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 Jan 21 11:00 AM
Sat Feb 04 11:00 AM
LA Phil Toyota Symphonies for Youth
Walt Disney Concert Hall
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
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Fri Jan 27 8:00 PM
Sun Jan 29 2:00 PM
LA Phil John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West
Walt Disney Concert Hall
John Adams’ powerful new opera, Girls of the Golden West, is a rejection of the whitewashed romantic view of California in the early days of the Gold Rush. Director Peter Sellars drew from historical texts when he created the...Show More
John Adams’ powerful new opera, Girls of the Golden West, is a rejection of the whitewashed romantic view of California in the early days of the Gold Rush. Director Peter Sellars drew from historical texts when he created the libretto, particularly from the memoirs of a woman who called herself Dame Shirley. As Sellars has said, “These true stories of the Forty-Niners are overwhelming in their heroism, passion, and cruelty, telling tales of racial conflicts, colorful and humorous exploits, political strife and struggles to build new life.” Responding to these incidents, Adams’ propulsive music captures all the conflicting emotions with his characteristic insight. “There should be no doubt that Girls of the Golden West is the most powerful opera of the moment.” – Los Angeles Times
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Mon Jan 30 8:00 PM
LA Phil Ensemble Intercontemporain
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Regarded as the world’s leading contemporary music group, Ensemble Intercontemporain, make a rare appearance to present Olga Neuwirth’s score for the 1924 silent film Die Stadt ohne Juden. Under their music director Matthias ...Show More
Regarded as the world’s leading contemporary music group, Ensemble Intercontemporain, make a rare appearance to present Olga Neuwirth’s score for the 1924 silent film Die Stadt ohne Juden. Under their music director Matthias Pintscher, the French musicians will accompany the movie directed by Hans Karl Breslauer for which Neuwirth wrote music “both touching and harsh, warm-hearted and open, amusing and furious, involved and distanced, humorous and sad all at once.”
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Tue Jan 31 8:00 PM
LA Phil Kodo
Walt Disney Concert Hall
For four decades, the Japanese group Kodo has shown off the extraordinary emotional and artistic range of the traditional taiko drum on stages around the world. Their new program Tsuzumi commemorates this incredible leg...Show More
For four decades, the Japanese group Kodo has shown off the extraordinary emotional and artistic range of the traditional taiko drum on stages around the world. Their new program Tsuzumi commemorates this incredible legacy, featuring pieces that trace their music back to the group’s origins.
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Wed Feb 01 8:00 PM
LA Phil Emanuel Ax
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The acclaimed Emanuel Ax performs an evening of quintessentially Romantic-period selections by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann with his accustomed warmth and humanity in a must-see event.
The acclaimed Emanuel Ax performs an evening of quintessentially Romantic-period selections by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann with his accustomed warmth and humanity in a must-see event.
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Fri Feb 03 8:00 PM
Sat Feb 04 8:00 PM
LA Phil Ray Chen plays Mendelssohn
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The brilliant Ray Chen—called “one of the finest violinists of his generation” by the Los Angeles Times for his palpable joy and confident playing—gives his take on the beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Matthias Pint...Show More
The brilliant Ray Chen—called “one of the finest violinists of his generation” by the Los Angeles Times for his palpable joy and confident playing—gives his take on the beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Matthias Pintscher illuminates Brahms’ chamber masterpiece redressed in colorful and clarifying orchestral garb by Schoenberg.
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Tue Feb 07 8:00 PM
LA Phil LA Phil New Music Group with Paolo Bortolameolli
Walt Disney Concert Hall
“A pianist and composer of panoramic interests” (The New York Times), Courtney Bryan is a pianist, organist, and composer whose music is in conversation with jazz, experimental music, gospel, spirituals, and hymns. Mexican-born composer a...Show More
“A pianist and composer of panoramic interests” (The New York Times), Courtney Bryan is a pianist, organist, and composer whose music is in conversation with jazz, experimental music, gospel, spirituals, and hymns. Mexican-born composer and violinist Erika Vega is currently studying the connection between the elements of poetry and those of music. Katherine Balch captures the magic of everyday sounds, becoming in the process a veritable “musical Thomas Edison – you can just hear her tinkering around in her workshop, putting together new sounds and textural ideas” (San Francisco Chronicle). All the women have numerous awards and each presents a world premiere on this fascinating program.
