Historia del Hollywood Bowl

For more than a century, the Hollywood Bowl has been Los Angeles’ great gathering place for music, performance, and shared cultural experience. Set beneath the stars, it has welcomed legendary artists, launched rising voices, and reflected the rich global heritage of the city it calls home.

More than an iconic stage, the Bowl has always been a place of possibility—a proving ground for new talent, a laboratory for artistic experimentation, and a living record of the ideas, sounds, and stories that have shaped our history. To explore its past is to glimpse the voices that continue to inspire our present and imagine our future.

1910s

1916

Hollywood’s first outdoor community theater production, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is performed in Beachwood Canyon in the Hollywood Hills by the Theosophical Society as a tercentennial commemoration of Shakespeare’s death for the benefit of the Actors Fund of America. The one-night-only performance involves 5,000 play-actors, dancers, gladiators, and the student bodies of Hollywood and Fairfax High Schools. The enthusiasm for this event leads to the search for a permanent amphitheater for large-scale performances.

Photo credit: University of Southern California Digital Library (USCDL)

People in historical clothing stand around a small pond as grass reeds rise from the water.

1918

The production of The Light of Asia, a pageant based on Edwin Arnold’s epic poem on the life of Buddha, is a direct result of the success of the 1916 production of Julius Caesar. The Light of Asia is performed at the Krotona Colony in the Hollywood Hills. The organizer, Christine Wetherill Stevenson, heiress to the Pittsburgh Paint Company, is also a pioneer in the creation of the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1919

The Theatre Arts Alliance Inc., with Christine Wetherill Stevenson as President, purchases 59 acres in Bolton Canyon for $47,500. This land becomes the site of the future Hollywood Bowl. At this time the canyon is also known as Daisy Dell, a popular picnic spot nestled in the Cahuenga Pass.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1920s

Wide stage with concentric arched lights and multiple water fountains spraying into the dark.

1920

Mrs. Stevenson resigns from the Theatre Arts Alliance due to a conflict of interest regarding the organization's purpose. Her $21,000 contribution is reimbursed after her departure.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage poster titled “Hollywood Bowl Summer Popular Concerts,” featuring a blue bowl graphic and Philharmonic Orchestra details.

1920

Se empieza a hablar del sitio como Hollywood Bowl en los eventos de la comunidad.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Woman in a white dress and hat stands in a garden path before a white castle-like house amid green hills.

1920

The first entity to run and build the Bowl is the Community Park and Art Association founded October 25, 1920. F.W. Blanchard is the first president of the Association. Other founding members are C.E. Toberman, vice-president, and Artie Mason Carter, secretary. The Association purchases the land, known as Daisy Dell, where the Bowl now stands.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Three leaders stand on outdoor platform at Easter Sunrise Service, with musicians and crowd seated behind.

MAR 1921

LA Phil founder William Andrews Clark, Jr., founding LA Phil Music Director Walter Henry Rothwell, and his wife, Elizabeth, on the podium at the first Los Angeles Philharmonic Hollywood Bowl performance and first Easter Sunrise Service, March 21, 1921.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Large crowd seated outdoors at an event with military vehicles and “Peace” banner on a hillside.

NOV 1921

El Concierto Femenino por la Paz Mundial del Día del Armisticio (11 de noviembre) es uno de los primeros eventos importantes del Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Large group portrait of men in suits and uniforms in front of a hillside amphitheater with terraces and trees.

1922

Before the establishment of an official season, Daisy Dell is used for presentations of choral programs, pageants, Shakespeare plays, and band concerts. Most of the proceeds are used to fund the Bowl's first concert season.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Crowd fills a hillside grandstand at an event with tents and flags in the foreground

1922

El primer escenario del Bowl consiste en una sencilla plataforma de madera con un techo de lona. Los clientes se sientan en bancos de madera móviles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a large orchestra performing on stage with seated audience in formal attire at night.

JULY 1922

A pre-season performance of Bizet's Carmen is presented; the evening's proceeds are used to pay for the Hollywood Bowl's first seats.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a bearded man conducting onstage.

JULY 1922

Alfred Hertz, also known as the "father of the Bowl," conducts the inaugural concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. The season is titled "Hollywood Bowl Summer Concerts." On the bill were Wagner's Overture to Reinzi, the Andante cantabile movement from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, a selection of Brahms' Hungarian Dances, Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid and Liebesfreud, and Rossini's Overture to William Tell.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage outdoor amphitheater with rows of wooden seats, central stage, and columns on a hillside.

