The Community School of Performing Arts offers three different advanced orchestras for students between the ages of 13 and 18. Members of each ensemble are selected through competitive auditions each year.
Full orchestra with strings, winds, brass, and percussion The Colburn Youth Orchestra performs standard symphonic literature, as well as newly commissioned works and arrangements done especially for the ensemble. Performance venues include Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Alex Theatre in Glendale, the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo, and LACMA.
A highlight of the group’s concert season includes their annual participation in the Colburn Community School’s Collaboration Concert. This performance brings together the Colburn Youth Orchestra, Colburn Sinfonietta, Colburn Chamber Orchestra, Colburn Concert Choir, Young Men’s Chorus, ballet, and modern dance students for an evening of collaborative pieces all on one stage.
Duration Sundays, 12–2:45 pm
Smaller than the Colburn Youth Orchestra, the Colburn Sinfonietta performs works by composers like Beethoven and Haydn regularly throughout the year. Performances feature student and faculty soloists.
Students in the Sinfonietta get the experience of working together in a small orchestral setting, playing Classical repertoire, and building musicianship and orchestral expertise.
Duration Sundays, 3–5:45 pm
Small orchestra with strings only Students in the Colburn Chamber Orchestra get the experience of working together in a small ensemble, which builds musicianship and orchestral skills. The orchestra has commissioned and premiered works by internationally known composers, such as Thea Musgrave and Steven Stucky.
In 2004, the orchestra debuted at Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sounds About Town series, and performed a joint concert with the Colburn Conservatory of Music Orchestra. Past performances have also featured both outstanding student and faculty soloists. The Colburn Chamber Orchestra also appears regularly in LACMA’s Sundays Live, which presents weekly performances by professional artists and is broadcast on KUSC 91.5.
Duration Sundays, 6–8:45 pm
Maxim Eshkenazy has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “charismatic and exciting.” Maestro Eshkenazy received two Master degrees from USC’s Thornton School of Music (Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting) and was also awarded a fellowship from the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival.
Minimum Age Requirements: must be 13 years old by September 1, 2024
We are currently accepting applications for the 2024-25 academic year. Interested students can apply below. Students will be required to accept by submitting registration and payment within 2 weeks of their acceptance. Late additions/alternates may be accepted up until the end of September, space permitting.
2024–25 Advanced Orchestra Application Form
Auditions for 2024-25 will take place early in June. Please complete the application and prepare the audition requirements listed below.
Details regarding live auditions will be sent to all applicants in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact the Coordinator, Josiah Vietti, for more information.
2024–25 Audition Excerpts