Friday night marked USC’s chapter of She Is The Music’s inaugural live show with a stacked slate of women-led performances. All of the show’s profits were donated to Altadena Girls, an organization dedicated to providing holistic support to young women who were affected by the Eaton Canyon fire. 

A nonprofit dedicated to “increasing the number of women working in music,” She Is The Music maintains an ambassador program for university students to get involved on behalf of their schools called “She Is U.” 

USC’s chapter — led by co-ambassadors Ariella Youssefyeh, a sophomore majoring in music industry, and Josette Chenaur, a freshman majoring in music industry — aims to provide community and networking opportunities for women within the music industry, whether that’s within the Thornton School of Music or within the greater industry as a whole.

“[Women] are severely outnumbered in all facets,” Youssefyeh said. “She Is The Music helps support us and uplift us and show us opportunities, and also show us how to help each other and connect with each other.”

Sophomore popular music performance student Sofia Gomez started the night off strong with a slew of pop hits, featuring the likes of “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter and “so american” by Olivia Rodrigo. Gomez brought the energy with her upbeat opening set as she only performed songs by women artists, including an original titled “All Yours.”

“I love women, and I love supporting women,” Gomez said in an interview with the Daily Trojan following her set. “I think that female voices are so important, and we don’t get the opportunity to show our voice all the time. So I think it’s super cool when there [are] shows and organizations that support women and want us to succeed.”

Sophia Condon, a sophomore majoring in popular music performance, kept the night going with more pop but brought her own style to the stage with a more rock-focused lineup. Condon’s set featured yet another group of songs written or performed solely by women including Heart’s “Barracuda,” Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl,” Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and a stylized take on Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova,” along with some of Condon’s original songs.

Condon finds that events like She Is The Music’s live show are essential for women artists to “take up space” and be taken seriously.

“It’s good to find the people whom you feel like listen to you and will respect you, and honestly, at USC, there [are] a lot of those people, which is really cool,” Condon said.

Both music industry students, sophomore Lauren Doyle and senior Hannah Wolf, attended to support Condon and her band, but also enjoyed the community the event provided.

“As a woman in music and trying to be in the music industry, which is a very male-dominated field, it’s very important to see women’s representation as musicians,” Wolf said.

Ayla Claire, the third performer of the night and a freshman majoring in popular music performance, brought in a set of old and new pop hits that carried and amplified the momentum generated during Gomez and Condon’s sets. Claire described the event’s atmosphere as “supportive.”

“[This event] is just a bunch of powerful, intelligent women,” Claire said.

Claire opened her set with ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight),” though the rest of her set sprang back to this decade with tracks like “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out” by ROLE MODEL — featuring her own ‘Sally’ from the crowd dancing on stage — and “Juno” by Sabrina Carpenter. 

This year’s Springfest opener, Small Talk, headlined the night with carefully selected indie-rock classics that suited the band’s artistic strengths. Songs like “This Love” by Maroon 5, “Scrawny” by Wallows and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” featuring some help from a talk box made the group’s set a memorable end to the night. The band even teased a new original slated to debut April 4 called “Dilute.” 

Small Talk’s bassist, Gabi Fues, a freshman majoring in popular music performance and music production, enjoyed the event not only as a precursor to their impending Springfest performance but also as a platform for deserving, underappreciated artists.

“It’s so cool that not just the headlining act, but the majority of the people in the bands are women,” Fues said. “I just think that’s so important — there’s just not enough representation for women, or even not men in the music industry, and it’s so important that people are uplifted and we get these events that showcase the talent that could sometimes be hidden.”