The Colburn School

At its annual gala event, Celebrate Colburn, the Colburn School will honor Stéphane Denève and Austin Beutner with the Richard D. Colburn award for their exemplary contributions and devotion to the worlds of classical music, music education and the performing arts. Celebrate Colburn takes place at the Colburn School and Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday, April 23.

Denève, the artistic honoree for Celebrate Colburn, is recognized internationally for the exceptional quality of his performances and programming as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the New World Symphony, and from 2023, as principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He recently concluded terms as principal guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and chief conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic, and previously served as chief conductor of Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Beutner, the civic honoree for Celebrate Colburn, is a visionary businessman, philanthropist and educator. As the author of Proposition 28, Beutner built a nation-leading effort which will provide much-needed funding for arts education for all six million children in California public schools. While superintendent, he orchestrated Los Angeles Unified’s extraordinary response to COVID including providing 140 million meals to hungry children and adults, making sure every student had a computer and internet access at home and offering COVID testing and vaccinations for all in the school community. Beutner is the founder of Vision To Learn, which has provided vision screenings to more than two million school children and glasses to almost 400,000 in low-income communities across the country, all at no cost to the child or their family. These are only a few examples of his extraordinary commitment to helping children, in particular those most in need.

“The Colburn School is proud to honor renowned conductor Stéphane Denève and civic leader Austin Beutner,” Colburn School president and CEO Sel Kardan said. “In addition to his inspiring presence on the podium, Stéphane is a gifted educator and passionate advocate committed to uplifting today’s aspiring musicians and composers. Among Austin’s many accomplishments, the passing of Proposition 28 provides funding in our public schools that ensures every child can participate in and benefit from arts and music at school. Thanks to their combined contributions, the future of the performing arts is stronger than ever.”

Honorees will receive their awards at a special gala dinner on the Colburn Plaza, which is followed by a Colburn Orchestra concert led by Denève in Walt Disney Concert Hall, located at 111 S. Grand Ave. Tickets for the concert performance start at $16 and are available at the Colburn School colburnschool.edu/calendar/events/colburn-orchestra-stephane-deneve-conductor.