Season Packages Available Now
Single tickets ($10-$75) and reservations for FREE events on sale June 26
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Los Angeles, CA (Thursday, June 5, 2025) – The Colburn School, the globally renowned institute for music and dance, today announced its 2025–26 season. Showcasing remarkable young artists alongside esteemed faculty and celebrated guest artists from around the world, Colburn presents an array of outstanding orchestral, chamber, recital, and dance performances. These events take place both on campus and across the Los Angeles community and are offered for free or at low cost. The season is announced as construction continues on the highly anticipated Frank Gehry-designed campus expansion, which will dramatically increase Colburn’s world-class facilities for performance and learning upon its opening in 2027.
The 2025–26 season marks the return of Colburn’s signature programs, including performances by the Colburn Orchestra, and the launch of the Colburn Chamber Players, a new initiative exploring chamber music in performances with esteemed faculty, students, celebrated guest performers, and alumni. The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices—dedicated to raising awareness of composers whose lives and careers were suppressed or cut short during the Nazi regime in Europe—returns this season, alongside the Colburn Presents series, welcoming acclaimed soloists, chamber musicians, and ensembles.
Distinguished conductors leading the Colburn Orchestra include Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale Music Director Laureate Nicholas McGegan; Mexican conductor, Grammy winner, and North Carolina Symphony Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto; German conductor and former Munich Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor Kevin John Edusei; world-renowned composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; Music Director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Earl Lee; and Music Director of the Colburn Orchestra, Yehuda Gilad.
In June 2026, the Colburn Orchestra will make its Ojai Music Festival debut in multiple concerts led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Festival’s 2026 Music Director, in a program that celebrates his longstanding ties to Los Angeles. Salonen holds the Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies at the Colburn School and leads the Conservatory of Music’s Negaunee Conducting Program. This program provides an exceptional training ground for a select group of rising conductors, known as Salonen Fellows, offering them the chance to hone their skills and prepare for careers on the world’s leading stages. Salonen Fellows Aleksandra Melaniuk and Mert Yalniz will also conduct the Colburn Orchestra this season.
Celebrated faculty and guest artists appearing on the new Colburn Chamber Players series include Professor of Chamber Music for the Colburn Conservatory and renowned violist Jonathan Brown; leading violist and Richard D. Colburn Viola Chair Tatjana Masurenko; Director of Colburn’s Music Academy and concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) Margaret Batjer; former first violin of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet and violin and chamber music faculty at Colburn Martin Beaver; esteemed flutist and Conservatory and Music Academy faculty member for 2025–26 and 2026–27 Demarre McGill; former cellist of the Tokyo String Quartet and cello and chamber music faculty Clive Greensmith; rising star violinist and Colburn alum Blake Pouliot; and MacArthur Genius Grant-winning pianist Jeremy Denk.
Colburn Presents showcases performances by some of today’s most celebrated soloists, chamber musicians, and ensembles, including a recital by pianist Jeremy Denk; a holiday performance by Canadian Brass; a collaboration between Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and the Colburn School; a concert featuring the Sphinx Virtuosi and violinist Randall Goosby; a Viola Plus recital; appearances by pianist Alexandre Dossin, guitarist Leonela Alejandro, and pianist Paul Lewis.
“The Colburn School’s 2025–26 season reflects our deep commitment to excellence in performance and education, while embracing artistic collaboration and innovation,” said President and CEO Sel Kardan. “From the return of beloved programs like Recovered Voices and Colburn Presents to the launch of new initiatives such as the Colburn Chamber Players, this season offers meaningful opportunities for our students to work alongside world-class faculty and guest artists. We look forward to welcoming audiences across Los Angeles to experience the artistry and vision of our vibrant community.”
2025–26 Season Highlights
Colburn Orchestra
The flagship ensemble of Colburn’s Conservatory of Music presents concerts throughout Southern California.
The season kicks off with three iconic orchestral works from classical music’s founding fathers. Opening the program is Bach’s beloved Orchestral Suite No. 3, which features one of the Baroque era’s most famous melodies: “Air on a G String.” Next, the rich sound of the clarinet takes centerstage in a lyrical concerto by Mozart, his only one written for the instrument. Ending the concert with a bang are the percussive marches and trumpet fanfares of Haydn’s energetic “Military” Symphony.
Led by renowned German conductor Kevin John Edusei, the Colburn Orchestra returns to The Wallis with a lavish program spotlighting the rich cultural heritages of its composers. The concert opens with Ernest Bloch’s Jewish-inspired masterpiece Schelomo, an intense and poignant rhapsody that casts the cello as King Solomon and the orchestra as a world full of temptation. Bedřich Smetana’s Má vlast (“My Country”) then invites the audience on a journey through Bohemia’s countryside and lore in a rousing, atmospheric love letter to his Czech homeland.
Under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colburn’s Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, the Colburn Orchestra brings to life Bruckner’s sweeping “Romantic” Symphony: a vivid narrative of medieval knights, the enchantment of nature, and the thrilling drama of forest hunts. Joining him on the program are Salonen Conducting Fellows Aleksandra Melaniuk and Mert Yalniz, with Yalniz conducting the world premiere of his own orchestral composition. Lizst’s bold and playful symphonic poem Les Préludes opens the concert.
Following last season’s powerful performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, the Colburn Orchestra and conductor Earl Lee return to Walt Disney Concert Hall with another larger-than-life program. Two atmospheric works—Samy Moussa’s 2021 work Elysium and Richard Strauss’s famous symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra, best known for its use in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey—bookend the concert with soaring melodies and theatrical tone shifts. In between, the lush orchestration and sparkling virtuosity of Max Bruch’s violin concerto provide a break from the musical theatrics.
