Much more than marching
The music school received widespread attention toward the end of 2024 when the marching band participated in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But in music school terms, that’s old news; in late January the school launched a student-run record label, Greene Street Records.
Major milestones in recent decades include the 1989 opening of the Koger Center for the Arts, now overseen by the School of Music, and construction next door of a music building with a recital hall in 1993. The next year, what had long been the music department became chartered as the School of Music.
The school has long been committed to “the music of our time,” said Tayloe Harding, now entering his 20th year as dean. That includes a recent rebuilding of jazz studies.
“We’ve reinvigorated the jazz program,” Harding said.
The program has added faculty and moved into a former church near the school in 2023. In 2007, the school started a minor in entrepreneurship, which has continued to expand (Greene Street Records is part of that.)
The most recent development has been music leadership education with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, music advocacy, community engagement, and health and wellness, Harding said.
At Southern Exposure, Kronos Quartet and poet Nikky Finney perform with a 16-voice choir in “At War With Ourselves,” by Finney and Michael Abels.
One of the best-known concert series at the school is Southern Exposure, which showcases contemporary music by performers from around the globe. The award-winning series draws large crowds and is highly regarded in the new music world.
As part of the centennial, the school is spotlighting alumni, faculty and students.
“This season the USC Symphony Orchestra is celebrating our current students, our alumni and our faculty,” said Scott Weiss, professor and director of orchestras. Compositions by faculty members Harding, David Kirkland Garner, Fang Man and John Fitz Rogers, and performances by faculty members, students and alumni are part of the orchestra season.
