Welcome to The Music Center
Los Angeles — the cultural hub of the country — is home to America’s most diverse population and more entertainment options and venues than anywhere else in the U.S.
As the third largest performing arts center in the U.S., The Music Center was created nearly 60 years ago as a place where everyone in Los Angeles could experience all the arts have to offer. Through compelling programs that are relevant to a range of audiences, serving Los Angeles in all its breadth, The Music Center is both the home and the force behind some of the greatest creative expression today and a beacon for arts experiences that will engage, delight and surprise you.
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In the Beginning
When it opened in 1964, The Music Center ushered in a new era of artistic and civic pride and, in the process, solidified Los Angeles as a major cultural force, not only nationally, but also globally. A testament to Dorothy Buffum Chandler’s vision and relentless pursuit of a performing arts center that would yield an unprecedented democratization of the arts, The Music Center has become a cultural focal point and a center of arts and culture and arts learning for the entire community.
The original Music Center campus, designed by architect Welton Becket, opened on December 6, 1964. The project was championed by Dorothy Buffum Chandler, who was named to head a citizens’ committee to build a permanent home for the LA Phil. She broadened that goal to include a performing arts center, initially comprised of three venues: the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre. On October 23, 2003, The Music Center opened the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, expanding the campus to 12 acres.
Today, The Music Center is an all-inclusive place to connect and unite through the arts. With its own innovative programming by TMC Arts, four renowned resident companies and six exceptional venues, The Music Center is home to world-class music, dance and dancing experiences, opera, theatre and popular, accessible free and low-cost programs that champion L.A.’s diverse voices and communities.
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Dorothy Buffum Chandler and Zubin Mehta in 1964.
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Photo by Harry Chase, Los Angeles Times.
TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming team, provides programs that foster connection, creativity and enrichment. TMC Arts programs connect people, offering participatory and immersive experiences with the chance to get creative and learn as we discover something new or enjoy something familiar. Many programs are free and low-cost; they take place outdoors on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center and in Grand Park, inside The Music Center’s theatres and in schools and neighborhoods all across L.A. County.
Uniquely
L.A.
Opposite page (middle image): Las Cafeteras.4
Photos courtesy of The Music Center.
The Music Center’s Dance DTLA
The Music Center’s Dance DTLA is a free evening of dancing under the stars on Friday nights during the summer. Some of L.A.’s top DJs and local bands play live while the crowd learns new moves in different dance styles — from Disco and Tango, to Bollywood and Salsa.
The Music Center’s Summer SoundWaves
An outdoor music series featuring infectious beats and rocking rhythms, The Music Center’s Summer SoundWaves offers family-friendly summer entertainment on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center. This summer music series brings live bands to The Music Center Summer Stage, highlighting the sounds of an Angeleno summer in a range of genres, from the musical fusions of Afro-Mexican rhythms, to pulsating electronic dance beats and much more.
Grand Park: The Park for Everyone
A unique jewel in L.A. County, Grand Park is L.A.’s central gathering place where The Music Center presents highly accessible programs that showcase the very best of L.A.’s creative and cultural communities. Grand Park’s year-round free programming ranges from music series, wellness programs and performances representing L.A.’s diverse communities to large-scale celebrations with audiences numbering in the tens of thousands, such as Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos, Grand Park’s N.Y.E.L.A., and much more.
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Dance A Leader in
The Music Center’s celebrated series, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, is the West Coast’s leading presenter of dance residencies, consistently offering some of the world’s most electrifying dance companies along with opportunities for the public to experience dancing first-hand and learn more about the art form. Contributing to L.A.’s rich dance culture, the series also supports new works and projects by today’s most influential companies and choreographers.
These events take place throughout The Music Center, from inside the historic Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall to outdoors on Jerry Moss Plaza and Grand Park, setting the stage for distinctive, inspiring dance experiences found nowhere else. Since its inaugural season, the series has continued to defy expectations and delight audiences with performances by the most renowned dance companies, including The Joffrey
Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater, Malpaso Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, The Royal Ballet and many more.
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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
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Photo by Dario Calmese.
Lifelong Arts Learning
The Music Center has long championed arts learning with dynamic programs that inspire students and people of all ages, bringing the arts into schools and neighborhoods and introducing young audiences to The Music Center. These programs engage students (PreK–12), teachers, aspiring young talent and all Angelenos. With the belief that the arts enrich the lives of all people and are crucial to the development of every child, our arts learning programs include: Student festivals at The Music Center, including The Music Center’s Very Special Arts Festival for children of all abilities and The Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival, one of California’s longest ongoing free arts education programs.
