The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall

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 Walt Disney Concert Hall

  • Sun Dec 01 7:30 PM

    LA Phil Leslie Odom, Jr. The Christmas Tour

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    The deft, stylish, and charismatic Leslie Odom, Jr., won a Tony Award and a Grammy Award for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and his moving performance as Sam Cooke in the 2020 film One Night in Miami earned him an Oscar...Show More

    The deft, stylish, and charismatic Leslie Odom, Jr., won a Tony Award and a Grammy Award for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and his moving performance as Sam Cooke in the 2020 film One Night in Miami earned him an Oscar nomination. Now, he returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for a night of holiday hits—including selections from his release The Christmas Album, which Broadway World said “infuses love, joy, and merriment into the holiday season.”

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  • Tue Dec 03 8:00 PM

    LA Phil Intimate Schoenberg

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    From post-Romanticism to the emancipation from tonality, Schoenberg’s brilliance shines through these smaller works.

    From post-Romanticism to the emancipation from tonality, Schoenberg’s brilliance shines through these smaller works.

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  • Fri Dec 06 11:00 AM

    Sun Dec 08 2:00 PM

    LA Phil Brahms with Zubin Mehta

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    The New York Times champions Leonidas Kavakos as a wonder on the violin, writing, “The music flowed out of him like a river—big, glistening, and unobstructed, but also tasteful in its frictionless subtleties.” The Greek violinist ef...Show More

    The New York Times champions Leonidas Kavakos as a wonder on the violin, writing, “The music flowed out of him like a river—big, glistening, and unobstructed, but also tasteful in its frictionless subtleties.” The Greek violinist effortlessly captures Brahms’ desire for lyrical perfection in Violin Concerto. Then, Zubin Mehta further explores Brahms’ masterful and Romantic voice with the Second Symphony, featuring one of the most affecting melodies the composer has written.

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  • Sat Dec 07 2:00 PM

    LA Master Chorale Festival of Carols

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    The most spectacular choral arrangements of carols from around the world — sung by the incomparable voices of the LA Master Chorale, in the world-class acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is the concert that’s guaranteed to put you and you...Show More

    The most spectacular choral arrangements of carols from around the world — sung by the incomparable voices of the LA Master Chorale, in the world-class acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is the concert that’s guaranteed to put you and your family into the spirit of the season! Children aged six and older are welcome to attend.

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  • Fri Dec 13 8:00 PM

    Sun Dec 15 2:00 PM

    LA Phil Zubin Mehta Conducts Gurrelieder

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    Gurrelieder’s lush Romantic atmosphere, hyper-emotional language, endless melody, and sprawling scale bring to mind names like Wagner or Mahler. Arnold Schoenberg composed the cantata as a monument to late Romantic style before landing on...Show More

    Gurrelieder’s lush Romantic atmosphere, hyper-emotional language, endless melody, and sprawling scale bring to mind names like Wagner or Mahler. Arnold Schoenberg composed the cantata as a monument to late Romantic style before landing on his expressionist style that helped set off a musical revolution in the 20th century. Gurrelieder’s massive scale—calling for five soloists, multiple choirs, a narrator, and gargantuan orchestra—has made it a rarely performed but beloved masterpiece.

    Equally rare are conductors who know how to navigate the piece, and LA Phil Conductor Emeritus Zubin Mehta is an expert in revealing the operatic emotion and architecture of Gurrelieder having conducted the LA Phil premiere, recording it multiple times, and choosing it for his final concert as NY Phil Music Director. Don’t miss this special opportunity to experience Mehta return to one of his signature pieces with the epic and poetic Gurrelieder.

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  • Sat Dec 14 11:30 AM

    LA Phil Holiday Sing-Along

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    Ring in the season at Walt Disney Concert Hall! Join in song with hundreds of fellow revelers—plus a jazz combo, a choir, and the pipe organ—for this joyous annual tradition. A jolly good time for the whole family!

    Please note: Children age...Show More

    Ring in the season at Walt Disney Concert Hall! Join in song with hundreds of fellow revelers—plus a jazz combo, a choir, and the pipe organ—for this joyous annual tradition. A jolly good time for the whole family!

    Please note: Children ages 2 and up are permitted. There will be no intermission for this concert.

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  • Sun Dec 15 7:00 PM

    LA Master Chorale Handel-Mozart Messiah

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the rarely performed Mozart version of Handel's Messiah in celebration of their 60th Anniversary. A tribute from one musical genius to another—Mozart's "cover" of Handel's Messiah is a revelation ...Show More

    The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the rarely performed Mozart version of Handel's Messiah in celebration of their 60th Anniversary. A tribute from one musical genius to another—Mozart's "cover" of Handel's Messiah is a revelation of symphonic grandeur and sensuous orchestral colors. In this extraordinary collaboration across centuries, Mozart's nuanced arrangement elegantly enhances the grandeur of Handel’s sacred masterpiece. This is a rare opportunity to experience a beloved classic in a totally new way.

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