Step Back in Time: A Look into the LA Phil’s History
For this issue’s dive into LA Phil history, we don’t have to go back very far—just one year ago, when our organization was in a very different place than we are now. The Hollywood Bowl’s season had just been cancelled for the first time in its nearly 100-year history and our community was facing both the pandemic and a public reckoning around racial violence in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
As in all things, the LA Phil’s way forward began with our Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, who said:
While it was clear that concerts at the Bowl would not be possible, the LA Phil’s musicians, staff, and leadership found ways to activate the space for the benefit of the community:
In August, the Hollywood Bowl’s parking lots became the site of a food giveaway organized by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in partnership with L.A. County. In October and November, the Hollywood Bowl was turned into a voting center, where thousands of Los Angeles County residents came to cast their ballots.
And finally, the Bowl’s enormous performance space was brought to life for the socially distanced taping of Sound/Stage—the LA Phil’s series of free concert films watched by hundreds of thousands of music lovers all over the world, yearning for the joy and comfort of live music.
As we return to the Hollywood Bowl and each of our venues in the exciting weeks and months ahead, we look back on a year not only of great challenges but of equally great resilience, creativity, and fortitude.
We express our unending gratitude to the Friends of the LA Phil, who stood by us and whose generosity made all this work (and all that’s to come) possible.
