The Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music through a commitment to foundational works and adventurous explorations. Both at home and abroad, the LA Phil—recognized as one of the world’s outstanding orchestras—is leading the way in groundbreaking and diverse programming that reflects its artistry and demonstrates its vision. 

More than 250 concerts are either performed or presented by the LA Phil at the Frank Gehrydesigned Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Ford, Beckman YOLA Center, and the famed Hollywood Bowl. Collectively, the presentations at the LA Phil’s four iconic venues represent a breadth and depth unrivaled by other orchestras or cultural institutions.  

Since 2003, the LA Phil’s winter home has been the landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall, with approximately 165 performances per season. The LA Phil creates festivals, artist residencies, and other thematic programs designed to enhance the audience’s experience. Assisting with this inventive programming is composer, conductor, and creative thinker John Adams, the John and Samantha Williams Creative Chair, appointed by Gustavo Dudamel in 2009. The organization’s commitment to the music of our time is evident throughout the programming and, specifically, in the audacious Green Umbrella series and the LA Phil’s extensive commissioning initiatives. Always inspired to expand its cultural offerings, the LA Phil produces concerts each season that feature distinguished artists in recital, world music, songbook, and visiting orchestra performances, in addition to special holiday concerts and series of chamber music, organ recitals, and Baroque music. The LA Phil is also one of the premier arts organizations to offer a comprehensive jazz series, currently helmed by the legendary Herbie Hancock, the LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz since 2009.  

Since its official opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the LA 
Phil. One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 
18,000, the Hollywood Bowl plays host to the finest artists from all genres of music. In February 
2024 the venue was named the Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year at the 35th Annual Pollstar 
Awards, an honor bestowed 16 previous times and has been thrice awarded the Top Amphitheater prize at the Billboard Live Music Awards. For millions of music lovers across Southern California, the Hollywood Bowl is synonymous with summer.    
 
The Ford is one of the oldest performing arts venues still in operation in Los Angeles, with a 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheater and a rich history dating back to 1920. 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.  

The orchestra’s involvement with Los Angeles extends beyond its venues, with performances in schools, churches, and neighborhood centers of a vastly diverse community. Among its wideranging learning initiatives is YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), established in 2007. Inspired by Venezuela’s revolutionary El Sistema, the LA Phil and its community partners seek to democratize music education by offering free, high-quality instrumental music instruction in under-resourced neighborhoods across Los Angeles. Through YOLA National, the LA Phil celebrates the work that’s done nationwide by similar programs and convenes young people each summer in Los Angeles at the YOLA National Festival. In August 2021, the Frank Gehry– designed Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen Center at Inglewood opened its doors. It is YOLA’s first permanent, purpose-built facility, serving 500 students annually from the surrounding community while also providing a place that can bring together students from existing and future YOLA venues.   

The Los Angeles Philharmonic also undertakes tours, both domestically and internationally, including regular visits with partners in New York, London (where the orchestra is the Barbican Centre’s International Orchestral Partner), Paris, and Tokyo, among many others. The orchestra has made annual tours since the 1969/70 season.  

The LA Phil continues to broaden its audiences, offering expansive, worldwide radio broadcasts and the on-demand streaming of LA Phil concerts from Walt Disney Concert Hall through Classic FM in the UK, WFMT, American Public Media’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast programs, and listener-supported KUSC, alongside a substantial catalog of concerts available online, including the first full-length classical music video released on iTunes.  

In the past several years, the orchestra has released an array of critically acclaimed audio recordings. Most recently, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel were awarded the Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance for Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolución diamantina, and the album, engineered by Dmitriy Lipay, was awarded the Grammy for Best Classical Compendium. Composer Gabriela Ortiz also took home the award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. 

The Los Angeles Philharmonic was founded by William Andrews Clark Jr., a philanthropist and amateur musician, who established it as the city’s first permanent symphony orchestra in 1919. Walter Henry Rothwell became its first Music Director, serving until 1927; since then, 10 renowned conductors have served in that capacity: Georg Schnéevoigt (1927–1929), Artur Rodziński (1929–1933), Otto Klemperer (1933–1939), Alfred Wallenstein (1943–1956), Eduard van Beinum (1956–1959), Zubin Mehta (1962–1978), Carlo Maria Giulini (1978–1984), André 
Previn (1985–1989), Esa-Pekka Salonen (1992–2009), and Gustavo Dudamel (2009–present).   

Gustavo Dudamel is entering his final season as the LA Phil’s Music & Artistic Director at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2025/26.