When Thornton School of Music at the University of California (USC) was founded, no one could have foreseen the significance of its location, 10 miles south of the future home of America’s entertainment industry. Thornton opened its doors in 1884 when Hollywood was a tiny agricultural community. Filmmakers began establishing operations there 25 years later, forever transforming the region. Today, Thornton’s proximity to Hollywood offers numerous opportunities for students learning their craft in the heart of America’s film and music industries. Thornton’s innovative curriculum is taught by faculty members who are music industry veterans and enhanced by campus visits from top artists for guest lectures and masterclasses. These factors, plus plentiful internship opportunities in the Los Angeles entertainment complex, make the Thornton School of Music stand out in the higher education landscape.
“So much of what we are as a school reflects that we are right in the middle of Los Angeles,” says Phillip Placenti, Thornton’s Associate Dean for Admission and Student Affairs. “Everything happening culturally and artistically in the city thrives here on campus all the time.”
Three Divisions, Diverse Offerings
The Thornton School of Music’s thoroughgoing curriculum is taught in three major divisions: Contemporary Music, Classical Performance and Composition, and Research and Scholarly Studies. The broad-spectrum Contemporary Music Program encompasses majors in popular music, jazz studies, the music industry, music technology, screen scoring, and studio guitar. According to Placenti, the pop music performance major receives a large number of undergraduate applicant inquiries from those seeking a deep dive into rock, pop, R&B, folk, Latin, and country styles. It’s the Music Industry program, however, that attracts the largest number of enrolled students at Thornton. The school’s website shows that the division’s curricular offerings include private voice or instrumental instruction, core music studies, small-group performance coaching, and courses in songwriting, arranging, production, studio techniques, and entrepreneurship, among others.
Contemporary Music and Jazz Studies
Jazz studies majors take jazz theory, arranging, keyboard skills, and jazz history courses; individual and ensemble instruction; and academic courses for career preparation through explorations of music business, economics, technology, and more. Jazz majors—and all Thornton music students—can take elective courses across the spectrum of the three divisions. Such opportunities are expanding student horizons. “We find that while our jazz majors are serious about the jazz genre, once they get to campus, they think broadly,” Placenti says. “They’re ready to do some pop arranging or take production classes.”
Classical Division for Performance and Composition
Thornton has excellent classical bona fides as well. The classical division offers performance degrees in all orchestral instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion) as well as harp, piano, classical guitar, and voice. It also grants degrees in composition and choral music. Classical majors explore a variety of ensemble experiences in symphony and opera orchestras, wind ensemble, and chamber groups. To provide a variety of professional career options, classical majors are encouraged to take electives in other music genres. “We tell the classical students to reach across boundaries and learn some other skills for exposure to other musical genres,” states Placenti. “Most of them are pretty eager to do so even if that’s not how they were trained before they came to us.”
Research and Scholarly Studies
Thornton’s third division, Research and Scholarly Studies, is for graduate students pursuing early music performance, arts leadership, and music teaching and learning studies. Those pursuing early music can earn either a Master or Doctor of Musical Arts degree, equipping them for research into, and performance of, historic musical styles, preparing musical editions for publication, concert program planning, and teaching. Those in the Arts Leadership program earn a Master of Science degree, leading to careers in arts administration and entrepreneurship. The Master of Music in Music Teaching and Learning track follows two paths. One focuses on scholarly knowledge in music education, with an emphasis on psychology, cultural diversity, technology, and related areas. The second track prepares educators for public school and private teaching based on popular music styles through coursework in songwriting, music production, ensemble coaching, and scholarly research.
Thornton’s Music Faculty Mentors and Connections
Each division is staffed with faculty experts who have worked across all sectors of the industry, from recording studios and movie soundstages to symphony orchestras and chamber groups, and from composing concert music to composing movie scores. Some have penned authoritative books about the music business and other topics. Many adjunct professors divide their time between active careers in L.A. performing music and teaching. The cohort of full-time professors includes some who have downshifted from fast-paced careers to share their hard-won knowledge in the classroom.
Thornton’s setting within a top research university, comprising schools and colleges of business, law, medicine, engineering, journalism, and many more, affords students the chance to take electives or choose a minor or double major in a completely different discipline.
“Our students can pursue interests in areas outside of music,” Placenti states. “We have people taking a double major in another arts field, a violinist taking a dance minor, or a student who is majoring in music but is literally a rocket scientist taking a double major in an engineering field.”
USC is home to six arts schools. In addition to Thornton School of Music, the roster includes schools for cinematic arts, dance, dramatic arts, fine arts, and architecture. Interdisciplinary collaborations among the arts students and adjacency to the entertainment industry are significant advantages for Thornton students. An area dubbed the Arts District is located on 34th Street, a corridor running through the campus where all of USC’s arts schools are located.
“We see a lot of connections happening on 34th Street,” Placenti shares. “Due to their proximity to each other, many arts students meet and work on projects together. There are also formalized collaborations structured through faculty partnerships between the different schools. For instance, there are faculty-organized networking events where filmmakers can meet composers and begin working on projects together.”
Ludwig Göransson is a graduate of Thornton’s Scoring for Motion Picture and Television and has scored such films as Black Panther, Sinners, and Oppenheimer. During campus visits, Göransson has told students that his professional network came together at Thornton and that his peers and initial contacts paved the way for the jobs he eventually landed.
USC Thornton School of Music Acceptance Rate
Families researching USC often ask about the Thornton School of Music acceptance rate. While the school does not publish an official figure, estimates typically fall around 15–20% overall, with some programs—such as Popular Music and Screen Scoring—being more selective due to limited spots and relatively larger applicant pools.
That said, acceptance rates only tell part of the story. Admission to Thornton is driven largely by the audition or portfolio, along with academic readiness and program fit. Because each major evaluates applicants separately, competitiveness can vary significantly by discipline. For students who are well prepared and aligned with the program’s expectations, Thornton can be an exceptional opportunity—making honest self-assessment and thoughtful school selection key parts of the process.
Admissions Process
Placenti detailed how Thornton’s admissions staff works with the university admission office. “There’s just one application in two parts,” he states. “We look at a student’s academic as well as artistic preparation—they will need both to thrive in our program.” He stresses the weight the audition carries. “There have been cases where a student might otherwise not have been admitted to the university, but because they had a very strong audition and their application overall was positive, they were offered admission. We look for a consistent academic pattern in an applicant’s background; has there been growth in their academic work? Have they challenged themselves academically? How have they done with those challenges? On the flipside, if someone has aced a standardized test and gotten a five on their AP exams but can’t play very well, they are not likely to be admitted to a music performance major at Thornton.” Placenti notes that USC has an overall student population of 48,000. Thornton has about 1,000 enrolled students, comprising 550 undergraduates and 450 graduate students.
Placenti views Thornton as a place of community and possibilities. “Musicians are naturally very collaborative,” he says, “and we strive to make this a place where people can work together and support one another so everyone can become the best version of themselves. Students here are collaborating, imagining, and trying new things, and that’s exciting.”
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Mark Small
Mark Small, classical guitarist, composer, and music journalist, has spent the majority of his life in New England. He has composed classical, jazz, pop, and sacred music for chorus, wind ensemble, orchestra, piano, and guitar. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in classical guitar performance from New England Conservatory and California State University, Fullerton. He also studied guitar and composition at Berklee College of Music, and served for 26 years as editor ofBerklee todaymagazine until his retirement in 2018.
An active music journalist, Mark has written forGuitar Player, DownBeat, Acoustic Guitar, Soundboard, Classical Guitar, and other music publications.