(For Immediate Release) – As the Colburn School looks ahead to the opening of its magnificent Frank Gehry-designed campus expansion, with expansive new facilities for performance and dance education, it welcomed four new board members in 2024-25 who bring a deep, lifelong commitment to the performing arts: Jerry Eberhardt, Terry Robert Greene, Sean Rourke, and Emma Zhu.
An internationally renowned performing arts school located in Downtown L.A.’s Grand Avenue Cultural District, The Colburn School provides exceptional music and dance education to students at all levels of development, from children as young as 7 months old to those about to embark on professional careers. The School’s transformational 100,000-square-foot expansion is located adjacent to the School’s existing campus and will significantly increase its world-class training and performance facilities for music and dance. At its heart will be the 1,000-seat Terri and Jerry Kohl concert hall, a much-needed in-the-round mid-sized performance space. When completed in 2027, the expansion will create the largest concentration of Gehry-designed buildings in the world.
Jerry Eberhardt is retired from Smith Barney, where he was responsible for their Wealth Management operations in 11 Western States, Asia, and Australia. Jerry is a founding member of the Board of Managers of Dynasty Financial Partners. Jerry has been active in charitable and civic affairs in the Chicago community, and now in Southern CA. He was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival and served as Vice Chairman and member of the Executive Committee; he is also a past trustee of the Aspen Music Festival & School, having served on the board for six years. Jerry served as a member of the Board of Directors of the LA Phil for 22 years and is a former Chairman. He is a member of the Board of the Music Academy of the West and serves on the Executive Committee, he also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Ojai Music Festival. He also served on the boards of several investment, industry, and civic organizations.
Terry Robert Greene is a businessman and philanthropist. A fourth generation Angeleno, he is an alumnus of the University of Southern California (BA, History and Telecommunications; MBA, Finance). Terry began his professional life working in his family’s headwear business before building a career in commercial real estate and technology investments. As a young man, Terry was the Principal Cellist of the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra, founded by his uncle, Maestro Ernst H. Katz. Maestro Katz’s guiding principle was “give youth a chance to be heard.” These words inspired Terry and his T. Robert Greene Foundation to endow the Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies at Colburn, a position currently held by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Through his involvement with Colburn, Terry endeavors to encourage the next generation of young musicians.
Sean Rourke is a Senior Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor at Capital Group in Los Angeles. He supports a diverse group of clients, including family offices, executives, and business owners, with a special focus on the entertainment and beauty industries. He holds a BA from Siena College and is a Certified Wealth Strategist®. Previous roles include Senior Client Strategist at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Senior Vice President at City National Bank Private Client Services, and Vice President roles at U.S. Trust Company and Rockefeller Trust Company. Originally from upstate New York, Sean developed a passion for the performing arts during frequent trips to the city to see the theater, ballet, and music performances. He relocated from New York City to Los Angeles in 2005. Sean previously served on the board of the Point Foundation, where he was a member of the finance and investment committee. He is also a member of the Beverly Hills Estate Planning Council and is a past volunteer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Emma Zhu is Chairwoman of Beijing Letz Arts and Culture Development Limited, which produces feature films, documentaries, and classical music performances. Emma is also the founder of the Emma and Adam Zhu Foundation, which supports arts education, culture promotion, and community service programs. Prior to founding Letz Arts and Culture in 2014, Emma worked at General Electric Company’s Olympic marketing department. A native of Beijing, Emma received her B.A. and MBA from Beihang University in China. She was born into a musical family (her father is a celebrated opera singer in China), and herself was trained as a soprano. Emma and her husband Adam Zhu have been generous supporters of a number of organizations, including the Newport Beach Film Festival, China Opera Society, Beijing Music Festival, and Colburn School’s Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices as well as the School’s gala. She sits on the Advisory Board of Culture OC, an online non-profit news organization covering arts and culture in Orange County, California. Emma and her husband have three children, who are all current students (piano and violin) of Colburn’s Community School of Performing Arts.
Chaired by Andrew Millstein, the Colburn Board of Directors supports the School’s mission to provide the highest quality music and dance education at all levels of development and provide access to the performing arts.
Please click here for a complete list of members of Colburn School’s Board of Directors.
About Colburn School
A performing arts institution located in the heart of Los Angeles, the COLBURN SCHOOL trains students from beginners to those about to embark on professional careers. The academic units of the School provide a complete spectrum of music and dance education united by a single philosophy: that all who desire to study music or dance should have access to top-level instruction.
Each year, more than 2,000 students from around the world come to Colburn to benefit from the renowned faculty, exceptional facilities, and focus on excellence that unites the community.
In 2024, the Colburn School broke ground on the Frank Gehry-designed Colburn Center, a multi-faceted campus expansion of the Colburn School. Located across the street from the School’s existing campus at the intersection of Olive and Second Streets, the building will enable the School to expand its mission of presenting programs for the public. Gehry’s design includes a 1,000-seat in-the-round concert hall named for Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall, five professional-sized dance studios including a 100-seat studio theater, and gardens that bring fresh air and green spaces to the downtown landscape. The expansion will more than double the facilities for the School’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, creating one of the most comprehensive dance education complexes in Southern California.
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