Singer, conductor, and scholar Nate Widelitz (M.M. choral conducting) graduated summa cum laude from the Thornton School of Music at USC with a B.M. in vocal arts. His performance credits with USC Thornton Opera include Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Wagner's Das Liebesverbot. In 2008, Nate became the founding director of the a cappella Renaissance polyphony group The Trojan Consort, earning USC’s highest student honor, the Order of the Laurel and the Palm. Upon graduation, Nate completed a tour of South Korea with the New Choir of San Jose and was a charter member of the Horizon Chamber Choir of Los Angeles.  In 2011, Nate was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Sofia, Bulgaria, where he researched the deterioration of traditional diaphonic vocal practices among the women of shopski kray.