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History of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra

Led by Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins and including some of the best studio musicians in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is the venue’s own world-class ensemble.

Thomas Wilkins with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on June 7, 2025.

A World of Music

In its original run from the 1920s to the 1950s, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra worked primarily as a traditional ensemble, performing classical music and releasing live albums on Capitol Records. Since returning to the stage under the baton of John Mauceri in 1991, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has demonstrated remarkable fluidity, working with conductors from around the world and performing a truly staggering range of music at consistently high quality.

From Mozart to Motown, the repertoire of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is as diverse as Hollywood itself. In a single season, the orchestra may perform everything from Broadway favorites to film music, pop music to jazz, and classical music to world premieres by living composers. In essence, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra does it all.

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has performed with a range of artists, including:

Diana Ross, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Hudson, Pink Martini, Michael McDonald, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kenny Loggins, Kool & The Gang, Christopher Cross, James Blake, Charlie Wilson, Boyz II Men, Randy Newman, a-ha, Gregory Porter, Flying Lotus, Hiatus Kaiyote, John Legend, The Beach Boys, Chrissie Hynde, Ellie Goulding, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, Kristin Chenoweth, Sara Bareilles, Cody Fry, and many more!

The History That Shaped Our Sound

In its original run from the 1920s to the 1950s, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra worked primarily as a traditional ensemble, performing classical music with conductors Leopold Stokowski, Felix Slatkin, Alfred Newman, and more, and releasing live albums on Capitol Records. Since returning to the stage under the baton of in 1991, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has demonstrated remarkable fluidity, working with conductors from around the world and performing a truly staggering range of music at consistently high quality.

In 2008, Thomas Wilkins began as Principal Guest Conductor, and starting in 2014, he became Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a title he holds to this day. Under his leadership, the orchestra has showcased its wide range of abilities, performing classical masterworks, film scores live to picture, and with stars across all genres.

Film Music

One of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra’s specialties is performing film scores, including those that previously had been heard only on their original soundtrack recordings. Since the early 1990s, the LA Phil has been committed to restoring and performing lost or neglected film scores, many of which have been performed in concert by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra: Max Steiner’s Main Title from Gone With the Wind, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Dream Ballet sequence from Oklahoma!, the Born in a Trunk sequence from A Star is Born (1954), and dozens of others.

Large stage shows crowd as giant screens display two people talking from black & white movie under dramatic lighting — Hollywood Bowl Orchestra plays live to the film *Casablanca*, 1998.

In addition, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra recorded its first motion picture soundtrack, for MGM’s That’s Entertainment III, in 1993.

Since 1997, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has performed at many of the Bowl’s annual movie nights, playing the scores live and in sync with full-length films, select scenes, or montages projected on the Bowl’s gigantic screen. Major motion picture studios, including Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, MGM/United Artists, and Gracie Films (The Simpsons) have worked with the LA Phil and the Hollywood Bowl to present one-of-a-kind, premiere concerts, featuring the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

The LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl have also partnered with other nonprofit organizations, such as the American Film Institute and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to produce concerts celebrating the art of music in film.

Hollywood Bowl at dusk with a lit stage, orchestra setup, and a crowd in the foreground

Hollywood Bowl Orchestra

Led by Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins and including some of the best studio musicians in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is the venue’s own world-class ensemble.

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