Over the last two decades, Solange has built an expansive career that knows no bounds. <\/p>\n
Under the auspices of Saint Heron <\/a>\u2014 the multidisciplinary institution she started in 2013 \u2014 the Grammy-winning artist and curator has fearlessly dived into the worlds of music, choreography, design, architecture, visual art and more. Most recently, Saint Heron launched a free library<\/a> in hopes of preserving rare Black and brown literature and making it accessible to others. <\/p>\n Now, Solange Knowles is bringing her expertise to the USC Thornton School of Music,<\/a> where she has been named the school\u2019s first all-school scholar in residence. Working across all areas of the school \u2014 whose instruction offerings include pop music, arts leadership and the music industry \u2014 Solange will also join the Dean\u2019s Creative Vanguard Program<\/a>. (She\u2019s the second member to be invited to the distinguished program, following her frequent collaborator, Raphael Saadiq<\/a>, who joined in December.) <\/p>\n For Solange, whose work is deeply rooted in research, taking on this role feels like \u201ca culmination of the many practices\u201d she has embodied throughout her career, she said. <\/p>\n \u201cI am a GED graduate,\u201d Solange told The Times. \u201cI was a teenage mom. I was pregnant with my son at 17, so I didn\u2019t get to further my education in the classical sense. But I was really blessed and honored to have enriched these other parts of education through my art, through travel [and] through the globalization of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n She added: \u201cSo to be able to have access and broader tools as a scholar in residence, to enrich that and deepen that, is really so exciting for me.\u201d <\/p>\n Solange announced her residency on Monday during a sold-out talk at USC featuring Thornton School of Music Dean Jason King and Saint Heron collaborators Shantel Aurora, Diane \u201cShabazz\u201d Varnie and Sabl\u0101 Stays. <\/p>\n Solange\u2019s custom-designed, three-year residency, which kicks off this week, will focus on working with Thornton leadership to develop the school\u2019s first curricular and programmatic offerings in the field of music curation \u2014 a fast-growing area of the music industry that includes creative directors, documentary filmmakers, DJs and people who work in experimental design, King said. <\/p>\n Solange is slated to teach a class at the school in collaboration with Saint Heron, King and other faculty that will \u201cexplore the process of constructing curatorial frameworks alongside the context, craft and creation of musical landscapes,\u201d according to USC. The class is tentatively titled \u201cRecords of Discovery: Methodologies for Music and Cultural Curatorial Practices\u201d and will launch in fall 2027. (The course will formally be announced closer to its launch, according to USC.) <\/p>\n