1923

Los primeros 150 asientos de palco se construyen delante de los asientos de los bancos.

Photo credit: California Historical Society

Text document listing officers and committees for Hollywood Bowl Summer Concerts, Community Park and Art Association, Inc.

1924

The land is deeded to the County of Los Angeles to safeguard the Bowl for future generations. The Hollywood Bowl Association is established as the theater's governing organization.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Crowd fills sloped stadium seats with flowers and umbrellas, with a grand stage in a valley of hills

1924

A backdrop is added to give the stage a more completed look. The stage is embellished with classical designs including Greek columns, pergolas, and urns.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white oval portrait of an older man with a trimmed moustache and serious expression.

JULY 1925

After several years of Hollywood Bowl concerts featuring popular, familiar favorites, renowned conductor Fritz Reiner brings what is considered "shockingly new music" by Stravinsky, Honegger, Falla, and Rieti to the Bowl, to great acclaim and popularity. Sir Henry Wood leads the West Coast premiere of Holst's The Planets.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Older woman with curly hair holding a pen and papers, posed for a black-and-white portrait.

AUG 1925

English-born composer, pianist, and conductor Ethel Leginska is the first female conductor at the Bowl. Her program includes her own Nursery Rhymes for soprano and chamber orchestra.
Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1926

Allied Architects, an association founded in 1921 to provide governmental organizations with professional architects at a reasonable cost, creates the Bowl's first arched proscenium stage. The wooden frame consists of a low elliptical arch with a circular arch inside. The shell creates more acoustical problems than it solves, which leads to its renovation at the end of the season. The construction of a permanent seating area and stage facilities is completed.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1926

Pasadena architect and Rose Bowl designer Myron Hunt creates an elliptical form for the Hollywood Bowl's seating amphitheater. His layout features monumental stairways that reinforce the seating area's dramatic balloon shape, which has been described as being "poised to fill with music and ascend."

1926

Con la finalización de la línea de ferrocarril Pacific Electric en la avenida Highland, el Bowl se vuelve más accesible y ve un aumento en la asistencia.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Historic outdoor amphitheater with tiered seating and stage beneath lush green hillsides

1927

Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, is commissioned to design sets for several theatrical productions at the Bowl. He is subsequently commissioned to design a shell for the 1927 season; Lloyd Wright's pyramid shaped design becomes one of the most distinct and controversial shells built.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Technician operates radio control panels.

JAN 1927

The first radio broadcasts are transmitted from the Bowl. The Los Angeles Philharmonic is the first major symphony orchestra in the United States to broadcast an entire concert on the radio.

Photo credit: Music Center Archives

Twenty-fourth program, Popular Program, Aug 13 1927 concert listing conductor Eugene Goossens and soloist Toska Tolcs

AUG 1927

During the year that Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue had its first performance at the Hollywood Bowl, season box holders included Cecil B. DeMille, Charlie Chaplin, Sid Grauman, Fay Wray, Douglas Fairbanks, and Louis B. Mayer.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Workers install steel framework inside large arched concrete tunnel portal at construction site in snowy terrain

1928

The Hollywood Bowl Association gives Lloyd Wright instructions to design a semi-circular shell and tackle the dual issues of acoustics and aesthetics. The shell consists of nine concentric segmented arches, which can be "tuned" panel by panel. The shell is at the forefront of the Streamline Moderne movement and is an acoustic success.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Portrait of a young man with dark hair, wearing a dark suit and white shirt.

JULY 1928

Aaron Copland actúa en Hollywood Bowl, interpretando el estreno en la Costa Oeste de su Piano Concerto.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Woman in a tulle gown sits on a chair while a suited man leans beside her in vintage studio photo.

AUG 1928

Percy Grainger, an Australian conductor and composer, conducts the world premiere of his works, including The Warriors: Music to an Imaginary Ballet and To a Nordic Princess. After the performance, Grainger marries Swedish poet Ella Viola Strom on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white close-up portrait of a woman with short hair, wearing a formal dark dress and necklace.

