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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Thu Jun 01 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 04 2:00 PM
LA Phil Dudamel conducts Mozart
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity...Show More
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity and elan” and tonal shading “verging on the miraculous”—joins the LA Phil for the Piano Concerto No. 27. Dudamel leads the exuberant “Jupiter” Symphony, one of the composer’s longest symphonies and one of his most enduring and loved.
Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.
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Fri Jun 02 8:00 PM
LA Phil Rufus Wainwright
Walt Disney Concert Hall
One of the great vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation, Rufus Wainwright returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall with songs from his Grammy-nominated album Unfollow the Rules, his first non-operatic album in eig...Show More
One of the great vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation, Rufus Wainwright returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall with songs from his Grammy-nominated album Unfollow the Rules, his first non-operatic album in eight years. Long lauded for his sophistication and wit, he's now working at the peak of his powers, his music guided by passion, honesty, and a newfound fearlessness. Be there for a career-spanning night with the celebrated musician.
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Sat Jun 10 2:00 PM
Sun Jun 11 7:00 PM
LA Master Chorale Ellington / Williams
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams were giants of jazz who never stopped searching for new means of expression. Inspired by their faith, both created major sacred choral works that grew out of the African American church tradition and pushed aga...Show More
Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams were giants of jazz who never stopped searching for new means of expression. Inspired by their faith, both created major sacred choral works that grew out of the African American church tradition and pushed against the boundaries of both sacred music and jazz. This concert is a celebration of distinctive music created by two American originals.
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Mon Jun 12 7:00 PM
2023 Los Angeles "Sounds of Summer" Festival
Walt Disney Concert Hall
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Sat Jun 17 8:00 PM
LA Lawyers Phil: Concert of Hope
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Concert of Hope will feature popular works by Mozart and Beethoven as well as Broadway show music and will be performed on a collection of violins recovered from the Holocaust. Maestro Gary S. Greene, Esq., will lead the LA Lawyers Philharmonic a...Show More
Concert of Hope will feature popular works by Mozart and Beethoven as well as Broadway show music and will be performed on a collection of violins recovered from the Holocaust. Maestro Gary S. Greene, Esq., will lead the LA Lawyers Philharmonic and its chorus, Legal Voices, in a memorable evening benefiting the City of Hope and Violins of Hope. The music will bridge classical works that were performed on these instruments during the Holocaust to works by composers who were victims of the Holocaust to later works of remembrance by John Williams (Theme from Schindler’s List) to a medley from Fiddler on the Roof. Composer Bill Marx’s Overture for A City of Hope will be premiered, and Tony Award winner Michael Maguire, Esq., will be featured in songs from Man of La Mancha. KFI’s Bill Handel will MC, and actor Hal Linden will narrate. Jim Raycroft is choral director.
For more information, please visit lalawyersphil.org or (323) 525-1800.
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Sat Jun 24 7:00 PM
Sun Jun 25 3:00 PM
Disney Pride in Concert
Walt Disney Concert Hall
DISNEY’S BELOVED SONGS are reimagined in a celebration of Pride at Walt Disney Concert Hall! Accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra and stunning video projections, 200 Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles members perform the music of iconic films like
Show More DISNEY’S BELOVED SONGS are reimagined in a celebration of Pride at Walt Disney Concert Hall! Accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra and stunning video projections, 200 Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles members perform the music of iconic films like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Mary Poppins, as well as modern classics like Coco, Zootopia, and Wreck-It Ralph, and many more. The magical music of Disney Parks will round out this multimedia extravaganza. Solos and personal stories add the connection to Disney’s timeless and universal stories, making this a truly magical experience.
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Thu Jun 22 8:00 PM
FOOSA Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The FOOSA Philharmonic returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall with a lush and energetic program of Tower, Scriabin, and Shostakovich. Inspired by Beethoven and the giant California Sequoia trees, Joan Tower’s Sequoia is a highly energetic, b...Show More
The FOOSA Philharmonic returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall with a lush and energetic program of Tower, Scriabin, and Shostakovich. Inspired by Beethoven and the giant California Sequoia trees, Joan Tower’s Sequoia is a highly energetic, beautiful, and poetic orchestral work. Alexander Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy surges with a rarely relenting sense of extended yearning, with a constantly unfolding rhapsodic outpouring of leitmotifs, erotic textures, and exorbitantly rich colors, culminating in a transcendent release of delayed gratification. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 “The Year 1905” is a defiant ode to the Russian revolution of that year and its seminal “Bloody Sunday.”