After a fiery overture by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, this concert centers on two of classical music’s greatest voices. While at its core an elegant and charming Classical-era composition, Beethoven’s second piano concerto includes delightful and innovative surprises that harken to his later Romantic roots. Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, on the other hand, is Romantic through and through, teeming with beautiful melodies, luscious orchestral colors, and vivid emotions.
The Colburn Orchestra makes its Ojai Music Festival debut in multiple concerts led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Festival’s 2026 Music Director, in a program that celebrates his longstanding ties to Los Angeles. Concert details to be announced.The Colburn Orchestra is generously underwritten by Eva and Marc Stern.
Colburn Chamber Players
The Colburn Chamber Players series offers an exploration of chamber music in all its forms, bringing together beloved Colburn faculty, outstanding students, celebrated guest artists, and accomplished alumni in a unique meeting of generations.
This intimate afternoon concert explores the delicate balance of voices found in chamber music. The centerpiece of the program is Bach’s The Art of the Fugue, in which each instrument’s interpretation of the theme is expertly woven together into a kaleidoscopic masterwork. Interspersed between these dazzling dialogues are short pieces exploring Bach’s music through a contemporary lens. The second half of the concert continues the conversation between past and present when Schumann’s imaginative “Fairy Tale Pictures” is paired with György Kurtág’s late 20th century response—a work using the same instrumentation and heavily referencing Schumann’s compositional style. Beethoven’s complex Grosse Fuge closes the performance.
This program features vibrant chamber works rooted in the rich Austro-Hungarian musical tradition. First, Haydn’s “Quinten” string quartet masterfully darts from major to minor as each movement transforms and embellishes the central theme. The winds then take center stage for Ligeti’s whimsical Six Bagatelles, a piece saturated with Hungarian folk melodies, before two violins, two violas, and a cello close out the concert with Brahms’s radiant and warm String Quintet No. 1.
This colorful program highlighting a variety of music styles features the work of two influential French composers. César Franck’s expressive and fiery piano quintet will be performed alongside Claude Debussy’s only string quartet, an avant-garde tapestry of textures infused with the compositional stylings of Franck. Special guest Blake Pouliot, a Colburn alumnus beloved for his “immaculate, at once refined and impassioned” playing (ArtsATL), joins Colburn students for both works. Rounding out the program is a fugal masterwork by Mozart showcasing the bass and an innovative contemporary work by Tōru Takemitsu that blends Eastern and Western sounds.
Jeremy Denk, a MacArthur Genius Grant-winning pianist that “you want to hear no matter what he performs” (New York Times), joins Colburn faculty and students in this program of electric quintets. Opening the concert is Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, a work that masterfully balances the piano against oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon in what the composer described as “the best thing I have written in my life.” Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet, composed in 1918 in the shadow of World War I, starts on an eerie tone before modulating towards a brighter, more symphonic end. In between these masterworks is Valerie Coleman’s Tzigane, a passionate journey through woodwind virtuosity inspired by Ravel’s similarly named Hungarian rhapsody for violin.
Colburn Presents
Cellist Gary Hoffman and students from the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium perform alongside musicians from Colburn.
In a unique convergence of musical voices, the Sphinx Virtuosi and acclaimed violinist Randall Goosby invite audiences into a realm where music becomes an emissary of peace and unity. The program explores peace while remembering the conflict of past and present and recognizing the repeated history and the resilience of the human spirit. From William Grant Still, celebrated as the “Dean of African American Composers,” to Jose White’s stirring Cuban melodies, every note resonates with collective aspirations for harmony and understanding without borders. This is a collection of new voices, those that have already shaped our canon and those that we hope will continue to be celebrated long after our time together.
Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices
The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at Colburn brings to life important repertory by composers whose careers and lives were disrupted and destroyed during the years of the Nazi regime in Europe.
KAPRÁLOVÁ Elegy JANÁČEK Violin Sonata SCHULHOFF Sonata for Solo Violin, WV 83 MARTINŮ Violin Sonata No. 2, H. 208
DVOŘÁK Nocturne in B Major KAPRÁLOVÁ Partita for Piano and Strings MARTINŮ Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and TimpaniJames Conlon, one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, leads the RVC Ensemble (Recovered Voices at Colburn Ensemble) in a love letter to Bohemian melodies. The program begins with a piece from the godfather of Czech music himself, Dvořák’s serene Nocturne in B Major is a short lyrical work with hypnotic orchestration. The concert then turns to two 20th century Czech composers whose personal and professional relationship often inspired each other’s work. In her tragically short career, Vítězslava Kaprálová wrote nearly 50 compositions brimming with humor, energy, and warmth—one of her most inspired works being the spirited piano concerto on this program. The concert concludes with an orchestral tour de force by Bohuslav Martinů, Kaprálová’s mentor, friend, and lover.
The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices is made possible through the generous support of Marilyn Ziering alongside the many donors who are inspired by this incredibly important work at Colburn School.
Trudl Zipper Dance Institute
The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute is dedicated to developing the talent and ambitions of its students, from beginners starting in Youth Dance to aspiring professionals in the Dance Academy.
Community School of the Performing Arts
Students join together to perform in both chamber and larger ensemble settings at the Community School, where all experience levels from beginner to advanced are welcome.
Music Academy
Colburn’s Music Academy provides pre-college training essential for exceptional young performers who want to dedicate themselves to music with an eye on becoming a professional.
Event Tickets For all Colburn School events, reservations and tickets can be secured at colburnschool.edu/calendar. The Colburn School box office can be reached at boxoffice@colburnschool.edu or (213) 621-1050.
About the 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, 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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