Searching in iTunes 11 no longer filters column browser options? In iTunes 10.x, if you searched for items (top right) it would filter the column browser to only show values that matched your search query. Now when I search, it filters the list of items, but not the column browsers. Is this an option somewhere?
To get the desired effect you can click on the "magnifying glass" icon and deselect "Search Entire Library". This prevents the Miniplayer version of the search and filters both your Column Browser and the list of songs (or artists/albums/genre).