Reward offered for instrument

The Colburn School is offering a $1,000 reward for the safe return of a limited-edition contrabassoon that the music school says was stolen last week from a rehearsal room at its downtown campus.

The instrument -- a Fox 950 model contrabassoon, serial number 622, less than a year old -- is one of only four in the world and worth $30,000. School officials say they will be unable to replace it in time for a Nov. 8 concert by the Colburn Orchestra at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium, although a school spokesman said the show would go on.

The contrabassoon features a new fingering system developed by Arlen Fast of the New York Philharmonic.

-- Diane Haithman