Colburn School Announces 2022-23 Season

The Colburn School has announced its 2022-23 season, which brings together the School's exceptional students and faculty with today's most esteemed artists in a wide variety of free or low-cost programs offered on campus and throughout Los Angeles.

The 2022-23 season continues Colburn School's signature programs, including Amplify, which celebrates the careers of artists of color with week-long residencies; Recovered Voices, which encourages greater awareness and more frequent performances of music by composers whose careers and lives were disrupted or ended during the years of the Nazi regime in Europe; and Fortissima, an artistic and leadership development program for high school age young women from underrepresented minorities in classical music.

Amplify Artists include Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa, choreographer and teacher Alonzo King, and composer Kris Bowers. Distinguished guest conductors leading the Colburn Orchestra include Artiste Associé of Opéra de Nice Lionel Bringuier, Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Stéphane Denève, Los Angeles Opera Music Director James Conlon, Jacksonville Symphony Music Director Courtney Lewis, Italo-Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes, and Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Ruth Reinhardt, as well as Colburn Orchestra Music Director Yehuda Gilad. Distinguished artists appearing on the Colburn Chamber Music Society series include composer Andy Akiho, violinist Tessa Lark, pianist Jon Kimura Parker, trombonist David Rejano, clarinetist Afendi Yusuf, and cellist Marc Coppey. Karina Gonzalez and Harper Watters, leading dancers with Houston Ballet, will join Conservatory musicians for the annual "See the Music, Hear the Dance" event, an evening of choreography by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch and Colburn Dance Dean Silas Farley.

"The Colburn School's 2022-23 season exemplifies the creative and inclusive spirit of our community; connecting our students, faculty and world-renowned artists in discovery and performance," says President and CEO Sel Kardan. "From the power of full orchestral concerts at premier venues throughout the region, to intimate music and dance performances and master classes at our downtown campus, we welcome everyone to experience the talent and passion of the next generation of exceptional young artists."

Quartet Integra-Kyoka Misawa, violin, Rintaro Kikuno, violin, Itsuki Yamamoto, viola, and Anri Tsukiji, cello-has also been named Colburn School's Chamber Ensemble-in-Residence, the second ensemble to hold the position, after the Viano String Quartet. In this two-year role, Quartet Integra will uphold chamber music as a pillar of Colburn and benefit from coachings, performance opportunities, and teaching possibilities.

Quartet Integra formed in 2015 and won First Prize at the Bartok International Competition 2021 in Budapest. They have also won the Grand Prix Award and the Beethoven Prize at the 8th Akiyoshidai Music Competition. The ensemble studied under Kazuhide Isomura and Nobuko Yamazaki at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. The group is supported by a grant from the Matsuo Foundation.

2022-23 Season Highlights

Colburn Orchestra

Colburn Conservatory of Music's flagship ensemble brings stages to life across Southern California.

• Saturday, October 1, 2022: Ruth Reinhardt, Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, kicks off the season with a concert that includes Brahms' turbulent Tragic Overture, Bartok's lively Concerto for Orchestra, and in between, Desenclos' Incantation, Thrène et Dansea, a vibrant piece for trumpet performed by Joey Tkach. At Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.

• Saturday, October 29, 2022: Jacksonville Symphony Music Director Courtney Lewis leads a dramatic program that opens with an ethereal soundtrack from Ligeti's Lontano before the cello shines in Elgar's somber and expressive Cello Concerto, performed by Shengyu Meng. The concert culminates with Dvorak's masterful seventh symphony. At The Wallis.

• Saturday, November 19, 2022: Colburn Orchestra Music Director Yehuda Gilad conducts the orchestra and soloists Charlotte Marckx, violin, and Olivia Marckx, cello, in a program of Coleridge Taylor's Ballade in A Minor, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, and the centerpiece of the concert-Brahms' dazzling Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 102. At Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.

• Saturday, January 28, 2023: Italo-Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes leads bassoonist Elena Mateo Sáez in B.H. Crussell's bassoon concertino, bookended by a boisterous Brazilian work, Guarnieri's Abertura Concertante, and the richly orchestrated struggle against fate depicted in Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony. Presented by the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

• Saturday, February 25, 2023: Los Angeles Opera Music Director James Conlon leads the Colburn Orchestra and piano soloist and Conservatory Concerto Competition winner Samuel Glicklich in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor"). The program concludes with Schubert's Symphony No. 9 ("The Great"). At Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.

• Sunday, March 26, 2023: Lionel Bringuier, Artiste Associé of Opéra de Nice, conducts Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring soloist Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Lili Boulanger's D'un Soir Triste opens the program. Co-presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Soka Performing Arts Center, Orange County.

The Colburn Orchestra is generously underwritten by Eva and Marc Stern.

Colburn Chamber Music Society

The Colburn Chamber Music Society (CCMS) series features renowned guest artists joined on stage by Conservatory of Music students and faculty for a set of intimate performances.

