LOS ANGELES PERFORMING ARTS
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 home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Each year, The Music Center welcomes more than 1.3 million people to
performances by its four internationally renowned resident companies: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Center Theatre Group (CTG) as well as performances by the much celebrated dance series, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center.
History
In April 1955, Dorothy Chandler,
wife of Los Angeles Times publisher Norman Chandler, began fundraising
toward a permanent home for the Philharmonic. Ultimately Mrs. Chandler
raised almost $20 million in private donations; the County provided the
site and raised the remaining $14 million using mortgage revenue bonds.
The rest of the complex was completed in April 1967. The additional
venues, the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre, were dedicated on
April 19 and 12, 1967, respectively.
When the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opened its doors on December 6, 1964, the twenty-eight-year-old Zubin Mehta led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that included violinist Jascha Heifetz and performances of Strauss' Fanfare and Beethoven's
Violin Concerto in D Major. The Mark Taper Forum, "scandalizing the
power structure of Los Angeles," according to its artistic director
Gordon Davidson, with its provocative opening production of John Whiting's The Devils. The Ahmanson Theatre opened with a performance of the Man of La Mancha by the Civic Light Opera. The first dramatic season at the Ahmanson featured Ingrid Bergman in O'Neill's More Stately Mansions, signaling its intent to marry big-name playwrights with big-name stars.]
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| Mark Taper |
Since its opening in 1964, The Music Center has seen the American debuts of Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen, the world premieres of The Shadow Box, Zoot Suit, Children of a Lesser God, and Angels in America at the Taper, and performances by Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Katharine Hepburn, and Maggie Smith at the Ahmanson. The Philharmonic and L.A. Master Chorale joined forces to provide the accompaniment to Eisenstein's restored silent film classic Alexander Nevsky.
While the Civic Light Opera's last season at The Music Center was in
1987, the Los Angeles Music Center Opera was formed in 1986. Its
productions have included Wagner's Tristan and Isolde directed by Jonathan Miller and designed by David Hockney.
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| Dorothy Chandler |
The Dance Door
The Dance Door, a bronze sculpture, was created in 1978 by Robert
Graham and donated to The Music Center in 1982 by Frederick and Marcia
Weisman. Dance Door consists of an ornamented life-size bronze door,
hinged on a bronze frame and locked in an open position. The door itself
is hollow centered and composed of approximately 7 welded case panels
on each side. Abstracted figures of dancers are cast in low relief on
the door panels.
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| Dance Door |
Peace on Earth
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| Peace on Earth |
On Sunday afternoon, May 4, 1969, "Peace on Earth" by Jacques Lipchitz
was dedicated. His sculpture portrays a dove descending to earth with
the spirit of peace, symbolized by the Madonna standing inside a tear
shaped canopy, supported by a base of reclining lambs. Lawrence E.
Deutsch and Lloyd Rigler donated $250,000 to commission a work for the fountain.
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown of Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, 
Grand Avenue, and 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves, among other purposes, as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The hall is in a vineyard seating configuration, similar to the Berliner Philharmonie by Hans Scharoun.
Lillian Disney
made an initial gift of $50 million in 1987 to build a performance
venue as a gift to the people of Los Angeles and a tribute to Walt Disney's devotion to the arts and to the city. The Frank Gehry-designed building opened on October 24, 2003. Both Gehry's architecture and the acoustics of the concert hall, designed by Yasuhisa Toyota, have been praised, in contrast to its predecessor, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
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 home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Each year, The Music Center welcomes more than 1.3 million people to
performances by its four internationally renowned resident companies: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Center Theatre Group (CTG) as well as performances by the much celebrated dance series, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center.
When the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opened its doors on December 6, 1964, the twenty-eight-year-old Zubin Mehta led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that included violinist Jascha Heifetz and performances of Strauss' Fanfare and Beethoven's
Violin Concerto in D Major. The Mark Taper Forum, "scandalizing the
power structure of Los Angeles," according to its artistic director
Gordon Davidson, with its provocative opening production of John Whiting's The Devils. The Ahmanson Theatre opened with a performance of the Man of La Mancha by the Civic Light Opera. The first dramatic season at the Ahmanson featured Ingrid Bergman in O'Neill's More Stately Mansions, signaling its intent to marry big-name playwrights with big-name stars.]
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown of Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, 
Grand Avenue, and 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves, among other purposes, as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The hall is in a vineyard seating configuration, similar to the Berliner Philharmonie by Hans Scharoun.
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