Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Reimagined

ABOUT THE EVENT

Musically Directed by Greg Phillinganes
Directed by Jason King

Part of the USC Thornton School of Music Series Stevie Wonder: Beyond Category

With Support from USC Visions & Voices and the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective

Marking the 50th anniversary of one of the most ambitious and influential albums in the history of popular music, Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Reimagined brings Stevie Wonder’s landmark 1976 recording to the stage for a one-night-only concert at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.

Released in September 1976 at the height of Wonder’s extraordinary creative run, Songs in the Key of Life is at once an epic musical statement and an intimate portrait of human experience. Across its extraordinary range, Wonder moves between love and heartbreak, faith and doubt, childhood and memory, racial injustice and collective possibility—drawing from soul, funk, gospel, jazz, pop, Latin music, and traditions from across the African diaspora while creating a musical language unmistakably his own. Fifty years later, its songs remain startlingly alive: musically adventurous, emotionally direct, socially engaged, and filled with possibility.

Rather than simply recreate the album, Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Reimagined approaches this iconic body of work as living music. Featuring USC Thornton students, faculty, alumni, and special guest artists, the concert will move between performances that honor the spirit and sound of Wonder’s original recordings and fresh interpretations that reveal new possibilities within the music.

The concert is musically directed by legendary keyboardist, musical director, and longtime Stevie Wonder collaborator Greg Phillinganes, whose relationship with Wonder and this music spans decades, and directed by USC Thornton School of Music Dean Jason King. Together with Thornton students, faculty, alumni, and special guests, Phillinganes and King will explore the many worlds contained within Songs in the Key of Life—honoring the original recording while opening its music to new voices, perspectives, arrangements, and possibilities.

Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Reimagined is part of USC Thornton’s 2026–27 Stevie Wonder: Beyond Category series, a year-long exploration of Wonder’s singular artistic voice, extraordinary musical innovation, and enduring impact on music and culture. The series launches September 10 at Bovard Auditorium with a conversation featuring Phillinganes and special guests, followed by the September 24 concert. Additional events will be announced throughout the academic year.

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Admission is free and open to the public with an RSVP. All Thornton Signature Series Events have a standby line for fully booked events. Seating is first-come, first-served. Please arrive early to claim your ticket and allow enough time for parking, locating the venue, and checking in. If you arrive less than five minutes before the start time, you will forfeit your spot to the waitlist/standby line.

View all of Thornton's Signature Series events.