LA’s Colburn School announces major expansion, to be designed by Frank Gehry

“The Colburn School [has revealed] plans for the Colburn Center, a 100,000 sq.-ft campus expansion in downtown Los Angeles, expected to break ground in 2023,” writes Sarah Shay in Thursday’s (3/17) Musical America (subscription required). “Designed by Frank Gehry, with acoustical design by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics—the famed Disney Hall duo—the Colburn project is budgeted at $350mn, 77 percent of which has already been raised. Located across the street from the school’s main campus, the new building, which includes a 1,000-seat concert hall, will join its near neighbors—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Music Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Broad—to create a compelling cultural centerpiece for downtown Los Angeles. The concert hall, named for Terri and Jerry Kohl, will … include a full orchestra pit and a stage large enough to host large theatrical events as well as opera, dance, and music. The building will also house four professional-sized dance studios and a 100-seat flexible studio theater … Facilities will be equipped to support multimedia technology and production … Because Colburn is … a teaching institution that serves about 2,000 students annually, the new building is designed to serve students at all levels and disciplines.”