USC Thornton Chamber Singers

Tickets: $15, $25, $45

Program

The USC Thornton Chamber Singers present Confluence, a program that moves deliberately across cultures, languages, and musical worlds, tracing how choral music gives voice to ritual, reflection, and human connection. Sacred Latin texts sit alongside contemporary poetry, folk traditions, and popular song, revealing how composers across centuries and continents shape sound to express awe, grief, joy, protest, and stillness.

The program spans monumental choral statements and intimate moments of transparency. Works by Arvo Pärt, Anton Bruckner, and Dominick Argento explore silence, resonance, and spiritual clarity, while contemporary voices such as Eriks Ešenvalds, Ching-Ju Shih, Hyo Won Woo, Kō Matsushita, and Sid Robinovitch draw on global traditions, extended vocal techniques, and vivid sonic color. The concert also embraces living popular repertoire through Matthew Brown’s luminous choral setting of Blackbird and Alex Tam’s arrangement of the Hong Kong classic Your Name, My Surname, bridging classical craft and shared cultural memory. Together, these works form a program that is expansive but carefully curated, designed to reward deep listening rather than spectacle.

The Ensemble

The USC Thornton Chamber Singers is one of the flagship choral ensembles of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, led by conductor and composer Dr. Cristian Grases. The ensemble draws outstanding singers from across the USC campus and is known for its precision, expressive commitment, and stylistic fluency. Performances are marked by clarity of sound, linguistic care, and a willingness to engage challenging and unfamiliar repertoire with seriousness and curiosity.

Central to the ensemble’s identity is a commitment to cultural exchange. The Chamber Singers regularly explore music of Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific Rim alongside core Western choral literature, presenting programs that place traditions in dialogue rather than isolation. Their work extends beyond the concert hall through recordings, collaborations, festivals, and educational outreach, both locally and internationally.

History and Mission

Under Dr. Grases’s leadership, the USC Thornton Chamber Singers has developed a reputation as an ensemble that treats choral music as a living, global art form. The group frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for USC, participating in international residencies, exchanges, and festivals. In 2026, the ensemble will serve as Artist-in-Residence for the Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival, working with students and educators throughout the region through performances, workshops, and mentorship.

This concert reflects that broader mission. It offers San Diego audiences a rare opportunity to hear a university ensemble operating at a fully professional level, presenting a program that is intellectually serious, emotionally direct, and globally engaged. It is music that asks listeners to slow down, listen closely, and encounter voices, texts, and traditions beyond their own.