The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall
Designed by architect Frank Gehry, The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall (Concert Hall) opened in 2003 as the newest of The Music Center’s four venues. The Concert Hall was conceived when Lillian B. Disney made an initial gift of $50 million to build an additional performance space on Los Angeles County land in honor of her late husband Walt Disney and his dedication to the arts. Home to LA Phil and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world and provides both visual and aural intimacy through its exterior and interior design.
More than 6,000 panels create the curving stainless steel skin of the Concert Hall’s exterior. Resembling silver sails, the Concert Hall’s design plays off the bowed cornice of The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, forging a link between the old and the new.
The use of natural materials and skylights creates a bright and airy interior in the Concert Hall. Gehry’s team visualized the lobby as a transparent and light-filled “living room for the city.” Massive columns within the lobby structure evoke an image of tree trunks. They are clad in vertical grain Douglas fir and serve the functional purpose of housing the lighting, heating and air conditioning systems.
The 2,265-seat auditorium is a concrete box that is structurally independent of the rest of the building. Gehry collaborated with renowned acoustician Dr. Yasuhisa Toyota to design the acoustics. The walls of the auditorium are vertical grain Douglas fir and the floor is red oak. The stage is Alaskan yellow cedar, the same wood often used on the backs of cellos and violas and can be configured to hold larger performing organizations by removing the first rows in Orchestra View. Natural light enhances daytime concerts with a large 36-foot-high rear window and skylights.
The terraced vineyard style seating is designed to bring the audience close to the orchestra and provide an intimate view of the musicians and conductor from any seat. A focal point for the auditorium is the 50-foot organ that houses 6,134 pipes ranging in size from a pencil to a telephone pole. Only two percent of the pipes are visible. The organ weighs more than 40 metric tons and was designed by Los Angeles organ designer Manuel Rosales along with Frank Gehry.
Gehry’s design includes details as specific as the carpet pattern used in the auditorium. Named “Lillian” in Mrs. Disney’s honor, the pattern was designed to bring Mrs. Disney’s garden into the Concert Hall and is featured in the seating upholstery as well. Foam padding, the material and the hollow underside of the seats mimic the human body in reflecting sound; in fact, the sound is the same no matter how full or how empty the auditorium. The only piece of art in the Concert Hall, “Blue”, was created by Los Angeles artist Peter Alexander. It is located above the Grand Avenue staircase between the Garden and Terrace levels.
The Concert Hall includes BP Hall, which is an additional space for performances and can accommodate up to 350 people. Clad in vertical grain Douglas fir as well, the curved room posed an acoustical challenge. To avoid focusing sound in one area of the space, perforations were added to the wood paneling with special material placed behind the panels to give the room proper acoustics.
Located on the second floor of the Concert Hall is the Library of Congress/Ira Gershwin Gallery. Designed by Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates, the gallery was made possible by a gift from the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trust for the Benefit of the Library of Congress and rotates its collection bi-annually.
The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), named in honor of Walt Disney’s brother and partner Roy and Roy’s wife, Edna, is also housed within the Concert Hall. An interdisciplinary contemporary arts center, the theatre is programmed by CalArts, based in Valencia, California. REDCAT features a flexible 200- to 270-seat multi-use theatre and a 3,000 square-foot exhibition space. Its entrance includes a marquee of curvilinear stainless steel and leads directly into an expansive multi-use space that includes a lobby and lounge for meetings, receptions and post-performance events. The REDCAT stage can be transformed into several configurations, from thrust and end stage to completely in the round. The performance space is lined with hinged panels, each with finished wood on one side and sound-absorbent material on the other. To quiet outside noise and prevent transmission of vibrations from the Concert Hall, REDCAT is built as a steel box-within-a box, with the interior box floating on 72 special rubber pads.