1928

Eugene Goossens conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in the West Coast premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1929

Designed by the engineering firm of Elliot, Bowen, and Waltz and built by Allied Architects, the new 55-ton shell becomes an architectural icon. The massive shell is mounted on rails which allow it to be moved by tractors. Although the shell is ultimately replaced due to issues with acoustics and deterioration, the gracefully curved form becomes the signature shape of the Bowl shell.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1930s

Large crowd gathered inside a domed stadium with concentric archways and people in formation

AUG 1932

The evening-long ballet Elysia, which is presented to celebrate the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, is one of a number of dance works that have been commissioned for performance at the Bowl.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of an older man with a mustache and tie, looking at the camera.

SEPT 1932

Jascha Heifetz, considered the 20th century's greatest violinist, makes his Hollywood Bowl debut, returning many times throughout the years. In 1963, he performs Brahms' Double Concerto with master cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

SEPT 1932

Lyric tenor and composer Roland Hayes performs a solo recital of classical repertoire and spirituals. He is considered to be the first African American male concert artist to receive wide acclaim both at home and internationally.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage Hollywood Bowl magazine cover featuring musicians silhouetted under starlike typography, “Symphonies under the Stars” and “Eighth Week.”

1934

The establishment of the Southern California Symphony Association, with Harvey Mudd as president, creates an interlocking directorate for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage black-and-white portrait of a smiling man with slicked-back hair wearing a patterned tie.

AUG 1934

While on his way to a new career in film, baritone Nelson Eddy makes his Bowl operatic debut. With his good looks and voice, Eddy is extremely popular both with opera aficionados and a younger audience known as "bobby soxers."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white stage performance with dancers in ornate costumes

SEPT 1934

German director Max Reinhardt oversees a spectacular production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, seen by more than 100,000 during eight performances. The Hollywood Bowl's shell is moved, and tons of earth are hauled in to construct a hill for the forest setting. The cast includes John Lodge, William Farnum, Sterling Holloway, Mickey Rooney, and budding Hollywood starlet Olivia de Havilland. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a young Austrian composer, oversees the musical aspects of the extravaganza. He is later recognized as a pioneer in film music for his scores in Oscar winning films Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white close-up portrait of a young man with dark hair and calm expression

JULY 1936

Composer and conductor William Grant Still conducts Land of Romance from his Africa Suite and Scherzo from his Afro-American Symphony. On the occasion of this concert, Still becomes the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage black-and-white portrait of a smiling woman with short dark hair and earrings, holding flowers.

AUG 1936

Una actuación de la soprano francesa Lily Pons establece el récord de asistencia de 26.410 personas para un solo concierto.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 1936

Conductor Leopold Stokowski makes his Hollywood Bowl debut at the "Paramount Night of Stars," a benefit concert for the Southern California Symphony Association presented by Boris Morros, General Director of Music, Paramount Pictures. The concert features mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout, composer/conductor Victor Young, conductor Irvin Talbot, and dancers Veloz and Yolanda, among others.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Choral singers in white robes perform on a stage under large curved concrete arch.

AUG 1937

The Rite of Spring is performed at the Hollywood Bowl, staged by Lester Horton in the first time that Stravinsky's music is utilized by an American-born choreographer. The ballet features Bella Lewitzky, who goes on to become an internationally famous choreographer herself.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Toyo Miyatake

Collage of a man’s portrait and multiple women posing in ornate dresses and costumes on a stage

AUG 1937

Viscount Hidemaro Konoye is the first Japanese conductor to appear at the Hollywood Bowl. Konoye conducts the ballet Etenraku (roughly translated as "Music Coming through Heaven.") His fellow countryman Michio Ito choreographs the ballet.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

George Gershwin Memorial program with conductor and performer names, including intermission and finis sections.

SEPT 1937

A memorial service held for George Gershwin, who died on July 11, 1937, is attended by a cast of Hollywood's "who's who." Among those who speak or perform during the service are Fred Astaire, Eddie Cantor, Otto Klemperer and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oscar Levant, and José Iturbi.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Group of women in patterned dresses and long white gowns pose outdoors with spears along a hillside path

JULY 1938

Wagner's Die Walküre, starring Maria Jeritza as Brünnhilde, is considered the most lavish opera production staged at the Hollywood Bowl. It features dazzling lighting effects, fire, and smoke for the famous opening of Act III, "Ride of the Valkyries," with costumed Valkyries riding horses down the hillside behind the Bowl.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of Benny Goodman in a white suit holding a clarinet, smiling at the camera.

