In the best interest of the health and safety of our community, the Colburn School has transitioned to online learning for all academic units and has suspended performances and rentals on campus.
Our commitment to supporting our students in their educational journey remains unwavering, and we have deployed the full resources of the Colburn School in pursuit of educational excellence and continuity during these unprecedented times. We will continue to provide high-quality arts education online and will look forward to the time when we can be together on campus again.
Read an interview with Colburn President Sel Kardan on the School’s transition to online learning.
Dear Colburn Community,
Last week, the Colburn School took a number of steps in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. We suspended all in-person instruction, performances, and related social events for all our academic units. We also closed our residential facilities and the Colburn Café.
Since then, we’ve seen the community pull together in powerful ways. Our students, faculty, and staff exhibited enormous flexibility and patience during an extremely challenging time, mobilizing quickly to provide online learning options for our Conservatory, Dance Academy, and Music Academy students. In addition, staff worked with each and every one of our residential students on travel arrangements, housing, and any needed support as they transitioned out of our dormitory. I would like to thank members of our board and our donor community who most generously offered housing and financial assistance to our resident students over the past week.
Today I’m writing to share an update. As you may know, yesterday Governor Gavin Newsom issued a mandatory order requiring California residents to restrict their travel to essential locations such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. Due to this order, the Colburn School campus is closed until further notice.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently recommended that gatherings of 50 or more people be avoided for the next eight weeks to slow the spread of coronavirus. After careful and deliberate consideration of this recommendation, we have decided to suspend all in-person instruction for the remainder of the semester and transition entirely to online learning for all academic units. The Conservatory, Music Academy, and Dance Academy will continue their plans to begin online learning on March 23, extending through the end of the semester. Over the next few weeks, the Community School of Performing Arts, the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, and the Center for Innovation and Community Impact will also transition to online learning, with private lessons to begin by April 2, and group instruction to follow. We will also suspend all Colburn performances and rentals on campus through at least May 17.
We will be working remotely with Community School faculty, students, and families over the next two weeks to help implement online learning. Unit-specific messages with more details have been sent to students, faculty and parents by our academic Deans. If you have not received information and are a student or student family at the School, please reach out to your administrative office to learn more.
I have personally been involved in the development and implementation of our move to online learning and am excited and heartened by the creativity, flexibility, and determination of our gifted faculty to provide a world-class performing arts education to our students in this new learning environment. While remote teaching and learning will not be without its initial challenges, our commitment to supporting our students in their educational journey remains unwavering, and we have deployed the full resources of the Colburn School in pursuit of educational excellence and continuity during these unprecedented times.
The CDC’s recommendation and Colburn’s subsequent decision also affects the Celebrate Colburn Gala scheduled for April 22. The Gala will not take place in-person as originally planned but is being reconceived with an update to be shared soon. Thank you to those of you who have already purchased and pledged tickets and tables. Your support is more vital than ever, and we look forward to celebrating in a new way with you soon.
I would like to reiterate my deepest appreciation to all members of our community during the last week. Thank you for your support, dedication, commitment, and friendship.
The School will continue to update our community in the coming days and weeks.
Sincerely, Sel Kardan President and CEO
Online Instruction The Conservatory will begin online instruction starting Monday, March 23 through the end of the semester without interruption to any student’s degree progress.
Juries All spring semester juries are waived.
Recitals The inability to give a recital will not impact graduation, and all students should discuss their specific situations with their teacher.
Graduating students may be given a recital waiver by their teacher.
Non-graduating students who were scheduled for recitals may postpone their recital until the fall. They will be given top priority for hall space at that time.
Any students who have the resources and wish to may give their recitals via recording or livestreaming for teacher review.
Colburn Orchestra All students will receive grades for Colburn Orchestra based on work completed to date in the semester.
Chamber Music All students will receive credit, though additional work may be requested, such as developing a program for a chamber music concert, writing program notes, etc. More information will be shared with students at a later date.
Commencement The Commencement ceremony scheduled for May 4 has been canceled. We will continue to discuss possibilities for a ceremony at a later date—in person or by livestream.
Online Instruction The Music Academy will begin online instruction starting Monday, March 23 through the end of the semester without interruption to any student’s degree progress. Students should plan to be available for online instruction during the same windows of time as they were for in-person instruction. Please contact faculty to address any issues around time zones and connectivity.
Graduation Graduation performances and ceremonies have been canceled, though we will continue to discuss possibilities for a virtual alternative to celebrate student achievements.
Online Instruction The Community School will begin online instruction by April 2 through the end of the semester, though some faculty may be able to begin sooner. Students will be contacted by their individual instructors regarding scheduling and format that works best for each situation. Complete information is available at the Community School Online Learning page.
Learn More
Online Instruction The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute will begin a test week of online instruction beginning March 23. Online instruction will begin in earnest on March 30.
The Institute will host a virtual Zoom meeting on Monday, March 23 in the morning to discuss how the curriculum will be handled. Please contact the Dance Office for information on joining.
There will be classes offered throughout the day, Monday through Friday, including Ballet, Tap, Cross Training, and various Wellness Seminars. Students who are able to join in real-time will receive corrections and interactions from faculty, and classes will be recorded for any students who cannot be present at the scheduled time. Weekend classes will be scheduled to accommodate smaller groups for more individual attention and to provide special offerings for older or advanced students.
The Colburn School Residence Hall is now closed and all students have left campus. Dance Academy students in the AUP dorms have also relocated.
Students may not return to campus until further notice. However students are able leave their belongings in the Colburn Residence Hall through the end of the summer. Those students with cars currently on campus may leave them in the garage. We look forward to having everyone back on campus as soon as we are able to reopen our housing facilities.
The Colburn Café is closed until further notice.
In the interest of the health and safety of our audiences, the Colburn School has suspended all public performances, parties, and social events.
We are happy to exchange or refund your tickets for these events – or you can donate your ticket purchase back to Colburn to help make top-level performing arts education accessible to the youth of Los Angeles and beyond. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to campus in the future for more spectacular performances.
Please contact the box office at boxoffice@colburnschool.edu with any questions or requests.
If you are a Colburn Society member inquiring about an upcoming membership event, please contact your advancement officer or advancement@colburnschool.edu.
In light of Governor Newsom’s mandatory order requiring California residents to restrict their travel to essential locations, the Colburn School campus is closed. Faculty and staff should not come to campus.
Although we realize this may present difficulties to our employees, we also feel that this is a vital and necessary step to protect the overall health of the community. Faculty with issues, questions, or concerns should reach out to the dean of their academic unit. Staff should be in touch with their manager with any issues. Thank you to our community for their cooperation.
As the Colburn Campus is currently closed, all rentals will be canceled through June 15. As a renter, you are an important part of our community and we are very sorry for this significant inconvenience. To make this as easy as possible, please be in touch directly with Jessica Ewing at jewing@colburnschool.edu or 213-621-4522 to discuss your event.
Your rental costs will be returned to you or we are happy to reschedule your event for a later date in the year. Thank you for your understanding.
To read more about our ongoing efforts to help our students and community stay connected to the performing arts during this time, please visit the Colburn Connected portal.
To contribute vital funds to help support our efforts, please visit this page.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH, County) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, National) World Health Organization (WHO, International)