• Sunday September 18, 2022: LA Phil principal trombone David Rejano presents an energetic program of both contemporary and classic wind-centric works, including Joan Tower, Varèse, Stravinsky, Carl Vine, and Enrique Crespo.

• Sunday, October 16, 2022: A rising star in the classical world, Tessa Lark is a prize-winning and Grammy-nominated violinist, composer, and fiddler. Her vibrant program features contemporary works by Jessie Montgomery, Rachel Grimes, Julia Wolfe, Clarice Assad, and Florence Price; and the world premiere of two works: her own and one by Carlos Izcaray.

• Sunday, November 6, 2022: composer and steel pannist Andy Akiho is an innovative, Grammy-nominated composer known for his boundary-pushing music. He joins forces with the Colburn Contemporary Ensemble, led by Colburn faculty member Ted Atkatz, for a concert of his own works.

• Sunday, December 4, 2022: Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet and Conservatory alumnus Afendi Yusuf returns to the Colburn stage for an intimate performance of works by Villa-Lobos, Penderecki, Eleanor Alberga, and Messiaen.

• Sunday, February 12, 2023: Award-winning cellist Marc Coppey is a master of all genres, from the Baroque to the Contemporary. Following a successful debut at Colburn in 2017, he returns with a program of Prokofiev, Beethoven, Ravel, and Brahms.

• Sunday April 2, 2023: Jon Kimura Parker, known as a versatile and energetic pianist, is a founding member of the Montrose Trio and a sought-after soloist. His program features dynamic chamber works by Khachaturian, Price, Poulenc, and Brahms.

Celebrate Colburn Gala

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Stéphane Denève, Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Brussels Philharmonic, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, conducts the Colburn Orchestra, and violinist Alena Hove at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the annual Celebrate Colburn gala.

This concert of musical poetry features folklore and fancy. Two tone poems tell the stories of Don Juan and Peruvian spirits while a waltzing ballet from Ravel and Korngold's soaring violin concert evoke feelings of romance and whimsy.

GABRIELA LENA FRANK Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra

KORNGOLD Violin Concerto in D Major

STRAUSS Don Juan

RAVEL La valse

Presented by the LA Phil

Amplify

Colburn School's Amplify series celebrates artists of color through week-long residencies that include performances, master classes, and panel discussions.

• Saturday, November 12, 2022: Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa performs a program of works by Spanish composer and cellist Andrea Casarrubios, Puerto Rican composer Carlos Carrillo, Costa Rican composer Sebastian Quesada, Ukrainian pianist and composer Nikolai Kapustin, American composer, conductor and pianist Kevin Day, and the world premiere of a work by LA-based cellist and composer Quenton Blanche, commissioned by the Colburn School.

Lauded as "one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation," Mesa is a first prize-winner of the Sphinx Competition and an in-demand soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator.

• Wednesday, February 8, 2023: Choreographer and teacher Alonzo King will lead an intensive series of masterclasses exploring the physical, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions of ballet. King has transformed contemporary ballet with his unique approach to movement. Founder of LINES Ballet in San Francisco, he has choreographed more than 165 works for the company and had many of his pieces performed by dance groups around the world. The masterclass on February 8 is open to the public.

• Sunday, March 19, 2023: Pianist Kris Bowers performs the world premiere of a Concerto for Improvised Piano and Ensemble, as well as selections from his Concerto for Horn, Concerto for Violin, and Piano Improvisations on Film Themes. Rising to fame after winning the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, Bowers has made a name for himself as an Emmy Award-winning composer for film and television productions such as Green Book, Bridgerton, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.

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.

• On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the powerful and amazingly varied music of Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff, whose art was suppressed by the Nazi regime and who died in captivity in 1942, is performed by Colburn's RVC Ensemble in an album release concert celebrating Shapeshifter-Music of Erwin Schulhoff (DELOS), available October 7, 2022. The performance will be followed by a Q&A with the artists.

• On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at the school's intimate Thayer Hall, Colburn Faculty Dominic Cheli, Piano, Clive Greensmith, Cello, and Adam Millstein, Violin, will perform Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, and Weinberg's Piano Trio in A Minor. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), a famous Soviet composer and Mieczyslav Weinberg (1919-1996), a Jewish composer who was persecuted by the Soviet State, had an unusual and long-term personal and professional relationship. While Weinberg was almost entirely ignored by the Soviet musical establishment, Shostakovich considered Weinberg to be one of the foremost Soviet composers and helped him in numerous ways including, protecting his family after Weinberg was arrested in 1953 on charges of "Jewish bourgeois nationalism." The two composers shared new compositions, and Shostakovich was influenced by the Jewish elements in Weinberg's music.

