Los Angeles Philharmonic Association history

The Ford is one of the oldest performing arts venues still in operation in Los Angeles, with an outdoor 1,200-seat amphitheater and a rich history dating back to 1920.

Since its official opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the LA Phil.

The three-year-old venue, a popular picnic spot known as Daisy Dell until the Theatre Arts Alliance purchased the land for $47,500, consists of movable wooden benches and a temporary stage until 1926.

He leaves for the Cleveland Orchestra in April 1933, closing his term with a program of Wagner and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade."

Clark continues pledging smaller sums to the ensemble until April 1934, passing away two months later and leaving no endowment to the orchestra.

Then, after completing the 1939 summer season at the Hollywood Bowl, Klemperer was visiting Boston and was incorrectly diagnosed with a brain tumor, and the subsequent brain surgery left him partially paralyzed.

Stravinsky, who eventually settles in Los Angeles in 1940, continues to guest-conduct the orchestra, on occasion, at the Hollywood Bowl.

Sir John Barbirolli was offered the position of Music Director after his contract with the New York Philharmonic expired in 1942.

At this point in his career, Rachmaninoff had announced his intent to retire from stage performance, but he would continue touring until his death in 1943.

He led some important concerts, such as the orchestra's premiere performance of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements in 1946.

Wallenstein leaves in 1956 to pursue other opportunities.

The Philharmonic's musicians, management and audience all loved Beinum, but in 1959, he suffered a massive heart attack while on the podium during a rehearsal of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and died.

In 1960, the orchestra, led again by Chandler, signed Georg Solti to a three-year contract to be music director after he had guest conducted the orchestra in winter concerts downtown, at the Hollywood Bowl, and in other Southern California locations including CAMA concerts in Santa Barbara.

However, Solti abruptly resigned the position in 1961 without officially taking the post after learning that the Philharmonic board of directors failed to consult him before naming then 26-year-old Zubin Mehta to be assistant conductor of the orchestra.

Solti was to officially begin his tenure in 1962, and the Philharmonic had hoped that he would lead the orchestra when it moved into its new home at the then yet-to-be-completed Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; he even began to appoint musicians to the orchestra.

In 1969, the orchestra hired Ernest Fleischmann to be Executive Vice President and General Manager.

4. In 1974, the LA Phil under Zubin Mehta won an Academy Award® for The Bolero, a 30-minute short subject featuring Maurice Ravel’s famous orchestral work.

When Zubin Mehta left for the New York Philharmonic in 1978, Fleischmann convinced Carlo Maria Giulini to take over as Music Director.

Borda's big-guns approach has invigorated the orchestra's long-running new-music series, called Green Umbrella, which Fleischmann established in 1982.

Giulini retires in 1984.

In 1985, Fleischmann turned to André Previn with the hopes that his conducting credentials and time spent at Hollywood Studios would add a local flair and enhance the connection between conductor, orchestra, and city.

His tenure officially begins in October 1992 and lasts 17 years – the longest term served at the L.A. Phil.

In 1994 the orchestra toured Europe and Asia.

Since 1997, winter concerts have been held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a theatre of the Music Center complex.

When Fleischmann decided to retire in 1998 after 28 years at the helm, the orchestra named Willem Wijnbergen as its new Executive Director.

Borda, who officially takes over in January 2000, doubles the orchestra’s budget and pushes the Walt Disney Concert Hall project to fruition.

The project, faced with various delays, would not be completed until 2003 (almost six years after Lillian’s death).

Click below to listen to an excerpt from the 2004 performance:

On July 13, 2005, a young Venezuelan conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, made his debut with the LA Phil at the orchestra's summer home, the Hollywood Bowl.

Among its wide-ranging learning initiatives is YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) established in 2007.

Gustavo Dudamel began his official tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009 with concerts at both the Hollywood Bowl (¡Bienvenido Gustavo!) on October 3, 2009 and the Inaugural Gala at Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 8, 2009.

In October 2011, Dudamel was named Gramophone Artist of the Year.

In 2012, Dudamel and the LA Phil were awarded a Grammy award for Best Orchestral Performance for their recording of Brahms' Fourth Symphony.

Dudamel was also named Musical America's 2013 Musician of the Year.

In 2016, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen were nominated for a Grammy for Best Classical Compendium for their live recording of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels.

In November 2018, the LA Phil and Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel released Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon.

Situated in a 32-acre park and under the stewardship of the LA Phil since December 2019, The Ford presents an eclectic summer season of music, dance, film, and family events that are reflective of the communities that comprise Los Angeles.