Alumni News

New job post? Won a competition? Upcoming event? Let us share your achievements and milestones with the alumni community. We may use this information in our Colburn-wide e-newsletters and social media channels. 

Latest News

Alon Hayut (Conservatory), cello, won assistant principal cello with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. 

Ian Mertes (Conservatory), trumpet, was named a finalist in the Pittsburgh Symphony second trumpet audition. 

Cellist Starla Breshears (Music Academy) won three major honors at the 41st Irving M. Klein International String Competition: grand prize, prize for best performance of a sonata and best performance of solo Bach. Read more about it on The Violin Channel. 

James Birch, violin (Music Academy), won second prize at the 41st Irving M. Klein International String Competition. 

Trio Caspar (Conservatory)—Bogang Hwang, piano; Jason Moon, violin; and Andrea Caputo, clarinet—won the gold medal in the Senior String & Piano Division of the 2026 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Plus, the trio received the Lift Every Voice Prize and Horszowski Trio Prize for Piano Ensemble. Read more about it here.

Diego Stine (Conservatory), tuba, placed first at the 61st Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition–Tuba Solo.  

Gabriella Sá (Conservatory), horn, and Elvin Schlanger (Conservatory), flute, each has been granted a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Fellowship. 

Yu-Wen (Lucy) Lu (Conservatory), violin, won an assistant principal second violin position in the Utah Symphony. She also won section violin (second violins) in the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. 

Violinist Evin Blomberg (Conservatory) has been appointed to the League of American Orchestras Anne Parsons Leadership Program Cohort. The initiative focuses on building greater gender diversity in leadership and advancing a new generation of candidates who demonstrate a capacity to take on C-suite roles in major orchestras. Read more about the League of American Orchestras program. 

Enhan Li, flute (Music Academy), is one of 13 winners of the 2026 Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Competition presented by Yamaha Corporation of America.  

Martin Arenas (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) will be attending California State University-Long Beach.  

Olivia Ben-Ari (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is attending Columbia University. 

Mila Dahm and Madeleine Li (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) are enrolled at the University of California-Berkeley.  

London Lanier, Kate Moon, and Emma Sweeny (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) have chosen to study at the University of California-Los Angeles. 

Bear Larsen-Gil (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is attending University of California-San Diego.  

Emerson Leonard (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is studying at University of California-San Francisco.  

Zoe Lozada (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is attending the University of California-Riverside.  

Emiko Ryan (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) has joined the Nevada Ballet Theatre. 

Ava Sokol (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) has chosen to study at Barnard College. 

Charlize Zazaleta (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) has been accepted into Ballet Austin. 

Jolie Scullion (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is studying dance at Tulane University. 

Winnie Goldenberg (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is enrolled at New York University. 

Violinist Sophie Ayer (Conservatory) received second prize in the 2026 Sphinx Competition, Senior Division, which carried a $20,000 prize. Read more about it on Violinist.com. 

Diego Stine (Conservatory) recently won a principal tuba position in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.  

Noah Dugan (Conservatory), trumpet, won a principal position in the Phoenix Symphony.  

Bassist Jungsu Lee (Conservatory) won a section position with the Atlanta Symphony.  

Angel Martín Mora (Conservatory), clarinet, won solo clarinet of the Opéra Bastille–Opéra de Paris.  

Clarinetist Gerbrich Meijer (Conservatory) won a principal position with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.  

Wei Pan  (Conservatory) won the second/Eb clarinet and bass clarinet position with the Danish Opera.  

Joseph Brown (Conservatory), trumpet, won an assistant principal position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  

Trumpist Luca Farina (Conservatory) secured a position in the United States Coast Guard Band. 

Seth Carter (Conservatory) won a principal tuba position with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. Read his profile here.  

Vienna Lee (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) joined the School of American Ballet. 

The School of American Ballet accepted Naya Sevilla (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) in its Level C1 program. 

The Pacific Northwest Ballet Professional Division welcomed the following Trudl Zipper Dance Institute graduates: Jubilee McAlister, Lou Davidson, Elliana Sabahi, and Avery Schumacher. Read more about them in our Colburn in Focus newsletter. 

Jonah Tillery (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) is attending Butler University on scholarship. 

Mackenzie Carroll (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) has enrolled at Oklahoma University. 

Evelyn Mills (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) received trainee offers from the Cincinnati Ballet, LA Ballet, and Richmond Ballet.

Simone Porter and Blake Pouliot (Conservatory) appeared at the Broad Stage in a special duo recital dedicated to Los Angeles and celebrating their 10-year friendship. Read more on LA Art Spot

Jasmine Choi (Conservatory), flute, has joined the faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music beginning this Fall.  

Chloe Oronoz (Trudl Zipper Dance Institute) has secured a corps contract with the Los Angeles Ballet. 

Violinist Eduardo Rivera (Conservatory) won a section position in the Berlin Philharmonic. 

The Calidore String Quartet — Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violins; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello (Conservatory) — founded at the Colburn School in 2010, returned to Southern California in March for a concert at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The Calidore are currently the Distinguished Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware, and this season they have the distinction of performing the entire Beethoven string quartets at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – a feat CMS programs only every five years. 

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