• On Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at Zipper Hall, James Conlon will lead Conservatory of Music musicians in a program that includes Erich Korngold's 'Much Ado About Nothing,' Suite for Chamber Orchestra (1918), Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 (1906), and Franz Schreker's Chamber Symphony (1916). This program will also be performed at the Mondavi Center, UC Davis on April 10, 2023, in addition to a program of Alexander von Zemlinsky's Maiblumen Blühten Überall for Voice and String Sextet, Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht for String Sextet, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's String Sextet on April 11, 2023.

Discovering Debussy

Inspired by LA Opera's 2023 performance of Pelléas and Mélisande, Colburn dives deep into the work of Claude Debussy. Curated by LA Opera Music Director Maestro James Conlon, this week of programming examines Debussy's piano and chamber compositions in-depth.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023: Discovering Debussy: Music and Dance: An exploration of Debussy's rich and imaginative works, including Six Epitaphs for piano duo and Syrinx for solo flute, with dancers from Colburn's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute.

Friday, March 3, 2023: Discovering Debussy: Chamber Works: A program of Debussy's colorful chamber music works for winds and strings, including his Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023: Discovering Debussy: Conversations: Intimate conversations about Debussy with James Conlon and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Trudl Zipper Dance Institute

See the Music, Hear the Dance

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Karina Gonzalez and Harper Watters, leading dancers with Houston Ballet, join Conservatory musicians for an evening of choreography by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch and Colburn Dance Dean Silas Farley. The program will include a special segment focused on the creative process behind Farley's Rococo Variations, Op. 33, set to Tchaikovsky's virtuoso cello score.

Joy! A Winter Dance Celebration | Performance and Party

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Enjoy a holiday party on the Colburn campus. This festive program of dance and music supports the School's dance programs. Be the first to see brand new choreography by Dance Dean Silas Farley and Colburn faculty members, watch Colburn students from all dance programs perform in Zipper Hall, and mingle with artists, faculty, and families.

A performance-only repeat of Joy! will take place on Sunday, December 18 at 2pm.

Tap Fest

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Stars from the world of tap present an inspired performance showcasing the dynamism and vitality of the art form today.

Counterpointe

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Artists from Colburn's Dance Academy and Music Academy join forces for a program that includes work by George Balanchine and a presentation of Jerome Robbins' Antique Epigraphs, set to the music of Claude Debussy.

Student Choreography Workshop

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Student creativity takes center stage as Colburn Dance Academy artists present a program of their original works.

Spring Dance Festival

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Colburn Dance students of all ages close the year in a celebratory program featuring new choreography by Colburn faculty and masterworks by George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham.

Colburn School Presents

Fortissima in Concert

Friday, October 28, 2022

This year's Fortissima residential intensive at the Colburn School closes with a lively performance by the 2022-23 Fortissima Fellows of works by female and BIPOC composers, curated and directed by Jannina Norpoth, Fortissima Music Director and member of PUBLIQuartet. Fortissima is an artistic and leadership development program for high school age young women from underrepresented minorities in classical music who demonstrate excellence on an orchestral instrument and have an interest in pursuing a career in music.

West-Eastern Divan Ensemble

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Experience the healing power of music as young artists from Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt perform together. The group draws its members from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded in hopes of finding alternative ways to alleviate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Film screening: ¡Viva Maestro!

Sunday, October 30, 2022

When conductor Gustavo Dudamel's international tours are disrupted by deadly protests across his native Venezuela, he faces the challenge of a lifetime. Join us for a special screening of this documentary and a Q&A with director Ted Braun.

Colburn Baroque Ensemble

With Guest Artists Rachel Podger and Tesserae Baroque

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The Dresden court of the eighteenth century hosted one of the finest musical ensembles in the entirety of Europe. In addition to virtuoso instrumentalists and composers such as Pisendel, Hasse, and Zelenka, Johann Sebastian Bach held the honorific title of Royal Court Composer. The Colburn Conservatory Baroque Ensemble is thrilled to explore this repertoire with world-renowned Baroque violinist Rachel Podger and Tesserae Baroque.

Next Up

Colburn alumni share their unique repertory visions through curated programs that span solo works, chamber pieces, and new music.

DuoSkope

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Evin Blomberg (Conservatory '15), Violin, and Natalie Helm (Conservatory '14), Cello, formed the string duo DuoSkope after first meeting and playing together at The Colburn School. In this autobiographical program, they will perform arrangements of favorite works, each of which has influenced their own journey.

Nocturne

Thursday, April 27, 2023

With this eclectic program, the SAKURA Cello Quintet explore the many facets of night-from comfort to terror, haunting loneliness to beguiling sensuality-through the works of Fauré, Falla, Myers, Crockett, Janacek, Schubert, Debussy, and Chick Corea.

Peter Myers (Conservatory '08), Cello

Ben Solomonow (Conservatory '20), Cello

Stella Cho, Cello

Yoshika Masuda, Cello

Michael Kaufman, Cello

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