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ENJOY THE SOUNDS OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC'S RENOWNED WIND ENSEMBLE ON AN ALL NEW EPISODE OF 'OPEN CALL' AIRING SEPTEMBER 6 @ 9 PM ON KCET

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Burbank, CA

- August 27, 2012 - KCET, the nation's largest independent television station

serving Southern and Central California, invites viewers to tune-in to a brand

new episode of its original performing arts series, Open Call, featuring the renowned USC Thornton School of Music's

Wind Ensemble.

Premiering Sept. 6 at 9 p.m., Open Call

presents "The USC Thornton School of Music's Wind Ensemble: Women's Composers

of the Present." The concert was co-conducted by the school's principal and

resident conductors Robert Reynolds and Sharon Lavery, respectively. The Wind

Ensemble will present an innovative program featuring the best of wind

compositions and arrangements. Open Call

host Suzanna Guzmán and USC Thornton School of Music Dean Robert Cutietta will

introduce the performance pieces, which include:

  • "Fanfare" and

    "Fascinating Ribbons" by Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower

  • "Jeux des Vents" by

    international award-winning composer and USC Thornton Assistant Professor

    of Composition Veronika Krausas

  • "Smoke & Mirrors" by

    international award-winning composer and USC Thornton Professor of

    Composition Erica Muhl; and

  • "Crossing Parallels" by

    international award-winning composer Kathryn Salfelder.

Considered
one of the top conductors worldwide of wind ensembles, Principal Conduct H. Robert

Reynolds directs the USC Thornton School of Music Wind Ensemble, which consistently

presents innovative programs featuring the best of wind compositions and

arrangements.

ABOUT H. ROBERT REYNOLDS

H. Robert

Reynolds is the principal conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Thornton School

of Music at the University of Southern California, where he holds the H. Robert

Reynolds Professorship in Wind Conducting. This appointment followed his

retirement, after 26 years, from the School of Music of the University of

Michigan where he served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, director

of university bands, and director of the division of instrumental studies. In

addition to these responsibilities, he has also been, for nearly 30 years, the

conductor of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, which is made up primarily

of members from the Detroit Symphony.

Robert

Reynolds has conducted recordings for Koch International, Pro Arte, Caprice,

and Deutsche Grammophon. In the United States, he has conducted at Carnegie

Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Kennedy Center

(Washington, D. C.), Powell Symphony Hall (St. Louis), Academy of Music

(Philadelphia), and Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles). In Europe, he

conducted the premiere of an opera for La Scala Opera (Milan, Italy), and

concerts at the prestigious Maggio Musicale (Florence, Italy), the Tonhalle

(Zurich, Switzerland), and at the Holland Festival in the Concertgebouw

(Amsterdam, Holland), as well as the 750th Anniversary of the City of Berlin.

He has won the praise of composers Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Aaron Copland,

John Corigliano, Henryk Gorecki, Karel Husa, Gyorgy Ligeti, Darius Milhaud,

Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and many others for his

interpretive conducting of their compositions.

Reynolds

has been a featured conductor and lecturer at international conferences in

Austria, Norway, Belgium, England, Holland, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Denmark,

and Switzerland. He has conducted in many of the major cities of Japan, Spain,

and Sweden including concerts with the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, and the

Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. Many of his former students now hold major

conducting positions at leading conservatories and universities, and several

have been National Presidents of CBDNA.

ABOUT SHARON LAVERY

Sharon

Lavery's extensive career has led her to conduct in preeminent concert halls

across the United States, including Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Currently, she serves as resident conductor

of the Thornton Symphony, Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble at the University

of Southern California Thornton School of Music.  She has led the USC Thornton ensembles in

concert on many occasions and, for seven years, served as music director of the

Thornton Concert Orchestra.  In addition

to these duties at USC Thornton, Lavery teaches instrumental conducting

classes.

Outside of

USC, Lavery enjoys a distinguished career both locally and

internationally.  Since December of 2007

she has been music director of the Downey Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble

hailed as one of the best metropolitan orchestras in Southern California.  This position has brought Lavery great

acclaim for her innovative programming. 

During her tenure as music director, she has premiered or commissioned a

new composition each season.

Maestra

Lavery has attained prominence as a conductor throughout California.  Since 2004 she has held the post of cover

conductor for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and she has served as cover

conductor for the San Diego Symphony as well.

ABOUT USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The USC Thornton School of Music brings together a stellar

faculty chosen from a broad spectrum of the music profession and gifted

students from around the globe. Founded in 1884 and today the oldest

continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles, the Thornton School

consistently ranks among the nation's top music schools and conservatories.

By blending the rigors of a traditional conservatory-style

education with the benefits of a leading research university, USC Thornton

offers an impressive range of performance opportunities and a curriculum

designed to prepare students for successful careers in the 21st century. The

Thornton School presents more than 500 concerts each year and is the only music

school with a weekly radio broadcast in a major media market featuring student

performances.

Located in the heart of Los Angeles, USC Thornton offers

students every advantage of studying, performing, and networking in the world's

most vibrant music industry hub. Every week, our students engage with leading

professionals in all aspects of the music, recording, and entertainment

industries, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Los Angeles

Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Grammy Foundation, and The

Recording Academy. Our students also are a constant presence in local

classrooms, reaching out to the next generation of musicians. More at

usc.edu/music, or call (213) 740-6935.

ABOUT KCET

On-air,

online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and

educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide

range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public

television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®,

duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting

prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people

of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history, KCET has won hundreds

of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming,

its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family

and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website,

kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional

information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming

schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.

# # #

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