The Colburn School: The Legacy of Richard D. Colburn

by Richard D Colburn

The Colburn School in Los Angeles, California, is one of the world's premier music schools. It has four divisions. The Colburn Conservatory of Music offers a bachelor's degree in music performance and a four-year performance diploma. It also offers two graduate-level programs, a master's degree in music performance and an artist diploma for students seeking to broaden their repertory. There is also a less-structured professional studies certificate for those initiating their career. The Colburn Community School of Performing Arts serves students of all ages with classes in music, dance, drama, and early childhood arts education. The Music Academy is dedicated to nurturing and training gifted and talented young musicians under the age of eighteen. The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute supports all dance programs at the Colburn School, including those in the Community School and in the Dance Academy, a pre-professional program for youth desiring a career in dance. Throughout the Colburn School, the emphasis is on performance. The Colburn School bears the name of its benefactor, Richard D. Colburn. This memoir recounts his deep engagement with music, beginning on his seventh birthday, when his mother gave him a violin with a bow and a case, purchased for ten dollars. Colburn played the violin-and the viola-until the age of eighty-nine, but by his teenage years he focused on business, in which he proved to be remarkably talented. Colburn narrates his life with plain-spoken wit and grace. Music was his sustaining passion, and the Colburn School, which was his vision and which he generously endowed, is his gift of gratitude.

132 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2016

Reviews

[Noémie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, and very well written. It is written through interviews and recorded conversations with Richard Colburn, then transcribed. It is written from first point of view perspective.

The chapters are well divided into coherent sections based on theme and, to a lesser extent, chronology.

Richard was a very successful businessman. He came from a very average family, and had a love of music. This book follows his life, focussing on business and music. He walks us through his different employments and what he learned from his endeavours. Certain sections of this book could potentially be useful for business students.

Although the timeline in this book was usually clear, it was interesting to note that sometimes, even within a chapter, the narration would jump back and explain a past event in further details.

I give this book a 3 star. It was good, without being addictive. Each chapter was self contained, but not thrilling or necessarily making the reader feel that they could not put it down. The narration, however, is very done and Richard's voice rang out loud and clear throughout the whole book. It felt like you were listening to him, rather than reading his words.