Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 1950 |
Accreditation | NASM [1] |
President | Sel Kardan |
Location | , , United States 34°3′15″N118°14′59″W / 34.05417°N 118.24972°W |
Campus | Urban |
Website | colburnschool |
The Colburn School is a private performing arts school in 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. [2]
The school was established in 1950 as a preparatory arm of the USC Thornton School of Music. It was originally located across the street from the Shrine Auditorium, 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.
In 1985, the school received a significant endowment from Richard D. Colburn and was subsequently renamed in his honor. [3] The school moved from its original location near the USC campus to its current location in downtown Los Angeles in 1998. [4] Five years later, the Colburn Conservatory of Music was established to provide tertiary music education with a unique all-scholarship model. [5] In 2010, the school opened the Colburn Music Academy, a highly selective program designed for young pre-collegiate musicians. [6]
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 principal dancer Jenifer Ringer was appointed as dean and Benjamin Millepied was made artistic advisor. [7] The same year, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet became the school's first Artist-in-Residence. [8]
The Conservatory of Music provides tertiary level degree programs to students. Currently, degrees offered are Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, Performance Diploma, Artist Diploma and Professional Studies Certificate. All students receive full scholarship including housing and stipends. [9] The Dean of the Conservatory is Lee Cioppa.
In 2019, the Conservatory instituted the Negaunee Conducting Program. [10] Led by conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, 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 and serve as assistant conductors to Salonen for his international engagements. [11]
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, ear training, music history and chamber music. [12]
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. [13] 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. [14] The curriculum has a focus on classical ballet while also providing instruction for other styles. The Dean of the Dance Academy is Margaret Tracey. [15]
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. [16] Approximately 120 students attend the Conservatory of Music and more than 1,700 are enrolled in classes at the Community School of Performing Arts. [17] [18] Around 50 students study at the Music Academy and 25 in the Dance Academy. [19] [20]
The Colburn School's main building was designed by the architectural firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. 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. [21] 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 and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have both performed chamber music concerts at the venue. [22]
In 2016, the Colburn School bought an outdoor parking lot on the corner of 2nd and Olive Streets for $33 million. [23] In 2022, plans were announced to build the Colburn Center on the site. [24] [25] Designed by Frank Gehry, 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. [26] The project is expected to break ground in April 5, 2024 with an estimated completion date in 2027. [27] [28]
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Colloquially referred to as the LA Phil, the orchestra has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September. Gustavo Dudamel is the current music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen is conductor laureate, Zubin Mehta is conductor emeritus, and Susanna Mälkki is principal guest conductor. John Adams is the orchestra's current composer-in-residence.
Jascha Heifetz was a Jewish-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin style in St. Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He was the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He resigned from the San Francisco Symphony in 2024.
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The Royal Conservatory of Music, branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1947, King George VI incorporated the organization through royal charter. Its Toronto home was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995, in recognition of the institution's influence on music education in Canada. Tim Price is the current Chair of the Board, and Peter Simon is the President.
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.
The Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in Berlin, Germany, is one of the leading universities of music in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the Deutsche Hochschule für Musik because the older Hochschule für Musik Berlin was in West Berlin. After the death of one of its first professors, composer Hanns Eisler, the school was renamed in his honor in 1964. After a renovation in 2005, the university is located in both Berlin's famed Gendarmenmarkt and the Neuer Marstall.
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 Angeles. The school is located on the USC University Park Campus, south of Downtown Los Angeles.
William Edward Childs is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States.
Yehuda Gilad is a professor of clarinet at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School of Music.
The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.
Eleonore Schoenfeld was an American musician, considered one of the most influential cellists of the 20th century.
Ayke Agus is an Indonesian classical violinist and pianist, known primarily through her longtime collaboration with the violinist Jascha Heifetz. She is one of the rare classical music performers who has performed as a soloist accompanied by an orchestra as a Multi-instrumentalist.
Codarts University for the Arts is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000.
The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto is one of several professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Music is located at the Edward Johnson Building, just south of the Royal Ontario Museum and north of Queen's Park, west of Museum Subway Station. MacMillan Theatre and Walter Hall are located in the Edward Johnson Building. The Faculty of Music South building contains rehearsal rooms and offices, and the Upper Jazz Studio performance space is located at 90 Wellesley Street West. In January 2021, the Faculty announced Dr. Ellie Hisama as the new Dean starting July 1, 2021.
Silas Farley is an American ballet dancer, choreographer and educator. He danced at the New York City Ballet between 2013 and 2020, and choreographed outside the company. Between 2021 and 2023, he was the dean of Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute.
Maria Louise Newman is an American composer of classical music, violinist and pianist. She is the youngest child of Alfred Newman, a major Hollywood film composer. Maria holds the Louis and Annette Kaufman Composition Chair; and the Joachim Chassman Violin Chair at the Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture in Malibu, California, and is a founder of the Malibu Friends of Music. Her library of original works represents a range of genres, from large-scale orchestral works, works for the ballet, chamber works, choral and vocal works, to new collaborative scores for vintage silent film. She has been presented with many awards and commissions, including musical commendations from the United States Congress (2009), the California State Senate (2009), the California State Assembly (2009), the City of Malibu (2010), and the Annenberg Foundation (2011).
Kevin Kwan Loucks is a Korean–American classical pianist, arts entrepreneur, and nonprofit executive. In September 2021, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Chamber Music America in New York City. He previously served as Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, a presenting organization in residence at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, and also served as Director of Innovation and Program Development at Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California. He co-founded Chamber Music | OC, an arts organization headquartered in Lake Forest, California, and is a founding member and current pianist of the award-winning piano trio, Trio Céleste.
Trudl Dubsky Zipper, born Gertruda Dubsky, was an Austrian-American innovative dancer, choreographer and teacher.
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