FREDERICK LESEMANN, professor and chair, composition, is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and the Thornton School, where he studied with Joseph Wood, Richard Hoffmann and Ingolf Dahl. Dr. Lesemann has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, ASCAP, Centrum Center for the Arts and the USC Faculty Research and Innovation Fund.

He has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, the Colonial Symphony, the Composers Duo, the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, USC and numerous individuals. His music is performed nationally and is recorded on the Townhall and Crystal labels. He received the 1994 USC Ramo Music Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.