About me
Sel Kardan joined the Colburn School as President and CEO in 2009, bringing years of experience to
the position as a performing arts executive, educator, and violist. In his role as President and CEO,
Kardan shapes and leads the future path of Colburn and its academic units: Community School, Music
Academy, Trudl Zipper Dance Institute and Dance Academy, and Conservatory of Music, which
together serve more than 2,000 students in music and dance from early childhood development to
post graduate studies. Kardan has overseen the creation of two new academies: the Music Academy,
an international program for gifted young pre-college musicians, and the Dance Academy, a training
program for pre-professional ballet dancers. Prior to coming Colburn, Kardan served as President and
CEO of the Music Institute of Chicago, where he was the driving force behind the creation of the
Academy. He was formerly Executive Director of the Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore, and
Executive Director of the Heifetz International Music Institute. A native of Philadelphia, Kardan is a
graduate of the Peabody Institute and taught at both the pre-college and collegiate levels, and
performed professional as a violist prior to beginning an administrative career.
