LOS ANGELES (October 1, 2026) — Opening the 2026/27 Walt Disney Concert Hall season, conductor Teddy Abrams conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, pianist Yuja Wang and LA Phil Principal Clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan, Michele and Dudley Rauch Chair, as part of the LA Phil’s annual gala. 

Abrams led a program of works by luminary American and American-influenced composers, including music highlighting the passion and history of Hollywood. The Gala at large, which raised funds to benefit the LA Phil’s Learning and Community initiatives, also paid tribute to the legacy of Frank Gehry and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Debuting a lighting treatment for the building’s front façade which showcases the design of the building in the evenings, made possible with generous support from Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen, the organization also celebrated additional plans for restoration of the seats and committed to continued stewardship of the iconic venue as its 25th anniversary approaches in 2028.

Abrams, a conductor-composer who recently assumed the post of Artistic and Executive Director of the Ojai Music Festival and serves as Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, led the LA Phil in works from film composition legends Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith along with Michael Tilson Thomas’ Lope; renowned pianist Yuja Wang joined Abrams and the orchestra for Alexander Tsfasman’s Jazz Suite and selections from Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto; and LA Phil Principal Clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan was featured in Leonard Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs with the orchestra.

The 2026/27 Gala raised more than $3 million for the LA Phil and its Learning and Community initiatives, including YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). YOLA provides young people, ages six through 18, with free instruments, intensive music instruction, and opportunities to perform on stages in their communities and around the world. Founded by Gustavo Dudamel, the Jane and Michael Eisner Founding Director and Conductor Laureate of YOLA and Diane and M. David Paul Artistic and Cultural Laureate of the LA Phil, YOLA, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this coming year, has been adapted to meet the needs of communities across Los Angeles since its 2007 inception. YOLA musicians have performed for audiences of millions—from neighborhood concerts and community events to the Hollywood Bowl and the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Today, the program operates at locations across the city, including the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center at Inglewood, which opened in 2021 as YOLA’s first permanent, purpose-built facility and celebrated its fifth anniversary this year.

The Gala began outside the concert hall on the corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue with a red carpet. Attending VIPs included LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock, Dataland co-founders Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkilic, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, artist Lauren Halsey, singer/songwriter Silvana Estrada, television personality Abby Lee Miller and others.

Civic figures in attendance included Director of the LA County Department of Arts and Culture Kristin Sakoda, Commissioner of the LA County Arts Commission Leticia Buckley, former District 3 representative to the LA County Board of Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Heart of LA CEO Tony Brown. Other special guests included LA Opera President and CEO Christopher Koelsch and Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer John Nuckols, Center Theater Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai and CEO and Managing Director Meghan Pressman, Los Angeles Master Chorale Artistic Director Grant Gershon and President and CEO Katherine Powers, President and CEO of The Music Center Rachel Moore and Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Howard Sherman, newly-named Director of MOCA Jonathan Abbott, President of the Colburn School Sel Kardan and USC Thornton School of Music Dean Jason King. 

They were joined by LA Phil President & CEO, David C. Bohnett Presidential Chair Kim Noltemy; Board Chair and Gala Co-Chair Jason Subotky and Anne Akiko Meyers; Gala Co-Chairs Judith and Thomas Beckmen, Georgia and Breck Eisner, Jenny Miller Goff, Lori Greene Gordon, and Koni Rich; Gala committee members including Gregory A. Adams, Terence and Kailee Balagia, David C. Bohnett, Anoosheh Browning, Louise Bryson, the California Community Foundation, Andrea Chao-Kharma and Esther S.M. Chui Chao, Nancy and Donald P. de Brier, Mike Dreyer and Hannah An, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Barbara and Jay Rasulo, Lisa Field, and Robyn Field and Anthony O’Carroll; along with 500 Gala patrons. The pre-concert cocktail reception was held in the Blue Ribbon Garden, where guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, wines and cocktails specially designed by Hope and Grand Events by Lucques. Gala guests and concert attendees then moved into Walt Disney Concert Hall for the concert performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Teddy Abrams. 

A post-concert dinner was held on Grand Avenue. The Gala dinner party boasted festive, gold-inflected decor produced by Sequoia Productions. The gourmet menu was created by Savore Catering and wines were provided by Beckmen Wines (with additional beverages provided by Peake Ranch Wines and Mumm Sparkling Wines). Remarks were given by Kim Noltemy and Board and Gala Co-Chair Jason Subotky.

Select guests then crossed Grand Avenue to experience Refik Anadol’s DATALAND, the first museum of AI Arts, and a newly installed collaboration between Anadol and LA Phil Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen Creative Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. Having previously collaborated on 2014’s Visions of America: Ameriques, a site-specific architectural video installation in which data from the LA Phil archives were projected inside the concert hall in response to a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Salonen, the pair will debut a new collaboration in 2027 as part of the LA Phil’s Walt Disney Concert Hall season. Lastly, guests attended an after-party in BP Hall featuring and beverages provided by Hope and Grand Events by Lucques

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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 7 PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall,
111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

LA Phil Gala Concert
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Teddy Abrams, conductor 
Yuja Wang, piano
Boris Allakhverdyan, clarinet

GOLDSMITH Fireworks: A Celebration of Los Angeles
TSFASMAN Jazz Suite
Yuja Wang, piano
HERMANN Scène d’Amour from Vertigo
BERNSTEIN Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs
TILSON THOMAS Lope
BARBER Two movements from Piano Concerto, Op. 38
II. Canzone
III. Allegro molto
Yuja Wang, piano