The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...

, and a summer season at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

from July through September.

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was ...

is the current Music Director,

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

is Conductor Laureate,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

is Conductor Emeritus, and

Susanna Mälkki Susanna Ulla Marjukka Mälkki (born 13 March 1969) is a Finnish conductor and cellist. Early life and education Susanna Ulla Marjukka Mälkki was born on 13 March 1969 in Helsinki. She began to learn the violin, piano, and cello in her yout ...

is Principal Guest Conductor.

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

is the orchestra's current Composer-in-Residence.

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

have described the orchestra as the most "contemporary minded", "forward thinking", "talked about and innovative", and "venturesome and admired" orchestra in America. According to Salonen, "We are interested in the future. We are not trying to re-create the glories of the past, like so many other symphony orchestras." "Especially since we moved into the new hall", continues Deborah Borda (former CEO), "our intention has been to integrate 21st-century music into the orchestra's everyday activity." Since the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 23, 2003, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has presented 57 world premieres, one North American premiere, and 26 U.S. premieres, and has commissioned or co-commissioned 63 new works.

History

1919–1933: Founding the Philharmonic

The orchestra was founded and single-handedly financed in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr., a copper baron, arts enthusiast, and part-time violinist. He originally asked

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

to be the Philharmonic's first music director; however, Rachmaninoff had only recently moved to New York, and he did not wish to move again. Clark then selected Walter Henry Rothwell, former assistant to

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, as music director, and hired away several principal musicians from East Coast orchestras and others from the competing and soon-to-be defunct Los Angeles Symphony. The orchestra played its first concert in the

Trinity Auditorium The Trinity Auditorium, later known as the Embassy Hotel, is a historic building in Los Angeles, California. It was built as a plant for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1914. The Los Angeles Philharmonic debuted in this auditorium in 1919 ...

in the same year, eleven days after its first rehearsal. Clark himself would sometimes sit and play with the second violin section. After Rothwell's death in 1927, subsequent Music Directors in the decade of the 1920s included Georg Schnéevoigt and Artur Rodziński.

1933–1950: Harvey Mudd rescues orchestra

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

became Music Director in 1933, part of the large group of German emigrants fleeing Nazi Germany. He conducted many LA Phil premieres, and introduced Los Angeles audiences to important new works by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. The orchestra responded well to his leadership, but Klemperer had a difficult time adjusting to Southern California, a situation exacerbated by repeated manic-depressive episodes. Things were further complicated when founder William Andrews Clark died without leaving the orchestra an endowment. The newly formed Southern California Symphony Association was created with the goal to stabilize the orchestra's funding, with the association's president, Harvey Mudd, stepping up to personally guarantee Klemperer's salary. The Philharmonic's concerts at the

also brought in much needed revenue. With that, the orchestra managed to make it through the worst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

years still intact. 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. He went into a depressive state and was institutionalized. When he escaped, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ran a cover story declaring him missing. After he was found in New Jersey, a picture of him behind bars was printed in the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''. He subsequently lost the post of Music Director, though he still would occasionally conduct the Philharmonic. He led some important concerts, such as the orchestra's premiere performance of Stravinsky's '' Symphony in Three Movements'' in 1946. John Barbirolli was offered the position of Music Director after his contract with the New York Philharmonic expired in 1942. He declined the offer and chose to return to England instead.Kennedy, Michael
Barbirolli, Sir John (1899–1970)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, October 2009, (subscription required), accessed 7 February 2010 The following year,

Alfred Wallenstein Alfred Wallenstein (October 7, 1898 – February 8, 1983) was an American cellist and conductor. A successful solo and orchestral cellist in his early life, Wallenstein took up conducting in the 1930s and served as music director of the Los An ...

was chosen by Mudd to lead the orchestra. The former principal cellist of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, he had been the youngest member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic when it was founded in 1919. He turned to conducting at the suggestion of

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. He had conducted the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on a number of occasions and, in 1943, took over as Music Director. Among the highlights of Wallenstein's tenure were recordings of concertos with fellow Angelenos,

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

and

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

1951–1968: Dorothy Buffum Chandler's influence

By the mid-1950s, department store heiress and wife of the publisher of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', Dorothy Buffum Chandler became the de facto leader of the orchestra's board of directors. Besides leading efforts to create a performing arts center for the city that would serve as the Philharmonic's new home, and would eventually lead to the

Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilio ...

