and Sonata Op.31 No.2 by Lugwig Van Beehoven.
1990s
Kyle Barisich ’99, Vocal Arts
Kyle recently played the leading role of Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theatre.
Peter was recently awarded the 2009-2010 Lancaster Symphony Orchestra Composer's Award. The award recognizes and honors contemporary composers who are making significant contribution in the field of symphonic music.
Jordan Charnofsky MM ’93, DMA ’97, Classical Guitar
Jordan recently released a CD with Crystal Records featuring a historical recording of Brahms' Two Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, featuring Mitchell Lurie, clarinet, and Leona Lurie, piano. On the album, Jordan, along with Richard Lesser on clarinet, perform the Dances for Clarinet and Guitar, composed for the duo by Daniel Kessner.
Gerard del Colliano ’97, Music Industry
Jerry currently owns the online audio video publication HomeTheaterReview.com, which has become successful over a short period of time. He is also the executive producer on April Showers which is the first feature film made in 4k. In addition, Jerry is currently writing a book called New School Sales which builds on the classical sales techniques and applies them to new media like Facebook and iPhones. He is also a contributing editor at InsideHockey.com and owns 90210 SEO, a search engine optimization company based in Beverly Hills.
Rei Hotoda MM ’91, DMA ’95, Keyboard Studies
Rei Hotodo was recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She opened the DSO's Casual Classics series of four concerts at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Her first program included the Shostakovich Festive Overture, a suite from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2.
Nicholas Lawrence GRCT ’99, Scoring for Motion Pictures & Television
The film The Importance of Flossing, for which Lawrence composed the music, won the World Vision/Soujourners Filmmaking Competition.
Lansing McLoskey MM ’92, Composition
Lansing won First Prize in the 2009 Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition. In the last year, he has had premieres in Melbourne, New York City, Boston, Miami, Chicago, and Atlanta, and performances in Rome, Leon, Lima, New York, and Aspen, where he gave presentations at the Aspen Composers' Conference and Aspen Music School. This past spring, Lansing received a Pew Charitable Trust commission through the Philadelphia Music Project for a work for The Crossing Choir, to be premiered in June 2010.
Greg Reitan ’96, Composition
Pianist and composer Greg Reitan recently released his debut album titled Some Other Time. A review in Keyboard Magazine states, “An old-school trio record of the highest order, Greg Reitan's Some Other Time harkens back to the day when great tunes played by a swinging band were reason enough to make an album."
Last year, Rius was selected as one of nine world masters to give classes and recitals for the 2007 China International Clarinet festival. As a result of his work at the festival, Rius was named Most Distinguished Professor and Performer of the festival.
1980s
The Armadillo String Quartet
The Armadillo String Quartet, Barry Socher '69, violin and composition; Steve Scharf '74, violin; Raymond Tischer DMA '84, viola, and Armen Ksajikian, cello are celebrating their 30th Anniversary Season with five Concerts at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. The first, on October 5, 2009, will feature quartets by movie and concert composers Bruce Babcock and Jack Hayes, including a quartet of Joseph Haydn, recalling their 1983 historic 34-and-a-half-hour marathon concert of all of Haydn's string quartets. The second, on November 30, 2009, will feature the 3rd Quartet of Tchaikovsky and "Eight Colors" by Tan Dun.
Long-time friend and clarinetist Margaret Thornhill will perform two quintets with the quartet on January 11, 2010, and composer/humorist Peter Schickele will be on hand for two programs. On February 22, they will present their 20th Annual "Music by Peter Schickele" concert with yet-to-be-named guest artists and on February 24, they will show the well-known humorous sides of Peter and of the quartet in an evening of musical mayhem by P.D.Q. Bach, including the "Moose" Quartet, which the Armadillos premiered with Schickele at Carnegie Hall in 1999 and recorded with him for Telarc in 2007.
Patricia Diaz ’86, MusicTish recently performed in "Las Vegas Celebrates the Music of Michael Jackson." Not only was she a keyboard player in the ensemble, she arranged the opening number, conducted, and programmed the synthesizers. The concert raised over $100,000 for public school music education in Clark County, Nevada. She is also currently playing keyboards in the Las Vegas production of the mega-hit Broadway show "Jersey Boys."
Marcia Green DMA ’84, Music Education
Dr. Green is a founder and current Executive Director of the Humanities Education and Research Association (HERA), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the teaching and understanding of the humanities across a range of disciplines. The organization’s first conference “Nature and the Humanities” was held in Chicago in April of 2009.
Janise White MM ’81, Piano
Janise conducted the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra (AACMSO) on October 25, 2009 at the UCLA Schoenberg Hall for the International AMNA (Africa Meets North America) Festival Concert. The program includes works by film composer, Stephen James Taylor, Jeraldine Herbison, Fela Sowande, William Grant Still and Dr. Olly Wilson. The AACMSO, founded in 1987 by three USC graduates, Professors Janise White MM '81, Valencia Mitchell and Hollywood Bowl Violist, Robin Ross '80, has restored over 200 works from original manuscripts of historical black composers from 1700 to present. White is a tenured Professor of Music at West Los Angeles College.
1960s
Elisabeth Matesky MM ’64, Violin
Elisabeth Matesky was recently invited to present a formal public address on her violin mentor, Master Violinist Nathan Milstein, for the American String Teacher's Association (ASTA) 2009 National Conference in March. She talked about many aspects of Milstein's ART including his early life in Russia, his friendship with the legendary pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, and the influence on Milstein's playing of Franco-Belgian virtuoso violinist, Eugene Ysaye.
Elisabeth Matesky also had the honor to present the Ralph Matesky Award to this year's ASTA 2009 National Solo Competition winner, cellist, Deanna Talens. The award is in memory of her late father, Ralph who was the former national President of ASTA and taught at USC. Ms. Matesky currently teaches privately at the "Elisabeth Matesky Studio for Advanced Violin and Chamber Music Studies," while continuing to perform, as well as guest teach in London.