For more information, please visit accentconcerts.com/foosa
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Tue May 23 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 25 1:00 PM
Center Theatre Group A Soldier's Play
Ahmanson Theatre
A Soldier’s Play, the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to this 2020 Tony Award®-winning Best Revival from Roundabout Theatre Company. “This is a play that deserves to be ...Show More
A Soldier’s Play, the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to this 2020 Tony Award®-winning Best Revival from Roundabout Theatre Company. “This is a play that deserves to be staged regularly all over America—though it’s hard to imagine that it will ever be done better than this. It keeps you guessing all the way to the final curtain” (The Wall Street Journal).
In 1944, on a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered and a series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America. Broadway’s Norm Lewis leads a powerhouse cast in the show Variety calls “a knock-your-socks-off-drama," directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.
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Fri May 12 7:00 PM
Sat Jun 17 7:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Cosmogony
Jerry Moss Plaza
Shown in real time on LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, dancers perform an original contemporary work remotely from Geneva, Switzerland—6,000 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles. The dancers outfitted with motion capture suits ...Show More
Shown in real time on LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, dancers perform an original contemporary work remotely from Geneva, Switzerland—6,000 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles. The dancers outfitted with motion capture suits are digitally altered to become avatars for the high-tech performance. Throughout the 30-minute experience, the dancers will be revealed in human form on-screen intermittently to give audiences a behind-the-scenes glimpse of them dancing from their Geneva studio.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
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Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Thu Sep 28 11:00 AM
A TMC Arts Program Weekly Food Trucks
Grand Park - Olive Court
Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Show Less -
Sat May 13 7:30 PM
Sun Jun 04 2:00 PM
LA Opera Otello
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
He's a beloved leader, a distinguished military commander and a devoted husband. But when an envious subordinate introduces the notion—just the slightest whispered hint—that Otello's wife Desdemona might possibly be unfaithful, it's enough to send...Show More
He's a beloved leader, a distinguished military commander and a devoted husband. But when an envious subordinate introduces the notion—just the slightest whispered hint—that Otello's wife Desdemona might possibly be unfaithful, it's enough to send him into a downward spiral of fury and murder.
Hailed as the pinnacle of the Italian operatic repertoire, Verdi’s transformation of the original Shakespeare play is a powerful drama of uncontrolled human emotion at its most extreme. Verdi's musical portrait of Otello’s descent into a tortured heart of darkness is explicit in every chilling detail as he destroys all in life that he holds dear.
Verdi master James Conlon takes command of the truly epic musical forces. The powerhouse cast is led by Artist in Residence Russell Thomas in the title role (considered the "Mount Everest" of the dramatic tenor repertoire). Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes a highly anticipated company debut as the doomed Desdemona and Igor Golovatenko is the sadistic Iago, slyly exploiting Otello's one fatal flaw: jealousy.
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Thu Jun 01 5:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program: Arts Grown L.A. Library Connection and The Music Center Present We Tell Stories
Library Connection at Adams Square, Glendale, CA
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
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Tue May 23 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 25 6:30 PM
Center Theatre Group A Transparent Musical
Mark Taper Forum
From the very first note, this genre-bending new musical comedy follows a trail of family secrets to unearth a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and celebration. A Transparent Musical is the uplifting comic story of the Pfefferman fami...Show More
From the very first note, this genre-bending new musical comedy follows a trail of family secrets to unearth a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and celebration. A Transparent Musical is the uplifting comic story of the Pfefferman family, whose patriarch is finally allowing their true selves to emerge as Maura, the transgender matriarch she always knew she was. Maura’s ex-wife is left questioning a lifetime of partnership, her oldest daughter unravels her own perfect life, her son runs the other way, and her youngest child begins to discover who they really are. Based on the hit Amazon Prime original TV show by Joey Soloway, A Transparent Musical is the ground-breaking new musical that shines a light on a Los Angeles Jewish family who are universally relatable, imperfectly human, and startlingly familiar.
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Thu Jun 01 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 04 2:00 PM
LA Phil Dudamel conducts Mozart
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity...Show More
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity and elan” and tonal shading “verging on the miraculous”—joins the LA Phil for the Piano Concerto No. 27. Dudamel leads the exuberant “Jupiter” Symphony, one of the composer’s longest symphonies and one of his most enduring and loved.
Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.
