Colburn, a downtown Los Angeles performing arts school offering music and dance education, announced Tuesday that its 100,000-square-foot campus expansion designed by the late architect Frank Gehry will open Sept. 25, 2027, with a gala concert in its new 1,000-seat concert hall.
The expansion will include Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall and a new Dance Center, with a community celebration scheduled for Sept. 26 featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, free performances and an evening concert, according to Colburn.
The events will begin a weeklong opening festival featuring guest artists, visiting ensembles, resident organizations, faculty and students, officials said.
“We are excited to announce the opening date for our extraordinary new facilities, which the late Frank Gehry designed for us with unsurpassed artistry and skill and heartfelt devotion to our mission,” Colburn President and CEO Sel Kardan said. “Transformational philanthropic support has enabled the creation of a building which will offer new opportunities for world-class music and dance education and exceptional performances at Colburn.”
The building is under construction adjacent to Colburn’s existing Grand Avenue campus and is expected to reach substantial completion in summer 2027.
Kohl Hall will feature an in-the-round design with an orchestra pit and a stage intended to accommodate orchestra, dance, opera, jazz and other productions, officials said. It will become the permanent home of the Colburn Orchestra, the flagship ensemble of the school’s Conservatory of Music.
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will also make the hall its new downtown Los Angeles home beginning with the 2027-28 season. Its inaugural concert there is expected to include a premiere of a new fanfare by composer John Williams.
The Dance Center will become the new home of Colburn’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute and will triple the amount of space devoted to dance at the school, according to the school. It will include a 100-seat Studio Theater and four professional-sized studios and is expected to open with the 2027-28 academic year in August 2027.
The expansion will complement Colburn’s existing 428,137-square-foot campus, which includes the 430-seat Zipper Hall, the 189-seat Thayer Hall, rehearsal and practice spaces, studios, offices and a residence hall, officials said.
Gehry’s design features a series of interlocking volumes connected by a light-filled entrance, along with street-level and rooftop gardens. The exterior will feature metal cladding with a luminescent pink finish.
Gehry, who died in 2025, also designed the nearby Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“Frank Gehry shared that commitment to expanding access to the arts, which made this project so important to him,” said Meaghan Lloyd, a partner at Gehry Partners. “He created this world-class hall in the hope that it would inspire generations of artists to experiment, take risks, and find their own voices.”
Colburn’s complete 2027-28 season is expected to be announced in the spring.