Freeman Sundays

About This Show

In celebration of the School of Music’s Centennial, this year’s four Freeman Sunday concerts each feature specific areas of the school of music. Each concert includes the premiere of a new work by an accomplished USC composition alum.

The first concert on September 29, 2024 features performances by voice and strings faculty. Voice faculty Dominic Armstrong and Ashley Emerson, accompanied by the USC faculty string quartet, will perform the world premiere of Rachel Whelan’s maybe there will be Music, which sets poetry by Paul L. Thomas. The program also features Duo Cortona (mezzo Rachel Calloway and violinist Ari Streisfeld); tenor Johnnie Felder, baritone Jacob Will, violinist Bill Terwilliger, and pianist Lynn Kompass in Ralph Vaughn-Williams’ The Last Invocation; and soprano Serena LaRoche joined by a student / alumni choir of eight cellists led by Claire Bryant, in Heitor Villa Lobos’s gorgeous Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, “Aria (Cantilena).”

The second Freeman concert is on October 27, 2024 and features performances by wind and brass faculty and students, including Mozart’s “Gran Partita” and a new work by alumnus Clay Mettens. 

The first Spring semester concert is February 9, 2025, with performances by piano, percussion, and guitar music faculty featuring a new work by alumnus Jason Brown. 

The season concludes on April 6, 2025, with chamber music and jazz faculty performances, including a new composition by Grammy- and Pulitzer-nominated alumnus Andy Akiho.