AUG 1939

El jazz llega al Bowl por primera vez con la actuación del clarinetista Benny Goodman.

Crédito de la foto: MCA Photos

Young person with baton, conducting with focused expression and curly hair in black-and-white photo.

SEPT 1939

Lorin Maazel, violinista y director de orquesta, actúa en Hollywood Bowl a la edad de 9 años.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of construction workers building a stone building with tiled roofs and stacked materials.

1939

The Tea Room is built at the bottom of the hill on Peppertree Lane as a WPA project. Before an official Tea Room was built, the Bowl provided dining services to patrons in a covered patio called the Tea Garden. Patrons use the Tea Room as a dining and socializing area before evening concerts.

Fotografía: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1940s

Two people stand in front of a large stone archway monument with a tall statue, lit by night streetlights.

1940

Sculptor George Stanley designs the Muse of Music, a 15-foot-high granite fountain, which is built at the entrance of the Hollywood Bowl. The statue is erected and paid for by the WPA at a cost of $100,000. Stanley is also known for his Oscar statuette, which is another prime example of Streamline Moderne style.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Three people seated outdoors, looking over sheet music together: two men and a woman in a ballet costume.

AUG 1940

Stravinsky conducts Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Symphony No. 2 and his own Firebird Suite. This production is choreographed and staged for the Bowl by Adolph Bolm, a Russian-born American ballet dancer and choreographer of Scandinavian descent.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Military ceremony in front of a large curved stadium stage with Los Angeles Times and Buy more bonds signs.

1942

Hollywood Bowl El público está limitado a 5.000 personas por motivos de seguridad relacionados con la guerra.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert program for Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles featuring Vladimir Horowitz and William Steinberg, Aug 7–8, 1942

AUG 1942

At the conclusion of Vladimir Horowitz’s Hollywood Bowl performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the composer walks on stage, takes Horowitz by the hand, and tells the pianist that his performance is how the composer has always dreamed his work should be played. Horowitz later describes this as "the greatest moment of my life."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white concert photo of a singer in a white jacket performing into a microphone with band instruments behind

AUG 1943

El debut de Frank Sinatra en Hollywood Bowl el 14 de agosto es la primera aparición de un cantante pop con la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Two men stand in a stadium at piano examining sheet music together, with the older man leaning in.

AUG 1943

Pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who makes his home in Los Angeles from 1941 through 1953, proudly accepts a trophy for performing for the Hollywood Bowl’s largest audience of the season.

Izler Solomon and Arthur Rubinstein

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white stage with arched lighting, illuminated backdrop, and seated audience in front of concert setting

JULY 1944

The Hollywood Bowl War Bond Show on July 4 is produced to raise funds for the US Army Air Force.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white close-up portrait of a bespectacled man in a dark suit and white shirt.

AUG 1944

George Szell conducts Puerto Rican pianist Jesús Maria Sanromá in a performance of Burleske by Richard Strauss.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man in a striped jacket gesturing while seated on a stool in front of a music stand.

AUG 1944

Conductor Leonard Bernstein makes his first conducting appearance at the Bowl in the West Coast premiere of his score to the ballet Fancy Free.

Photo credit: New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress), Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-127783

Man conducts during rehearsal in front of musicians in chairs with music stands.

1945

Leopold Stokowski is appointed as the first Music Director of the Hollywood Bowl Symphony. Arnold Schoenberg writes Fanfare for a Bowl Concert for Stokowski, who presented its premiere. Until 1951, the Los Angeles Philharmonic uses the titles "Hollywood Bowl Symphony" and "Hollywood Bowl Orchestra" interchangeably to reflect the performing ensemble at its summer home.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white photo of a musician playing the violin, focused expression and bow across the strings.

SEPT 1945

El violinista Isaac Stern interpreta la Sinfonía Espagnole de Édouard Lalo con Leopold Stokowski al frente de la Sinfónica Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling older man in a suit and tie with a white flower boutonniere, studio portrait against a light background

JULY 1946

In 1946, conductor and arranger Johnny Green made his Hollywood Bowl debut, ultimately performing over 50 American musical theater pops concerts at the Bowl over two decades.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Hollywood Bowl Symphony program poster dated July 14, 1946, featuring Stokowski and soloist Camilla Wicks.

