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You never have to look too far to find Trojans doing something spectacular, and that was especially true Sunday night at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. From winners, to nominees, to presenters, the Trojan family was all over.
Two current Trojan students in particular, sophomore Thornton student Jade Bacon and USC Annenberg student Roy Gantz, presented Grammys to winners such as Best New Artist recipient Samara Joy and recent EGOT recipient Viola Davis.
Bacon and Gantz are a part of GrammyU, a program that the Recording Academy created for current college-students that are interested in breaking into the industry. Gantz is a campus ambassador for GrammyU while Bacon is the Los Angeles student representative.
The program has a multitude of events that expose its members to elements of the industry that include business, technology and the creative process.
Nationally, the group is managed by Jessie Allen and the students who make up the program are all called GrammyU representatives.
“GrammyU really was really just a program that represented itself as the perfect way to get into the music industry,” Bacon said. “My professors freshman year advised me to do it along with other mentors I had, so that’s what really pushed me to join.”
Bacon, a jazz voice major at USC Thornton, presented actress and producer Viola Davis with her Grammy for Best Audiobook, making her an EGOT. This honor is given to an artist who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. EGOT status has only been given out 18 times with past recipients including singer-songwriter John Legend, actress Audrey Hepburn and actor Mel Brooks.
Along with contributing to the Grammys, Bacon has other responsibilities that include attending various events for the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy.
“We do everything from sound checks to industry panels, and meeting with Recording Academy board members,” Bacon said. “We also have a mentorship program that I facilitate where people can sign up to be mentored by the official Recording Academy members of their chapter.”
Gantz, a public relations major at USC Annenberg, discovered the program online and wanted to get involved. He cherished the opportunity to award 23-year-old Samara Joy her first career Grammy award, he said.
“You think that’s like God on a mountain,” Gantz said, “but when you see a person, like a real person in front of you, win an award like that and react how I would react, you know, it’s just like such a beautiful thing.”
Being at the Grammys also gave Gantz an opportunity to get an up-close-and-personal experience seeing Joy’s reaction to winning her first Grammy.
“We go backstage after and she just collapsed and she’s like, ‘What is life? How did I just do this?’ And that was so humanizing,” Gantz said. “The fact that it’s in front of you just gives you this different level of understanding of what this is.”
Anastazja Ball, a sophomore studying media arts and practice, has been able to come across new opportunities through GrammyU to help her in pursuing her career as a DJ.
Being able to DJ at the recent GrammyU event allowed Ball to step out of her comfort zone and come into her own as a DJ.
“I was playing a lot of Grammy nominated songs, but I almost took that as a challenge,” Ball said. “It was really fun to see a different group of people and talk to a new crowd.”
Gantz and Bacon weren’t the only Trojans showing out at the Grammys, many current professors and alumni were nominated and even came home with some awards.
Jazz faculty member Vice Mendoza won his eighth Grammy this year for Best Arrangement for instruments and vocals for “Songbird” with Christine McVie. Mendoza has been nominated for awards 35 times.
USC alum Bijon Watson won his first ever Grammy, winning for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album as a part of the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra.
Those at the awards ceremony witnessed a few memorable moments such as Harry Styles’ album “Harry’s House” winning album of the year and Beyoncé winning four Grammys. With 32 Grammys over the span of her career, she broke the record for most Grammys won by any artist, previously held by classical conductor Georg Solti.