The USC THORNTON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE was founded in 1976 by Robert Wojciak. Since 1984, the Ensemble has been under the direction of Donald Crockett. Featuring some of the finest student musicians of the USC Thornton School of Music, the Contemporary Music Ensemble has presented an annual series of concerts at USC for many years, been a guest on the Monday Evening Concerts and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series, performed as soloists with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and presented concert tours in Berlin, Paris, and Lyons. Under Donald Crockett, the Ensemble has presented numerous premieres and has been coached and/or conducted by such composers as Witold Lutoslawski, John Harbison, Henryk Gorecki, Joan Tower, Steven Stucky, Judith Weir, and the members of the USC Thornton composition faculty. The Contemporary Music Ensemble received the 2004 LA Weekly Award for Outstanding Classical Soloist/Ensemble.