JULY 1946

Hollywood Bowl Music Director Leopold Stokowski conducts 17-year old violinist Camilla Wicks and the orchestra in a performance of Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a man raising his right hand, looking focused in close-up.

JULY 1948

Eugene Ormandy is named Music Director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He leads the first West Coast performance of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 8.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white close-up portrait of a young man with dark hair, resting his chin on his hand.

JULY 1948

George London, a Hollywood Bowl usher during his high school days and later a noted bass-baritone with the New York Metropolitan Opera, makes his professional debut at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1950s

1951

Following the costly and ultimately unpopular five-night performance run of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, the season abruptly closes at the end of its first week. Dorothy Chandler forms an emergency committee that revises the artistic and community vision for the Bowl. The season resumes 12 days later, closing with a small profit and financial support for the modernization of the grounds to be used the following year.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Aerial view of a winding multi-lane highway through a rural valley, with switchbacks and nearby homes.

1952

La autopista de Hollywood se abre cerca del Bowl, lo que altera el entorno y crea más ruido de tráfico ambiental alrededor de la Lugar de eventos.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white photo of workers walking beside a curved metal truss over a courtyard

1952

A decorative reflecting pool measuring 106 feet long, 36 feet wide, and six feet deep, with a capacity of 100,000 gallons of water, is installed in front of the stage.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Man in hat and suit with woman standing beside him in front of an aircraft.

1953

Composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Sir William Walton conduct concerts of their own works.

Arminda Neves d’Almeida and Villa-Lobos

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of an older man with glasses and a dark bow tie, looking to the side.

SEPT 1953

Otto Klemperer dirige el concierto número 1.000 en Hollywood Bowl, una interpretación de Sinfonía No. 9 de Beethoven.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Stylized portrait of a blonde woman in a glittery brown dress and white fur stole, red lipstick, against black background

SEPT 1953

Peggy Lee debuta en Hollywood Bowl y posteriormente aparece en uno de los primeros programas de televisión rodados en el Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Outdoor concert stadium with semicircular stage, tiered seating, and surrounding forested mountains in black and white.

1954

A lo largo de los perímetros este y oeste del patio de butacas del Bowl se han construido seis torres de luz y sonido de 35 pies.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Smiling older couple holding a large bouquet of flowers, black-and-white portrait indoors.

AUG 1954

Sir Georg Solti debuts at the Hollywood Bowl conducting Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Strauss’ tone poem Don Juan.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two men stand together indoors, one in a jacket and glasses smiling.

AUG 1954

Nat "King" Cole and his trio make their debut at the Bowl. He is one of a handful of non-classical performers to have as many as six consecutive annual appearances at the Bowl, from 1954 to 1959.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man presenting at podium, gesturing with a hand while addressing an audience in a black-and-white photo.

SEPT 1954

The distinguished French conductor Pierre Monteux leads the orchestra in a concert of the rarely heard Interludes from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Young singer in a white dress holds a microphone on stage under a spotlight while a man plays upright bass nearby.

AUG 1955

Perhaps the most ambitious project of the decade at the Hollywood Bowl, the progressive Festival of the Americas, led by Music Director Leonard Bernstein, brings together such diverse artists as Isaac Stern, Martha Graham and her company, Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez, Dave Brubeck, Billie Holiday, André Previn, and Shelly Manne.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man playing a violin, eyes down and cheeks slightly pursed

AUG 1955

Violinist Isaac Stern performs Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium for Violin and String Orchestra, conducted by the composer.

Photo credit: Hartok Attractions

Black-and-white photo of a man playing keys while a woman watches beside him.

AUG 1956

Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, and the Oscar Peterson Trio perform a sold-out show. This is documented in the first jazz recording ever made at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a man in a tuxedo leaning over a piano, looking down as he plays.

JULY 1958

El pianista Van Cliburn debuta en el Hollywood Bowl tras su reciente victoria en el concurso Chaikovski de Moscú.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Three men in shirts and ties stand on steps outside, smiling and conversing in a vintage photo.