, she and others wanted a more prominent conductor to lead the orchestra; after Wallenstein's departure, Chandler led efforts to hire then Concertgebouw Orchestra principal conductor, Eduard van Beinum as the LAPO music director. 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 Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

to a three-year contract to be music director after he had guest conducted the orchestra in winter concerts downtown, at the

, and in other Southern California locations including CAMA concerts in Santa Barbara. 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. 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

to be assistant conductor of the orchestra. Mehta was subsequently named to replace Solti.

1969–1997: Ernest Fleischmann's tenure

In 1969, the orchestra hired Ernest Fleischmann to be Executive Vice President and General Manager. During his tenure, the Philharmonic instituted a number of then-revolutionary ideas, including the creation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group and its "Green Umbrella" concerts; both of these adjunct groups were composed of the orchestra's musicians but offered performance series which were separate and distinct from traditional Philharmonic concerts. They were eventually imitated by other orchestras throughout the world. This concept was ahead of its time, and was an outgrowth of Fleischmann's philosophy, most famously laid out in his 16 May 1987 commencement address at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

entitled, "The Orchestra is Dead. Long Live the Community of Musicians." When Zubin Mehta left for the

in 1978, Fleischmann convinced

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

to take over as Music Director. Giulini's time with the orchestra was well regarded, however, he resigned the position after his wife became ill, and returned to Italy. In 1985, Fleischmann turned to

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

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. While Previn's tenure was musically satisfactory, other conductors including

Kurt Sanderling Kurt Sanderling, CBE (; 19 September 1912 – 18 September 2011) was a German conductor. Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland), to Jewish parents. His early work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where ...

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principa ...

, and

, fared better at the box office. Previn clashed frequently with Fleischmann; one such conflict occurred over Fleischmann's failure to consult Previn over the decision to name Salonen as "Principal Guest Conductor", a move mirroring the prior Solti/Mehta controversy. Because of Previn's objections, the position and Japan tour offer made to Salonen were withdrawn; however, shortly thereafter in April 1989, Previn resigned, and four months later, Salonen was named Music Director Designate, officially taking the post in October 1992. Salonen's U.S. conducting debut with the orchestra had been in 1984. Salonen's tenure with the orchestra first began with a residency at the 1992

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

in concert performances and as the pit orchestra in a production of the opera '' Saint François d'Assise'' by

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

; it was the first time an American orchestra was given that opportunity. Salonen later took the orchestra on many other tours of the United States, Europe, and Asia, and residencies at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland,

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in London, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

for a festival of Salonen's own works, and in 1996 at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

in Paris for a

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

festival conducted by Salonen and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mo ...

. It was during the Paris residency that key Philharmonic board members heard the orchestra perform in improved acoustics and were reinvigorated to lead fundraising efforts for the soon-to-be-built

. Under Salonen's leadership, the Philharmonic has become an extremely progressive and well-regarded orchestra.

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wit ...

of ''The New Yorker'' said:

1998–2009

When Fleischmann decided to retire in 1998 after 28 years at the helm, the orchestra named Willem Wijnbergen as its new Executive Director. Wijnbergen, a Dutch pianist and arts administrator, was the managing director of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Initially, his appointment was hailed as a major coup for the orchestra. One of his most important decisions was to modify Hollywood Bowl programming: he increased the number of jazz concerts and appointed John Clayton serving as the orchestra's first Jazz Chair; in addition, he established a new World Music series with

Tom Schnabel Thomas Daniel Schnabel (born February 5, 1947 in Los Angeles) is a music consultant, producer and DJ. Based in Los Angeles, he was formerly the music director at KCRW. Early career Tom Schnabel attended USC, The Sorbonne, and UCLA. He later ta ...

as programming director Despite some successes, Wijnbergen left the orchestra in 1999 after only one controversy-filled year, and it is unclear whether he resigned or was fired by the Philharmonic's board of directors. Later that same year, Deborah Borda, then the Executive Director of the

, was hired to take over executive management of the orchestra. She began her tenure in January 2000, and was later given the title of President and Chief Executive Officer. After financial problems experienced during Wijnbergen's short tenure, Borda — "a formidable executive who runs the orchestra like a lean company, not like a flabby non-profit" — "put the organization on solid financial footing." She is widely credited (along with Salonen,

