Since our start as a community school in 1950, Colburn has spent more than seven decades as a haven for exemplary performing arts education available to young people throughout Los Angeles and worldwide.

As Colburn evolved in the 1980s, the School added jazz and chamber music to the curriculum, restructured the Suzuki and music theory programs, and established community outreach programs. Friday Night Recitals were created to give students performance opportunities outside the classroom, and in the following decades, Colburn added two spectacular recital halls to the campus—the 430-seat Zipper Hall and the 189-seat Thayer Hall. These spaces offer professional-level rehearsal and performance spaces on the School’s architecturally exquisite campus, which hosts more than 530 music and dance performances each year.

Never an institution to rest on its laurels, since the turn of the 21st century the School has added the world-renowned Conservatory of Music, the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, and the Music Academy. Additionally, the Colburn Music Fund was created to help an even wider breadth of burgeoning talent access the Conservatory, and in 2018, the Center for Innovation and Community Impact was launched to both help prepare students for sustainable careers and nurture their passion and ability to serve their communities.

Like the work and artists it nurtures, the Colburn School exists in perpetual motion towards greater access and expression through art, making it a centerpiece of LA’s downtown arts district. As it enriches both the creative ecosystem as well as all the students who pass through its doors, Colburn serves as a hub for artistic expression and education at the core of one of the world’s great cities. Colburn will continue to lead as we build toward our future.