AUG 1958

Lester Sill, Duanne Eddy, and Lee Hazlewood are the first rock 'n' roll artists to appear at the Hollywood Bowl, in a year that also sees the first of several Dick Clark-produced revues at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Three people smiling and looking at a “Family Album” photo book in an indoor black-and-white event setting

AUG 1958

Z. Wayne Griffin (President of the Hollywood Bowl Association), Dorothy Chandler, and Elinor Remick Warren

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Outdoor stadium court with flags, ropes and draped sail-like structures, circus elephants on stagem surrounded by hills and audience seating.

OCT 1958

El circo Ringling Brothers y Barnum & Bailey actúa en el escenario de Hollywood Bowlcon elefantes, trapecios voladores y cañones.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Large fountain show with multiple jets and a central plume under arched lights.

1959

A fountain is installed in the reflecting pool. Its rainbow-colored water show becomes a popular feature during intermissions. A particularly beautiful effect is achieved when an underwater gas jet is turned on, allowing the fountain to spout fire and water at the same time.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of a woman in a white top, looking over her shoulder while holding a strap.

JULY 1959

Famed Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan makes his Hollywood Bowl and Philharmonic debut with works by Wagner, Mozart, and Richard Strauss, and a rare performance of Charles Ives’ Unanswered Question.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling woman with curly hair, resting her chin on her hand in a vintage portrait against a light background

OCT 1959

The inaugural concert of the Los Angeles Jazz Festival features Machito, Lester Horton Dancers, Thelonious Monk, Cal Tjader, Hi-Lo’s, Count Basie with Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Shorty Rogers, Nina Simone, George Shearing, and Benny Carter.

Photo credit: Ed Henderson Photos

1960s

Black-and-white portrait of a woman in a lace dress singing at a microphone with eyes closed and smiling.

JUL 1960

Ella Fitzgerald hace su segunda aparición en el Bowl. A lo largo de su vida actuó un total de cinco veces en Lugar de eventos.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Smiling man in light suit and striped tie leaning on balcony railing, with stadium seating in the background

AUG 1961

Conductor Zubin Mehta makes his Hollywood Bowl debut. He becomes Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962, a position he holds until 1978. In later years, he remarks, "I don’t think that there has been an important musical artist in the 20th century, either classical or pop, who has not enthralled thousands at the Hollywood Bowl. To be invited to appear on its stage is as prestigious to the West Coast as Carnegie Hall is to the East."

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Portrait of young woman with short curly dark hair, smiling, leaning forward against a geometric background, signed “Judy Garland”

SEPT 1961

Aunque empieza a llover durante un memorable concierto de Judy Garland en Hollywood Bowl , no se va ni un alma.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white crowd rides on a sloped outdoor walkway, holding the metal railing beneath leafy trees

1962

Las dos primeras aceras móviles se construyen en la dirección Hollywood Bowl.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

JULY 1962

The first national telecast of a Hollywood Bowl concert is taped by KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV) and airs on August 1. The Tchaikovsky program is conducted by André Kostelanetz and features pianist Lorin Hollander.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Program for Symphonies Under the Stars by Los Angeles Philharmonic, featuring Stravinsky works and intermission segment

JULY 1962

Stravinsky celebrates his 80th birthday at the Bowl, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in The Rite of Spring and Firebird.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Dancers in white folk dresses with black accents perform onstage in a line, arms extended under spotlights.

AUG 1962

Mexico’s celebrated Ballet Folklórico makes its US debut at the Hollywood Bowl.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white marquee sign reading “Hollywood Bowl” and “Tonight” names with “Sold Out” beneath.

SEPT 1963

Jascha Heifetz interpreta el Doble Concierto de Brahms con el maestro del chelo Gregor Piatigorsky.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white photo of two people sitting outdoors, smiling and chatting in front of a building.

OCT 1963

Bob Dylan debuta en el Hollywood Bowl. Vuelve en 1993, 1999 y 2012. Bob Dylan y Joan Baez.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white rock band performing on stage with guitars and drums under large curved backdrop screens

AUG 1964

The Beatles make their first appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. Despite the fact that only one newspaper ad announces the show and news of the concert spreads primarily by word of mouth, tickets sell out within three hours. The Beatles return for two more shows in 1965. Twelve years later, Capitol Records releases The Beatles At the Hollywood Bowl featuring selections from the 1964 and 1965 concerts.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white photo of band performing onstage with striped musicians, guitars, and brass instruments under tent-like curtains.