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

, and Yasuhisa Toyota) for the orchestra's very successful move to

, and for wholeheartedly supporting and complementing Salonen's artistic vision. One example cited by

Perhaps Borda's boldest notion is to give visiting composers such as ohnAdams and
Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), '' ...
the same royal treatment that is extended to the likes of
Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
and Joshua Bell; Borda talks about "hero composers." A recent performance of Adams's monumental California symphony "Naïve and Sentimental Music" in the orchestra's Casual Fridays series ... drew a nearly full house. Borda's big-guns approach has invigorated the orchestra's long-running new-music series, called Green Umbrella, which Fleischmann established in 1982. In the early days, it drew modest audiences, but in recent years attendance has risen to the point where as many as sixteen hundred people show up for a concert that in other cities might draw thirty or forty. The Australian composer Brett Dean recently walked onstage for a Green Umbrella concert and did a double-take, saying that it was the largest new-music audience he'd ever seen.

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. In his U.S. debut Tuesday night, a 24-year-old conductor from Venezuela with curly hair, long sideburns and a baby face accomplished something increasingly rare and difficult at the Hollywood Bowl. He got a normally restive audience's full, immediate and rapt attention. And he kept it. On January 4, 2007, Dudamel made his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut with the LA Phil prompting Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed to write, "Greatness like this doesn't come around often." A few months later, on April 9, 2007, the symphony board announced that Esa-Pekka Salonen would step down as the LAP's music director at the end of the 2008–2009 season, and Gustavo Dudamel would succeed him. In 2007, two years before Dudamel's official start as music director, the LA Phil established YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). "The model for YOLA – a nonprofit initiative that supplies underprivileged children with free instruments, instruction, and profound lessons about pride, community, and commitment – is El Sistema, Venezuela's national music training program which, 27 years ago, nurtured the talents of a 5-year-old violin prodigy named Gustavo." Just before the beginning of his inaugural season with the LA Phil, Dudamel, on May 11, 2009, was included as a finalist in ''Times "The Time 100: The World's Most Influential People."

2009–present

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 2010 and 2011 Dudamel and the LA Phil received the Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming by the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP). In 2012, Dudamel and the orchestra won the first place Award for Programming Contemporary Music by ASCAP. In 2012, Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela performed all nine of Mahler's symphonies over the course of three weeks in Los Angeles and one week in Caracas, "a mammoth tribute to the composer," and "an unprecedented conducting feat for the conductor." That same year, the orchestra launched a three-year project to present the Mozart/Da Ponte operas, each designed in collaboration with famous architects (sets) and clothing designers (costumes). The series launched in 2012 with Frank Gehry and Rodarte designing Don Giovanni and continued in 2013 with Jean Nouvel and Azzedine Alaïa designing Le Nozze di Figaro. 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. The LA Phil's continued commitment to innovation and new music under the direction of Dudamel and Borda prompted New Yorker critic Alex Ross to name the LA Phil "the most creative, and, therefore, the best orchestra in America." In 2017,

Zachary Woolfe Zachary Woolfe is an American music critic who specializes in classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is some ...

, classical music editor at the New York Times called the Los Angeles Philharmonic "the most important orchestra in America. Period." In 2020 and 2021, Dudamel and the LA Phil were awarded consecutive Grammy awards for Best Orchestral Performance for their recordings of Andrew Norman's '' Sustain'' (2020), and for the collected symphonies of

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...

(2021).

Performance venues

The orchestra played its first season at Trinity Auditorium at Grand Ave and Ninth Street. In 1920, it moved to Fifth Street and Olive Ave, in a venue that had previously been known as Clune's Auditorium, but was renamed Philharmonic Auditorium. From 1964 to 2003, the orchestra played its main subscription concerts in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the

. In 2003, it moved to the new

adjacent to the Chandler. Its current "winter season" runs from October through late May or early June. Since 1922, the orchestra has played outdoor concerts during the summer at the

, with the official "summer season" running from July through September. The LA Philharmonic has played at least one concert a year in its sister city, Santa Barbara, presented by the

Community Arts Music Association Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) of Santa Barbara is the oldest arts organization in Santa Barbara, California, United States. CAMA began in the fall of 1919 when a group of community-minded Santa Barbarans came together in the years follow ...