Show Less
-
Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Thu Sep 28 11:00 AM
A TMC Arts Program Weekly Food Trucks
Grand Park - Olive Court
Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Show Less -
Tue May 23 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 25 6:30 PM
Center Theatre Group A Transparent Musical
Mark Taper Forum
From the very first note, this genre-bending new musical comedy follows a trail of family secrets to unearth a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and celebration. A Transparent Musical is the uplifting comic story of the Pfefferman fami...Show More
From the very first note, this genre-bending new musical comedy follows a trail of family secrets to unearth a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and celebration. A Transparent Musical is the uplifting comic story of the Pfefferman family, whose patriarch is finally allowing their true selves to emerge as Maura, the transgender matriarch she always knew she was. Maura’s ex-wife is left questioning a lifetime of partnership, her oldest daughter unravels her own perfect life, her son runs the other way, and her youngest child begins to discover who they really are. Based on the hit Amazon Prime original TV show by Joey Soloway, A Transparent Musical is the ground-breaking new musical that shines a light on a Los Angeles Jewish family who are universally relatable, imperfectly human, and startlingly familiar.
Show Less -
Thu Jun 01 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 04 2:00 PM
LA Phil Dudamel conducts Mozart
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity...Show More
The incomparable creativity of Mozart is on full display in this wondrous program that includes his final piano concerto and final symphony. Peerless Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida—described by Gramophone as having stunning “virtuosity and elan” and tonal shading “verging on the miraculous”—joins the LA Phil for the Piano Concerto No. 27. Dudamel leads the exuberant “Jupiter” Symphony, one of the composer’s longest symphonies and one of his most enduring and loved.
Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.
Show Less -
Tue May 23 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 25 1:00 PM
Center Theatre Group A Soldier's Play
Ahmanson Theatre
A Soldier’s Play, the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to this 2020 Tony Award®-winning Best Revival from Roundabout Theatre Company. “This is a play that deserves to be ...Show More
A Soldier’s Play, the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to this 2020 Tony Award®-winning Best Revival from Roundabout Theatre Company. “This is a play that deserves to be staged regularly all over America—though it’s hard to imagine that it will ever be done better than this. It keeps you guessing all the way to the final curtain” (The Wall Street Journal).
In 1944, on a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered and a series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America. Broadway’s Norm Lewis leads a powerhouse cast in the show Variety calls “a knock-your-socks-off-drama," directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.
Show Less -
Fri May 12 7:00 PM
Sat Jun 17 7:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Cosmogony
Jerry Moss Plaza
Shown in real time on LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, dancers perform an original contemporary work remotely from Geneva, Switzerland—6,000 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles. The dancers outfitted with motion capture suits ...Show More
Shown in real time on LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, dancers perform an original contemporary work remotely from Geneva, Switzerland—6,000 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles. The dancers outfitted with motion capture suits are digitally altered to become avatars for the high-tech performance. Throughout the 30-minute experience, the dancers will be revealed in human form on-screen intermittently to give audiences a behind-the-scenes glimpse of them dancing from their Geneva studio.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
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Sat Jun 03 2:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Chevy Chase Library and The Music Center Present TAIKOPROJECT
Chevy Chase Library, Glendale, CA
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Utilizing authentic instruments hand-crafted in Japan, TAIKOPROJECT weaves tr...Show More
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Utilizing authentic instruments hand-crafted in Japan, TAIKOPROJECT weaves traditional and modern forms of taiko together and share elements of their Japanese and Japanese-American culture.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
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Sat May 13 7:30 PM
Sun Jun 04 2:00 PM
LA Opera Otello
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
He's a beloved leader, a distinguished military commander and a devoted husband. But when an envious subordinate introduces the notion—just the slightest whispered hint—that Otello's wife Desdemona might possibly be unfaithful, it's enough to send...Show More
He's a beloved leader, a distinguished military commander and a devoted husband. But when an envious subordinate introduces the notion—just the slightest whispered hint—that Otello's wife Desdemona might possibly be unfaithful, it's enough to send him into a downward spiral of fury and murder.
Hailed as the pinnacle of the Italian operatic repertoire, Verdi’s transformation of the original Shakespeare play is a powerful drama of uncontrolled human emotion at its most extreme. Verdi's musical portrait of Otello’s descent into a tortured heart of darkness is explicit in every chilling detail as he destroys all in life that he holds dear.
Verdi master James Conlon takes command of the truly epic musical forces. The powerhouse cast is led by Artist in Residence Russell Thomas in the title role (considered the "Mount Everest" of the dramatic tenor repertoire). Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes a highly anticipated company debut as the doomed Desdemona and Igor Golovatenko is the sadistic Iago, slyly exploiting Otello's one fatal flaw: jealousy.
Show Less

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