Colburn at a Glance

An internationally renowned performing arts school located in the cultural corridor of downtown Los Angeles, the Colburn School provides the highest quality music and dance education to students at all levels of development, from beginners to those about to embark on professional careers.

Fast Facts

• $9.2 million in scholarship support is awarded annually to Colburn students.
• 100% of Conservatory students receive tuition plus room and board—free of charge.
• 350+ public music and dance performances take place each year on Colburn’s campus.
• 55% of students in the Music Academy and Conservatory of Music are international.
• 7,000 Title I public school students participate in Colburn’s community programming each year.
• 77% of the School’s operating budget is made possible by philanthropy.

Student Achievements and Careers

• 97% of graduates of the Community School of Performing Arts went on to college in 2020, entering top music programs and Ivy League universities including Eastman, New England Conservatory, Peabody, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale.
• Music Academy students were accepted to prestigious conservatories and music programs in 2020, including the Colburn Conservatory, Juilliard, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Eastman. Since the Music Academy was founded, 23% of graduates have gone on to the Colburn Conservatory.
• Over 140 Conservatory of Music alumni hold professional orchestra positions, and graduates also form internationally renowned chamber ensembles, teach at distinguished conservatories and universities, and enter top post-graduate programs around the country.
• Graduates of the Dance Academy perform across the globe in ballet companies including the New York City Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada.

Alumni Snapshot

• Kris Bowers (Community School ’06), Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning composer and pianist
• Anne Akiko Meyers (Community School ’83), internationally renowned violinist
• Lauren Collet (Dance Academy ’16), corps de ballet at the New York City Ballet
• Kevin Lin (Conservatory ’15), concertmaster at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
• Nicholas Podany (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute ’12), lead role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway
• Anthony Gonzalez (Community School), star of the Disney animated film Coco
• Viano String Quartet (Conservatory ’21), recently signed to Opus 3 Artists roster, Curtis Institute of Music string quartet-in-residence

Faculty Snapshot

• Martin Beaver and Clive Greensmith, members of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet
• Melinda Sullivan, dancer, choreographer, and actress featured in film and television (La La Land, So You Think You Can Dance)
• Fabio Bidini, sought-after chamber musician and soloist who has performed with the most prominent orchestras worldwide
• Lee Secard, 2020 recipient of Downbeat’s prestigious Jazz Education Achievement Award
• Colburn faculty are members of the LA Phil, LA Opera orchestra, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

2021 Highlights

• Colburn students win Avery Fisher Career Grants
  Two Colburn alumni—Geneva Lewis (Community School ’16) and Oliver Herbert (Music Academy ’15)—were among the five recipients of the prestigious 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grants.
• Silas Farley Comes to the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute
  Dancer, educator, and choreographer Silas Farley, a recent New York City Ballet alumnus, will become Dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute. His longtime collaborator Darleen Callaghan, former Director of Miami City Ballet School, will become Associate Dean.
• Career Development Training for Women in Classical Music
  Colburn’s Fortissima program, an artistic and leadership development program for high school age young women from underrepresented minorities in classical music, launched nationally in 2021.
• Outreach to Male Dancers
  To help support and encourage young male dancers, a new endowment was recently funded to support under-represented male dancers across all genres in the Dance Academy and Youth Dance. These scholarships support tuition, room and board, and wellness programs.