Carnegie Hall

The Los Angeles Philharmonic is widely known for being one of the country’s premier ensembles, but it’s also established a reputation far beyond classical music. With four dynamic home venues, an expansive musical palette, and renowned outreach programs, the orchestra is considered one of the most forward-thinking in the world—and one that is most connected with its city. For a closer look at the LA Phil, here are five facts about the pioneering orchestra.

Four Home Venues

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents more than 300 events a year, largely in four noted venues: Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, The Ford, and the Beckmen YOLA Center. Walt Disney Concert Hall is among the most recognizable performance venues in the world. Designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 2003, the stainless steel venue with wavy, sweeping facades serves as the ensemble’s home for most of its subscription concerts.

The Hollywood Bowl, the group’s primary summer home, is famous in its own right, known for hosting artists from Itzhak Perlman to The Beatles. The legendary amphitheater welcomed more than one million guests last year and was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Tucked into the Hollywood Hills, The Ford brings each audience member close to the performers; all 1,200 patrons sit within 100 feet of the open-air stage.

The newest of the venues, the Beckmen YOLA Center, also designed by architect Frank Gehry, opened in 2021. Located in Inglewood, the 25,000-foot building provides a cultural resource for the local community as well as a space for music educators from across the US and around the world to collaborate and learn.

From Handel to Harry Potter and Beyond

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has deep ties with Hollywood and regularly performs some of the biggest cinematic hits. It’s not rare to see Gustavo Dudamel conducting not just Handel, but also selections from Harry Potter or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The orchestra’s discography includes an extensive catalog of movie music, including two albums of some of the most famous music by composer John Williams.

The diverse selection of performances and consistent spearheading of new works led The New York Times to call the LA Phil “the most important orchestra in America—period.” Throughout its 2023–2024 season, the ensemble performed 12 world premieres that the organization itself commissioned, including two news works by Gabriela Ortiz (composer and curator of the orchestra’s Pan-American Music Initiative), a piano concerto by Timo Andres, and a symphony by Jonathan Bailey Holland.

Echoing its innovative spirit, the orchestra also joined the San Diego Symphony and San Francisco Symphony for the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music, highlighting music that had been written within the previous five years. The LA Phil alone presented four world premieres over six full concert programs.

A Storied Carnegie Hall Collaborator

The LA Phil has performed at Carnegie Hall 33 times since its May 3, 1967 appearance under former music director and conductor emeritus Zubin Mehta (who would later go on to lead the New York Philharmonic). In 1990, the ensemble performed at the opening night of Carnegie Hall’s 100th season, marking the organization’s centennial with guest artist Itzhak Perlman, who undertook Barber’s Violin Concerto.

In LA Phil fashion, the ensemble has filled its Carnegie Hall concerts with premieres—including four New York premieres by composers like Ligeti and Gabriela Ortiz, and a world premiere by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Steven Stucky, commissioned by Carnegie Hall.

The year 2022 marked the ensemble’s first appearance at Carnegie Hall in 23 years, but the orchestra returns in October to kick off the Hall’s 2024–2025 season with guest artist Lang Lang and a few New York premieres. The orchestra’s three appearances are part of the Nuestros sonidos festival, a joyous, ongoing celebration of the vibrant sounds, pioneering rhythms, endlessly diverse traditions, and enormous influence of Latin culture in the United States.

An Ensemble of Its City

Aside from welcoming crowds into its four noted venues, the LA Phil has worked to establish itself as an ensemble that represents all Angelenos. With its Neighborhood Concerts, the orchestra brings performances to areas across the city. Campaigns like Celebrate LA!—an eight-mile street party that featured more than 1,800 musicians—showcase the orchestra’s commitment to the city beyond the confines of the concert hall.

A Force in Music Education

Under former president and CEO Deborah Borda, Gustavo Dudamel and the orchestra launched the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program in 2007, providing free instruments, musical instruction, and performance opportunities to youth across Los Angeles and the country as a whole.

The initiative reflects Dudamel’s own musical upbringing and education through Venezuela’s legendary public music-education program, El Sistema.

What began as a program that served 80 students in a single location has expanded to encompass multiple sites that serve more than 1,700 young people. With a goal of creating more than just transformational and equitable access to music, YOLA also offers college preparation and other unique support services to provide holistic programming and outcomes for young people.

With a reputation for pushing forward classical music—and just about everything else—it’s no wonder that the LA Phil is often considered one of the world’s most dynamic orchestras and a model for arts organizations across the country.

Photography: All photos by Chris Lee except Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic by Dustin Downing; archival materials courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.