Southern Exposure New Music Series

09/22/2025

Thanks to the amazing Splinter Reeds and guest composer Stefan Freund for a superb concert Friday night! Wonderful, dynamic ensemble playing of a totally engaging program. And it was so great to bring a couple of series director Mike Harley's Alarm Will Sound BFFs from one Columbia to another!

09/05/2025

Our first show of the 2025-26 season features the all-star wind quintet Splinter Reeds (alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe and bassoon). Works are by Mario Godoy, Cara Haxo, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Aaron Mencher, Stefan Freund and Paula Matthusen.
This free concert – no tickets or reservations required, general admission seating – is on Friday, September 19 in the USC School of Music Recital Hall, 813 Assembly St., Columbia.
The program also features visual art by Columbia painter Susan Hansen Staves.

09/02/2025

Southern Exposure's 2025-26 Season, "Visions" - SAVE THE DATES!
All FREE concerts Fridays @7:30pm in the USC School of Music Recital Hall.

September 19, 2025 - Splinter Reeds, with music by Godoy, Haxo, Nourbakhsh, Mencher, Freund, and Matthusen
November 14, 2025 - Scenes from Robert Ashley's "Perfect Lives," feat. Greg Stuart, David Kirkland Garner, and Ed Madden
January 30, 2026 - Donnacha Dennehy's "Tessellatum," feat. Nadia Sirota and Gabriel Cabezas
March 20, 2026 - John Zorn's "The Holy Visions," with an all-star quintet of five female vocalists.

04/16/2025

Great photos from our recent performance of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit!

04/03/2025

What a beautiful way to end our 2024-25 Season! Thanks to all of our performers, the wonderful Maria Finkelmeier, John Luther Adams, Scott Herring and Bailey Seabury, sculptor Olga Yukhno, The University of South Carolina School of Music, and of course, all of you who were able to join us on the Horseshoe! Some photos and video from the day are attached.

03/29/2025

Rehearsal for John Luther Adams' INUKSUIT! Join us tomorrow afternoon to hear this incredible work in the historic Horseshoe!

Saturday, March 29 at 4:00pm, USC Horseshoe

03/28/2025

TOMORROW! Inuksuit. Free. 4pm. USC Horseshoe.

The Southern Exposure New Music Series’ final concert of the 2024-25 season, which celebrates the USC School of Music’s 100th anniversary by highlighting faculty, students, and alumni, features a multitude of percussionists performing John Luther Adams’ landmark work Inuksuit outside on the University of South Carolina’s historic Horseshoe. This free concert – no tickets or reservations required, will begin at 4pm on Saturday, March 29.

In program notes for his large-scale outdoor percussion work Inuksuit (2009), Pulitzer-winning composer John Luther Adams writes: “Inuksuit is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The word “Inuksuit” translates literally: “to act in the capacity of the human”. This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what may remain of humanity’s presence after the waters recede.”

USC’s afternoon performance, held outdoors at the school’s iconic Horseshoe, will be performed by the USC percussion studio, alumni, and friends – professional and amateur musicians totaling 66 in all – and is directed by Boston-based percussionist Maria Finkelmeier. The audience will be free to walk among the players, and may also bring blankets or portable chairs to enjoy the performance from a spot of their choosing.

The event features a related art installation, WayStones, by Columbia sculptor Olga Yukhno.

The University of South Carolina School of Music

03/26/2025

The USC School of Music and the Southern Exposure New Music Series present
INUKSUIT at 4pm on Saturday, March 29 on the historic USC Horseshoe.

Today, we highlight featured local visual artist Olga Yukhno who has created an amazing art installation called WayStones, inspired by John Luther Adams' music.

“Inuksuit is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The word “Inuksuit” translates literally: “to act in the capacity of the human”. This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what may remain of humanity’s presence after the waters recede.” - JLA

03/26/2025

Nice article by Kyle Peterson in the Free Times! See you Saturday in the Horseshoe at 4pm! https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/free-times/music/free-concert-usc-horseshoe-southern-exposure-columbia/article_ec70f37f-024f-4b53-af5a-c8dbd06ba245.html
The University of South Carolina School of Music

The free concert is the finale for the USC School of Music's Southern Exposure New Music Series, which brings experimental music to Columbia with free concerts.

03/25/2025

At the core of Inuksuit is The USC Percussion Ensemble. Join us on Saturday, March 29, 4:00pm on the Horseshoe for an incredible experience!

03/23/2025

The USC School of Music and the Southern Exposure New Music Series present John Luther Adams'
INUKSUIT at 4pm on Saturday, March 29 on the historic USC Horseshoe.

“Inuksuit is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The word “Inuksuit” translates literally: “to act in the capacity of the human”. This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what may remain of humanity’s presence after the waters recede.” -JLA

03/22/2025

ONE WEEK! Inuksuit!

The Southern Exposure New Music Series’ final concert of the 2024-25 season, which celebrates the USC School of Music’s 100th anniversary by highlighting faculty, students, and alumni, features a multitude of percussionists performing John Luther Adams’ landmark work Inuksuit outside on the University of South Carolina’s historic Horseshoe at 4pm on Saturday, March 29.

“Inuksuit is inspired by the stone sentinels constructed over the centuries by the Inuit in the windswept expanses of the Arctic. The word “Inuksuit” translates literally: “to act in the capacity of the human”. This work is haunted by the vision of the melting of the polar ice, the rising of the seas, and what may remain of humanity’s presence after the waters recede.”

USC’s afternoon performance, held outdoors at the school’s iconic Horseshoe, will be performed by the USC percussion studio, alumni, and friends – professional and amateur musicians totaling 66 in all – and is directed by Boston-based percussionist Maria Finkelmeier. The audience will be free to walk among the players, and may also bring blankets or portable chairs to enjoy the performance from a spot of their choosing.

The event features a related art installation, WayStones, by Columbia sculptor Olga Yukhno.

The University of South Carolina School of Music