My Journey Through The Music Center dorothy chandler pavilion

home to the Los Angeles Opera and dance companies

A Great Woman with a Grand Vision

In 1955, Dorothy Buffum Chandler was a very important woman in Los Angeles. She was the wife of Norman Chandler, the owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

Mrs. Chandler wanted Los Angeles to have a great performing arts center. She raised the money needed to build the three original venues that made up The Music Center – the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the building that bears her name – the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion first opened its doors on December 6, 1964. Today, the Los Angeles Opera performs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Thanks to a generous gift from Glorya Kaufman, The Music Center also presents dance companies from around the world who perform in this grand theatre.

Many of the shows here tell a story. An opera tells a story like a play, only most of the words are sung, not spoken. Opera dates back hundreds of years when shows were created as a perfect marriage of words and music to tell important stories. A ballet doesn’t have any words at all. Like opera, ballet tells a story, but the story is told through gestures and dance. Many ballets are based on early Russian and European folk and fairy tales.

The musical accompaniment for both opera and ballet is usually an orchestra. The musicians play in the “pit” — a sunken area right in front of the stage. In any given week, two different operas or a dance performance may be presented on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The sets, scenery and backdrops are changed for each different show. This requires a lot of planning, skill and hard work.