The University of Southern California (USC) Thornton Jazz Orchestra performed in Chalmers 104 as a part of the Lunchtime Jazz Series hosted at the Upper School on Oct. 31. Members from the Jazz Honors Combo band played a set of six songs, which included compositions from the students themselves.
Due to the post-COVID-19 decline in LA Jazz venues, the Lunchtime Jazz Series was created with the purpose of inspiring students through live performance, according to Jazz Director Chris Sullivan. USC is the only college that has performed at the school so far, due to Sullivan’s close ties with the school and their performers as an alumnus.
USC jazz instructor Jon Hatamiya, who played in the concert, said he is always looking for venues for his band to perform repertoire.
“Opportunities are really important, for anyone, but especially for when you’re in school,” Hatamiya said. “One thing we’re doing with this group is we get a couple concerts every semester at the school. We’re always looking for outside opportunities to have the band play, to get them that real-world experience and adjusting to playing in different environments, playing in different rooms, playing with different equipment, playing for an audience.”
Sullivan said compared to the older jazz players that performed at the last lunch concert, hearing from college jazz players allows students themselves becoming musicians at the collegiate level.
“It’s great because our students are so close in age to these college students,” Sullivan said. “It’s important for our kids to hear college-age kids because it’s right around the corner for them. It’s great to see the jazz masters, but sometimes you think, yeah, of course, they’re good, they’re in their 60s, 70s and 80s. But to see people [who are] 19, 20 or 21, it makes this whole thing feel more attainable.”
Jazz Rhythm Section drummer Chloe Hsu ’27 said the performance helped her learn how to be a stronger performer and communicate with her bandmates.
“The emotion and improvisation that the members of the combo [band] exhibited through their strong feelings towards their pieces inspired me to portray my emotions more through my music,” Hsu said. “From this concert, I learned a lot about how to listen to other band members and then correspond to them on my instrument to let the listener hear communication between band members.”
After this performance, there will be six more lunch Jazz concerts this year, with one more from the bigger USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra towards the springtime. The next performance is slated for Dec. 13.