Student matinee performances as part of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center
The Music Center’s Spotlight, offering Southern California’s teens opportunities for scholarships and artistic development through a nationally acclaimed, free performing arts competition.
The Music Center Performing Artists who visit schools and other locations in the many neighborhoods of L.A. County, offering high-energy performing arts assemblies and other experiences that invite audiences of all ages into the world of dance, music, theatre and storytelling.
The Music Center’s Arts Integration Partnerships, sending teaching artists into classrooms to work with teachers and their students, empowering the students’ creativity and helping develop their artistic, workforce and life skills.
Professional Development for educators, providing PreK-12 teachers with arts integration strategies in dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts at school sites and at The Music Center.
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Opposite page: Photos courtesy of The Music Center.
The Music Center’s Spotlight
The Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival
The Music Center Performing Artists in Schools and Communities
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The Music Center’s Very Special Arts Festival
Where Great Experiences Live
Conceived of as L.A.’s epicenter for the arts, the 22-acre Music Center campus includes four iconic theatres and a number of beautiful outdoor spaces. The campus was designed by the foremost architects, including Welton Becket for The Music Center’s first three theatres and the original plaza; Frank Gehry for The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall; and Rios for the renovation of the Mark Taper Forum, Grand Park and Jerry Moss Plaza.
Walt Disney Concert Hall, completed in 2003, is an architectural masterpiece and an L.A. icon. The Concert Hall is home to the LA Phil and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It is one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for a singular musical experience.
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the first and largest of The Music Center’s theatres, was built in 1964 and has been the site of unparalleled performances by stunning music and dance luminaries and virtuosos. It was the home of the LA Phil for decades and the site for more than 20 Academy Awards presentations, from 1969–1999. It is now the home of LA Opera and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center.
Jerry Moss Plaza is a beautiful 35,000 square-foot outdoor urban venue. The plaza is a location for TMC Arts programs such as The Music Center’s Dance DTLA, along with festivals, concerts and other special events. As the “plaza for all,” Jerry Moss Plaza welcomes and brings to life the diversity of L.A. County with a range of dining options, refreshing gardens and innovative experiences.
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Grand Park, “the park for everyone,” with its majestic views extending from The Music Center to City Hall, is L.A.’s central gathering place. The park provides Angelenos of all walks of life a place where they can come together to celebrate, reflect and shape the future. Grand Park offers open spaces not only for casual sitting and leisurely strolling, but also for civic gatherings and community events both large and small.
The Mark Taper Forum opened in 1967 and is the smallest and most intimate of The Music Center’s theatres. The venue has received virtually every theatrical award including a special Tony for theatrical excellence, which was awarded in 1977. The perfectly circular building features a distinctive decorated drum design with an exterior wrapped in a lacy precast relief. The venue is the ideal stage for dramatic plays and productions by Center Theatre Group.
The Ahmanson Theatre opened in 1967 and is home to a wide-ranging selection of performances. Pre-Broadway runs, the best of Broadway and the West End, as well as dance presentations grace its stage.
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Resident Companies
Center Theatre Group (CTG), one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company. Under the leadership of Managing Director/CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, CTG presents and produces the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country at The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum, as well as at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. It is also one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.
Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multigenre, multidisciplinary presenting program and youth development programs such as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages — Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford — as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today.
Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.
In addition to its mainstage performances at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative, which offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings, reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. The company also offers a multitude of online content via its LA Opera On Now digital offerings.
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is the “finest-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times) and a vibrant cultural treasure. Hailed for its powerful performances, technical precision and artistic daring, the Chorale is led by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director; Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong; and President & CEO Jean Davidson.
Created by legendary conductor Roger Wagner in 1964, the Chorale is a founding resident company of The Music Center and choir-in-residence at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Chorister positions are highly sought after, and the fully professional choir is a diverse and vocally dynamic group.
Images (L-R): Hadestown North American Tour. Photo by T Charles-Erickson, Courtesy of Center Theatre Group; LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. Courtesy of the LA Phil; LA Opera Cinderella Photo by Craig T. Mathew, Courtesy of LA Opera; Messiah Sing-Along.12
Photo by Jamie Pham, Courtesy of the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Center Theatre Group LA Opera
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LA Phil Los Angeles Master Chorale
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