The Colburn School is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute. Founded in 1950, the school is named after its principal benefactor, Richard D. Colburn.

History

The school was established in 1950 as a preparatory arm of the

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

. It was originally located across the street from the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...

, in a warehouse that had been converted into extra USC practice rooms, rehearsal halls, and dance studios. It later broadened its mission and changed its name to the Community School of Performing Arts. In 1980, it finalized its split with USC and branched out on its own. ColburnSchoolFront

In 1985, the school received a significant endowment from Richard D. Colburn and was subsequently renamed in his honor. The school moved from its original location near the USC campus to its current location in

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

in 1998. Five years later, the Colburn Conservatory of Music was established to provide tertiary music education with a unique all-scholarship model. In 2010, the school opened the Colburn Music Academy, a highly selective program designed for young pre-collegiate musicians. In 2014, the Colburn Dance Academy was launched as the pre-professional ballet program of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute. Former

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

principal dancer Jenifer Ringer was appointed as dean and

Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has als ...

was made artistic advisor. The same year, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet became the school's first

Artist-in-Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

. In 2019, the Colburn School instituted the Negaunee Conducting Program and appointed conductor and composer,

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

to lead it. In 2024, the Negaunee Foundation made a $16.6 million donation in perpetuity to endow the program.

Programs

The Conservatory of Music provides tertiary level degree programs to students. Currently, degrees offered are

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

, Performance Diploma, Artist Diploma and Professional Studies Certificate. All students receive full scholarship including housing and stipends. The Dean of the Conservatory is Lee Cioppa. The Conservatory is also home to the Negaunee Conducting Program. Led by

, the program offers either undergraduate or graduate conducting diplomas. In addition to working with various ensembles within the school, fellows join the conducting staff at the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

and serve as assistant conductors to Salonen for his international engagements. The Music Academy is the Colburn School's pre-collegiate division and teaches gifted students between the ages of 14 and 18. The program's curriculum includes

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

ear training In music, ear training is the study and practice in which musicians learn various aural skills to detect and identify pitch (music), pitches, interval (music), intervals, melody (music), melody, chord (music), chords, rhythms, solfeges, and other ...

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of ...

and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. The Community School of Performing Arts serves all ages through to 18 and offers classes for piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, jazz, voice and choir, ensembles, and drama among other disciplines. The Dean of the Community School is Susan Cook. The Dance Academy is the flagship program of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute and is designed to prepare dancers between the ages of 14 and 19 for professional careers. The curriculum has a focus on

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

while also providing instruction for other styles. The Dean of the Dance Academy is Margaret Tracey.

Admission

Admission to the Colburn Conservatory of Music is highly competitive. In an unidentified year, 26 were accepted from 500 applicants for a 5% acceptance rate. Approximately 120 students attend the Conservatory of Music and more than 1,700 are enrolled in classes at the Community School of Performing Arts. Around 50 students study at the Music Academy and 25 in the Dance Academy.

Campus

The Colburn School's main building was designed by the architectural firm

Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates' (HHPA) was an internationally recognized American architecture firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Established by Hugh Hardy, Malcolm Holzman and Norman Pfeiffer in 1967 in New York, HHPA was noted ...

. It includes the Lloyd Wright designed studio of Jascha Heifetz. Originally situated in Heifetz's backyard, it was saved from demolition and rebuilt on the second floor of the school's Grand Avenue building. Also located in the building is Zipper Hall, a concert venue that hosts both professional and student performances throughout the year. The

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have both performed chamber music concerts at the venue. In 2016, the Colburn School bought an outdoor parking lot on the corner of 2nd and Olive Streets for $33 million. In 2022, plans were announced to build the Colburn Center on the site. Designed by

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

, the center will include a 1,000-seat concert hall with acoustics by Yasuhisa Toyota, and a 100-seat theater along with several dance studios. The project broke ground in April 2024 and is estimated to be completed in 2027.

Notable people

Alumni

Kris Bowers Kristopher Bowers (born April 5, 1989) is an American composer, pianist, and director. He has composed scores for films including '' Green Book'', '' King Richard'', '' The Color Purple'', and '' The Wild Robot'' and television series ''Bridgert ...

– composer and jazz pianist * Calder Quartet – ensemble * Calidore String Quartet – ensemble * Robert Chen – violinist *

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was 16, Childs attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored ...

– composer and jazz pianist * Danielle de Niese – soprano * Lindsay Deutsch – violinist * Tim Fain – violinist * Aubrey Foard – tubist * Grace Fong – pianist * Jennifer Frautschi – violinist * David Fung – pianist * Anthony Gonzalez – actor * José González Granero – clarinetist * William Hagen – violinist *

Burt Hara Burt Hara was principal clarinetist with the Minnesota Orchestra from 1987 until 2013. He is now the Associate Principal in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Life and career Hara is a native of California. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 198 ...

– clarinetist * Leila Josefowicz – violinist * Tamaki Kawakubo – violinist * Fabiola Kim – violinist * Larry Klein – producer, songwriter and jazz bassist * Amadéus Leopold – violinist * Geneva Lewis – violinist * Anne Akiko Meyers – violinist * Miles Mosley – jazz bassist * Nokuthula Ngwenyama – violist * Blake Pouliot – violinist * Eric Reed – jazz pianist *

Patrice Rushen Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, her 1982 single, "Forget Me Nots", received a no ...

– jazz pianist and R&B singer * Julian Schwarz – cellist * Albert Cano Smit – pianist * Mikyung Sung – double bassist * Thundercat – bassist and songwriter *

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

– conductor * Donald Vega – jazz pianist * Viano Quartet – ensemble * Paul Wiancko – composer and cellist

Faculty

* Ted Atkatz – percussion * Andrew Bain – horn * Harold Battiste – jazz * Martin Beaver – chamber music and violin * Fabio Bidini – piano * Helen Callus – viola * Paul Coletti – viola * Alan de Veritch – viola * Paul Ellison – double bass * Silas Farley – dance * Ariana Ghez – oboe * Yehuda Gilad – clarinet * Eugene Izotov – oboe *

Carla Körbes Carla Körbes is a Brazilian ballet dancer who performed as a principal dancer with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, then became the associate artistic director of L.A Dance Project. She is now an associate professor at Indiana University Jacobs ...

– dance * Thomas Kotcheff – ear training and music theory * Mark Lawrence – trombone * Ronald Leonard – cello * Ida Levin – chamber music * Daniel Lewis - conducting * Teng Li – viola * Robert Lipsett – violin * Tatjana Masurenko – viola * Norman Pearson – tuba * Elizabeth Pitcairn – violin * Jenifer Ringer – dance *

– conducting * Eleonore Schoenfeld – cello * Ory Shihor – piano * Scott St. John – chamber music * Arnold Steinhardt – violin * Janie Taylor – dance * Margaret Tracey – dance * JoAnn Turovsky – harp * Donald Vega – jazz * Allan Vogel – oboe * Jim Walker – flute * Geraldine Walther – chamber music

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Music schools in California Schools in Los Angeles Schools of the performing arts in the United States Performing arts education in the United States Educational institutions established in 1950 1950 establishments in California Bunker Hill, Los Angeles