Featured at the Walt Disney Concert Hall
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Sat Jun 25 2:00 PM
Sun Jun 26 7:00 PM
LA Master Chorale Bach's B-minor Mass
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The B-minor Mass is a monumental testament to Bach’s artistry; its sheer power astounds us, and its beauty brings us to tears. Bach spent his final years composing and compiling a lifetime’s worth of his most powerful music into this single work w...Show More
The B-minor Mass is a monumental testament to Bach’s artistry; its sheer power astounds us, and its beauty brings us to tears. Bach spent his final years composing and compiling a lifetime’s worth of his most powerful music into this single work which Robert Shaw called “the most remarkable musical allegory of human existence–its pain, aspiration and promises.”
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Tue Jun 28 7:00 PM
World Projects' Los Angeles "Sounds of Summer"
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The 2022 Los Angeles "Sounds of Summer" Festival presented by World Projects Corporation affords top ensembles from around the country an opportunity to perform at this world-class venue. This year's concert features ensembles from Oregon and Cali...Show More
The 2022 Los Angeles "Sounds of Summer" Festival presented by World Projects Corporation affords top ensembles from around the country an opportunity to perform at this world-class venue. This year's concert features ensembles from Oregon and California.
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Thu Jun 30 8:00 PM
Mira Costa HS Orchestras
Walt Disney Concert Hall
A special evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Grammy Award Winning Mira Costa High School Orchestras from Manhattan Beach, California. These talented musicians have graced the stage of Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as other world-class...Show More
A special evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Grammy Award Winning Mira Costa High School Orchestras from Manhattan Beach, California. These talented musicians have graced the stage of Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as other world-class venues including Carnegie Hall, Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Palau de la Música de València, Palau de la Música de Catalan in Barcelona, Spain, and Bella Concert Hall in Alberta, Canada.
The performance includes favorites such as Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein, Symphony No. 1 by Vasily Kalinnikov, and a world premiere by local composer Niall Taro Ferguson. Also joining the Mira Costa Orchestras are the Chamber Orchestra and String Ensemble from Manhattan Beach Middle School.
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Fri Jun 03 7:00 PM
Fri Sep 02 7:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program The Music Center's Dance DTLA
Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center
The Music Center's Dance DTLA returns for 11 nights on Jerry Moss Plaza! Enjoy a free dance lesson led by L.A.'s top dance instructors, and dance the night away with us all summer long!
The Music Center's Dance DTLA returns for 11 nights on Jerry Moss Plaza! Enjoy a free dance lesson led by L.A.'s top dance instructors, and dance the night away with us all summer long!
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
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Wed Jun 01 12:00 PM
Sun Jul 03 12:00 PM
Center Theatre Group King James
Mark Taper Forum
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the g...Show More
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the greatest player in Cavaliers’ history. This new play from the Pulitzer Prize-short lister is hailed as “wonderfully daring, imaginative, and compassionate” (The New York Times).
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Wed Jun 29 8:00 PM
Sun Jul 31 6:30 PM
Center Theatre Group Dear Evan Hansen
Ahmanson Theatre
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Dear Evan Hansen is the deep...Show More
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Dear Evan Hansen is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.
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Wed Jun 01 12:00 PM
Sun Jul 03 12:00 PM
Center Theatre Group King James
Mark Taper Forum
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the g...Show More
In a town that was searching for someone to look up to, no figure loomed as large as Lebron James. Playwright Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) chronicles the friendship of two Clevelanders as they bond over the rise of the greatest player in Cavaliers’ history. This new play from the Pulitzer Prize-short lister is hailed as “wonderfully daring, imaginative, and compassionate” (The New York Times).
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Fri Jun 03 7:00 PM
Fri Sep 02 7:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program The Music Center's Dance DTLA
Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center
The Music Center's Dance DTLA returns for 11 nights on Jerry Moss Plaza! Enjoy a free dance lesson led by L.A.'s top dance instructors, and dance the night away with us all summer long!
The Music Center's Dance DTLA returns for 11 nights on Jerry Moss Plaza! Enjoy a free dance lesson led by L.A.'s top dance instructors, and dance the night away with us all summer long!
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree

Tour The Music Center Campus
Free tours are available of all The Music Center's theaters.