Meet the Colburn Class of 2021

Summer is always a bittersweet time on any school campus. Quieter days lay ahead, but many students have gone on to the next chapter in their lives. As alumni, they will always have a lifelong connection to the school, and we couldn’t be prouder of our graduating students for all they’ve accomplished during their time at Colburn. We’re thrilled to tell you more about the Class of 2021 and their commencement season.

The Colburn School Commencement Season

This year, we hosted our year-end festivities online, allowing students to join us from all over the world. The Conservatory of Music and the Community School of Performing Arts streamed their events on our social media channels to over 1500 viewers, while Music Academy and the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute hosted intimate Zoom meetings to showcase performances and senior recognitions with families.

     We celebrated 182 Graduates with

          3 Ceremonies
          1 Music Academy Senior Recital
          2 Community School Recitals featuring graduating seniors
          6 year-end dance performances with senior recognition

Watch some of the memorable speeches and testimonials from the two public events: Conservatory of Music’s Commencement and the Community School’s Senior Recognition Event
 

The Class of 2021

This diverse group of performers and scholars is spreading out across the globe to pursue their passions in performing arts as well as a broad range of fields from the sciences to the humanities. Some students have been studying at Colburn for years like Community School graduate Omeed Almassi who first enrolled in 2008. Omeed reflects, “I practically grew up at Colburn. Colburn was my second home and I have too many fond memories with many good people.” This fall, he will be attending the New School in New York.

Tap dancer Kayla Nielsen will also make her way east when she begins at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in fall. Kayla has been a student at Colburn for ten years. She recalls, “For as long as I can remember, Colburn has been a constant in my life. It has been a place where I can let go of stress from the outside world and just focus on my passion and love for dance. Colburn has given me a community of truly talented and kind dancers as well as some of my closest friends.”

Mei Hotta, a former Community School student and now a graduate of the Music Academy, will not travel quite as far when she begins her undergraduate studies at the Conservatory of Music. She spoke recently about the work she’s done as a student at Colburn. “Sometimes we had a drama teacher come and she would teach us to open up and be freer. It helps to bring that into our music and playing. So there’s definitely a lot of trying to open ourselves up.”

     9 graduates will join the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Fall 2021
     2 secured orchestral positions for Fall 2021
     12 studied at Colburn for more than ten years
     6 Herbert Zipper Scholars
     11 Semifinalists in the Music Center’s Spotlight 2021 Awards
     1 2021 Presidential Scholar in the Arts
     5 YoungArts Award Winners
     34 plan to pursue a degree in the performing arts

    Other areas of study include:

     Architecture
     Biochemistry
     Biology
     Business
     Climate science
     Cognitive neuroscience
     Computer science
     Economics
     Engineering
     Environmental science
     Film
     History
     Kinesiology
     Math
     Psychology
     Public Health
     Sociology
     Studio Art
     Theater

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