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Thu Feb 09 8:00 PM
LA Phil Yuja Wang & Dudamel: Rachmaninoff Concerto 1
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The showstopping Yuja Wang joins Gustavo Dudamel for the first of all four Rachmaninoff concertos across two weekends. The First Concerto reveals a young, ambitious composer defining his style and honing his voice. Completed when he was 18 and a s...Show More
The showstopping Yuja Wang joins Gustavo Dudamel for the first of all four Rachmaninoff concertos across two weekends. The First Concerto reveals a young, ambitious composer defining his style and honing his voice. Completed when he was 18 and a student at the Moscow Conservatory, and then revised 26 years later once the composer had become a worldly, refined artist, the First offers Rachmaninoff’s characteristic Romantic style with the unabashed showmanship you might expect from a youthful virtuoso eager to flex his muscles.
In the second half, Dudamel moves from one of Rachmaninoff’s very first pieces to one of his last. Composed while living in the United States, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances was the composer’s final orchestral work and drew on his life’s work with nods to sacred chants and his own earlier music while looking forward to the new harmonic language of the 20th century.
Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.
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Mon Jan 30 8:00 PM
LA Phil Ensemble Intercontemporain
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Regarded as the world’s leading contemporary music group, Ensemble Intercontemporain, make a rare appearance to present Olga Neuwirth’s score for the 1924 silent film Die Stadt ohne Juden. Under their music director Matthias ...Show More
Regarded as the world’s leading contemporary music group, Ensemble Intercontemporain, make a rare appearance to present Olga Neuwirth’s score for the 1924 silent film Die Stadt ohne Juden. Under their music director Matthias Pintscher, the French musicians will accompany the movie directed by Hans Karl Breslauer for which Neuwirth wrote music “both touching and harsh, warm-hearted and open, amusing and furious, involved and distanced, humorous and sad all at once.”
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Sat Jan 21 11:00 AM
Sat Feb 04 11:00 AM
LA Phil Toyota Symphonies for Youth
Walt Disney Concert Hall
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
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Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Wed May 31 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
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Sat Jan 21 11:00 AM
Sat Feb 04 11:00 AM
LA Phil Toyota Symphonies for Youth
Walt Disney Concert Hall
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
Show Less -
Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Wed May 31 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 Feb 04 7:30 PM
A TMC Arts Program: Arts Grown L.A. Palmdale Playhouse and The Music Center Presents Got Rhythm!
Palmdale Playhouse, Palmdale 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.
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Learn MoreFree
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Sat Feb 04 2:00 PM
Sun Feb 26 2:00 PM
LA Opera The Marriage of Figaro
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something… threatening to throw Figaro’s wedding plans into disarray. Count Almaviva's wandering eye has landed on his wife's maid Susanna, who's about to marry his own manservant Figaro. Racing...Show More
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something… threatening to throw Figaro’s wedding plans into disarray. Count Almaviva's wandering eye has landed on his wife's maid Susanna, who's about to marry his own manservant Figaro. Racing against the clock, Figaro quickly concocts a plan to outwit his master. Will the wily duo outwit the Count in time to save the day?
Mozart's greatest comedy sparkles with disguises, wit, trickery and humanity, all under the masterful baton of Music Director James Conlon. We're taking the magic even further with an enchanting new production directed by acclaimed filmmaker James Gray, with costumes designed by celebrated fashion designer Christian Lacroix. (Yes, that's a shameless name drop.)
A brilliant cast of company favorites brings the leading couples to life: Craig Colclough and Janai Brugger as the ever-resourceful Figaro and Susanna, with Lucas Meachem and Ana María Martínez as the Count and Countess. Rihab Chaieb makes her company debut as Cherubino, the lovable scamp who always shows up in the middle of all the schemes—at the absolutely worst time.
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Fri Feb 03 8:00 PM
Sat Feb 04 8:00 PM
LA Phil Ray Chen plays Mendelssohn
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The brilliant Ray Chen—called “one of the finest violinists of his generation” by the Los Angeles Times for his palpable joy and confident playing—gives his take on the beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Matthias Pint...Show More
The brilliant Ray Chen—called “one of the finest violinists of his generation” by the Los Angeles Times for his palpable joy and confident playing—gives his take on the beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Matthias Pintscher illuminates Brahms’ chamber masterpiece redressed in colorful and clarifying orchestral garb by Schoenberg.
Show Less

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