(CAMA), along with other regular concerts throughout various Southern California cities such as Costa Mesa as part of the Orange County Philharmonic Society's series,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

, among many others. In addition, the orchestra plays a number of free community concerts throughout

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

Conductors

Music Directors

accepted the post in 1960, but resigned in 1961 without officially beginning his tenure.

Conductor Laureate

*2009–present

Before Salonen's last concert as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on April 19, 2009, the orchestra announced his appointment as its first ever ''Conductor Laureate'' "as acknowledgement of our profound gratitude to him and to signify our continuing connection." In response, Salonen said:

When the Board asked me if I would accept the position of Conductor Laureate I was overwhelmed. This organization has been at the very center of my musical life for 17 years. I am very proud and honored that they would even consider me for such a prestigious title and it gives me great pleasure to accept. The Los Angeles Philharmonic will always play an important role in my life and this is a symbol of our continuing relationship.

Conductor Emeritus

*2019–present

During intermission of a concert on January 3, 2019, Simon Woods (CEO of the orchestra) announced that Zubin Mehta was being given the title of ''Conductor Emeritus,'' saying: "Zubin Mehta is one of the treasures of the classical world. He was responsible for hiring over 80 musicians during his tenure at the LA Phil, and it was during this remarkable era that the orchestra rose to a position of international prominence and launched a commitment to deep community engagement that was truly ahead of its time. Today’s appointment is an acknowledgment of that incredible past and rich present, and a signal of our profound gratitude for the role he has played in shaping this orchestra." Mehta commented: "This is indeed a great honor and I’m very pleased to accept. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has always held a very special place in my heart; they took a chance and accepted me as a very young conductor. I remain grateful to the orchestra and I’m happy to continue our relationship in this way."

Principal Guest Conductors

Rattle and Tilson Thomas were named Principal Guest Conductor concurrently under

, though Tilson Thomas's tenure ended much earlier. Until 2016, they were the only two conductors to officially hold the title as such (though as stated above,

was initially offered the position under Previn before having the offer withdrawn). Beginning in the Summer of 2005, the Philharmonic created the new position of ''Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl''. Leonard Slatkin was initially given a two-year contract, and in 2007 he was given a one-year extension. In March 2008,

Bramwell Tovey Bramwell Tovey (11 July 1953 – 12 July 2022) was a British conductor and composer. Life and career Tovey was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as ...

was named to the post for an initial two-year contract beginning Summer of 2008; he subsequently received a one-year extension. After Tovey's term ended, no conductor has since held the position at the Hollywood Bowl. In April 2016, the LA Phil announced that

would be the orchestra's third-ever Principal Guest Conductor beginning with the 2017-18 season. Her initial contract is for three years.

Other notable conductors

Other conductors with whom the orchestra has had close ties include Sir John Barbirolli,

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, Albert Coates, Fritz Reiner, and Erich Leinsdorf; more recently, others have included

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of thR ...

, Christoph Eschenbach, and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Many composers have conducted the Philharmonic in concerts and/or world premieres of their works, including

, William Kraft, John Harbison, Witold Lutosławski,

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

Steven Stucky Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer. Life and career Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), '' ...

, and

. A number of the Philharmonic's Assistant/Associate Conductors have gone on to have notable careers in their own rights. These include Lawrence Foster, Calvin E. Simmons, and William Kraft under Mehta,

Sidney Harth Sidney Harth (5 October 1925 in Cleveland – 15 February 2011 in Pittsburgh) was an American violinist and conductor. Education Harth was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and studied with Joseph Knitze ...

and Myung-whun Chung under Giulini,

Heiichiro Ohyama is a Japanese conductor and violist. Biography He has a long-established reputation as a remarkable conductor and one of the nation’s most renowned violists. In addition to his post as Music Director and Conductor of the Santa Barbara Cham ...

and David Alan Miller under Previn, and Grant Gershon,

Miguel Harth-Bedoya Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya (born 1968) is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. He is currently Direct ...

, Kristjan Järvi, and Alexander Mickelthwate under Salonen.

Lionel Bringuier Lionel Bringuier (born 24 September 1986), Nice, is a French conductor, cellist and pianist. Bringuier is the fourth child in a family of musicians, including his brother Nicolas Bringuier, a pianist. At age 5, Bringuier began musical studies at ...

was originally named Assistant Conductor under Salonen before being promoted to Associate Conductor and, finally, Resident Conductor under Dudamel; since then, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla has served as Assistant Conductor and Associate Conductor under Dudamel.

Other resident artists

Composers

* 1981–1985: William Kraft * 1985–1988: John Harbison * 1987–1989: Rand Steiger * 1988–2009:

* 2009–present:

Kraft and Harbison held the title "Composer-in-Residence" as part of a Meet the Composer (MTC) sponsorship. Steiger was given the title "Composer-Fellow", serving as an assistant to both Harbison and Stucky. Stucky was also a MTC "Composer-in-Residence" from 1988–1992, but was kept on as "New Music Advisor" after his official MTC-sponsored tenure ended; in 2000, his title was again changed to "Consulting Composer for New Music." In the end, his 21-year residency with the orchestra was the longest such relationship of any composer with an American orchestra. Adams has been named the orchestra's "Creative Chair" beginning in Fall 2009.

Artistic director and creative chairs for Jazz

* 2002–2006: Dianne Reeves * 2006–2010: Christian McBride * 2010–present:

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

Reeves was named the first "Creative Chair for Jazz" in March 2002. Instead of just focusing on summer programming, the new position involved the scheduling of jazz programming and educational workshops year round; as such, she led the development of the subscription jazz series the orchestra offered when it moved into

. In addition, she was the first performer at the 2003 inaugural gala at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her contract was initially for two years, and was subsequently renewed for an additional two years. McBride took over the position in 2006 for an initial two-year position that was subsequently renewed for an additional two years through to the start of the 2010 summer season at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2009, the orchestra introduced Hancock as McBride's eventual replacement. In 1998, prior to the establishment of the Creative Chair for Jazz, John Clayton was given the title "Artistic Director of Jazz" at the Hollywood Bowl for a three-year term beginning with the 1999 summer season. His band, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, acted as the resident jazz ensemble.

Recordings

The orchestra occasionally made 78-rpm recordings and LPs in the early years with

and

for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

, and began recording regularly in the 1960s, for

London/Decca This is a list of phonograph manufacturers. The phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone, record player or turntable, is a device introduced in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. Phonograph manufactur ...

, during the tenure of Zubin Mehta as music director. A healthy discography continued to grow with

on Deutsche Grammophon and

on both Philips and Telarc Records. Michael Tilson Thomas,

, and Sir

also made several recordings with the orchestra in the 1980s, adding to their rising international profile. In recent years, Esa-Pekka Salonen has led recording sessions for

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

and

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. A recording of the '' Concerto for Orchestra'' by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hu ...

released by

in 2007 was the first recording by

conducting the LA Phil. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has performed music for motion pictures, such as the 1963

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...

film '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (composed by Ernest Gold), the pilot film of the original ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

'' TV show (composed by Stu Phillips and Glen A. Larson), and the most recent 2021 film version of the Broadway musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'' (composed by

). The LA Philharmonic also performed the first North American concert for the popular ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games. The ...

'' franchise game music, '' Dear Friends: Music From Final Fantasy'' by

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the '' Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton ...

. The orchestra has most recently recorded the sound track for the video game: ''

BioShock 2 ''BioShock 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010; Feral Interactive released an OS X version on March 3 ...

'' as composed by Garry Schyman.

World premieres

Management

Funding

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has seen its endowment booming in recent years, to around $255 million in 2017. In 2002, it received its largest-ever gift when the Walt and Lilly Disney family donated $25 million to endow the music directorship.

David Bohnett David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social ...

donated $20 million in 2014 to endow the orchestra’s top administrative post and create a fund for technology and innovation. As of 2019, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s annual budget is at approximately $125 million.Michael Cooper (September 17, 2019)
Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Chief Executive Abruptly Leaves
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Chief executives

* 1969–1997: Ernest Fleischmann * 1998–2000: Willem Wijnbergen * 2000–2017: Deborah Borda * 2017–2019: Simon Woods * 2019–present: Chad SmithMichael Cooper (October 1, 2019)
This Time, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Promotes From Within
''

''.

References

External links

Official Los Angeles Philharmonic website

Official Hollywood Bowl website

Gustavo Dudamel LA Phil Information and Performance Schedule

Legendary LA Phil executive director Ernest Fleischmann in Conversation

LA Phil LIVE
{{Authority control Orchestras based in California American instrumental musical groups Music of Los Angeles Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1919 Non-profit organizations based in Los Angeles 1919 establishments in California Arts organizations established in 1919 Decca Records artists Sony Classical Records artists