JUNE 1965

The Bowl hosts a "Beach Boys Summer Spectacular." The Beach Boys return to the Bowl several times, including a solo appearance by Brian Wilson in 2012.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Vintage Hollywood Bowl concert flyer featuring Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky, with dates and Fireworks and Firebird listings

SEPT 1965

Los compositores Igor Stravinsky y Aaron Copland dirigen sus propias obras.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Three people pose closely in a black-and-white photo indoors, with a woman in front and two behind her

JAN 1965

Sonny y Cher debutan en el Bowl. Cher vuelve al escenario del Bowl para dos noches de actuaciones en el 2005.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of a young man holding and playing a violin, looking downward with focused expression.

JULY 1966

Violinist Itzhak Perlman makes his Hollywood Bowl debut, commenting in later years that "I have had a lot of experience playing outdoors, but nothing as special or exciting as playing at the Hollywood Bowl."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man with curly hair, looking to the side against a light background.

JULY 1966

El compositor mexicano y director de orquesta Carlos Chávez dirige un concierto con su propia Sinfonía India.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man with glasses holding a conductor’s baton, looking to the side.

JULY 1966

African American and native Angeleno conductor Henry Lewis conducts performances by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, his wife at the time, in arias from the works of French composers including Massenet, Gounod, Bizet, and Brünnhilde’s Immolation from Götterdämmerung. Lewis conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Symphony for Youth concerts from 1961–1965, and is appointed Assistant Conductor by Zubin Mehta for the 1964/65 season.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert program for “the lovin’ spoonful” and “simon and garfunkel,” July 28, 1967 at 8:30 p.m.

JULY 1967

Simon & Garfunkel hacen su primera aparición en el Bowl. Vuelven en 1968 y 2004.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musician in dark outfit plays guitar on an outdoor stage while bandmates perform with a drum kit in back.

AUG 1967

Jimi Hendrix opens for The Mamas and The Papas. Hendrix returns as a headliner in 1968.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Four young men in a black-and-white photo stand before a curtain backdrop, wearing dark jackets and hats.

NOV 1967

Los Who actúan en su debut en la Bowl, y vuelven en el 2000, 2002, 2004 y 2006.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Green concert poster for Doors band show featuring Stepenwolf, July 5, 1968, Hollywood Bowl, ticket prices and reserved seats

JULY 1968

The Doors perform for the first time at the Bowl. This evening is taped and filmed for album and video release. They return only once, in 1972, with Frank Zappa and Tim Buckley.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a woman playing a cello onstage, hand raised and focused expression.

JULY 1968

Cellist Jacqueline Du Pré debuts at the Bowl in a performance of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1, with her husband Daniel Barenboim conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: Wayne J. Shilkret

Black-and-white portrait of a middle-aged man in a suit holding a pipe to his mouth, looking serious.

1969

Ernest Fleischmann is hired as General Director of the Hollywood Bowl and Executive Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Under Fleischmann’s leadership, both venues experience greater attendance by a younger audience, due at least in part to a student ticket discount program, the establishment of musical marathons, and Open House, an educational program geared toward young children. Over the years, the program provides generations of children with their first performing arts experience and now attracts approximately 36,000 children annually. In 2003 Open House is renamed Summer Sounds.

Fotografía: Otto Rothschild/Cortesía del Centro de Música

Black-and-white portrait of a man playing an electric guitar, pipe in mouth

JULY 1969

B.B. King hace su debut en Hollywood Bowl . Vuelve en 1974, 1980, 1985, 1988, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010 y 2012.

Crédito de la foto: ABC Photos

Los Angeles Philharmonic concert program for Aug. 16, featuring Zubin Mehta and pianist Misha Dichter

AUG 1969

The Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks becomes a yearly tradition at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Singer performing on stage under blue spotlight with microphone and backup band instruments behind her

SEPT 1969

The Hollywood Bowl invites artists such as Janis Joplin and Sly and the Family Stone to perform to a packed amphitheater. Carlos Santana and The Youngbloods make a special guest performance. Janis Joplin performs at the Bowl in 1967 and 1968. Sly and the Family Stone return in 1974. Carlos Santana returns to the Bowl in 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2011.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1970s

Large orchestra performs on a stage with brass and woodwind musicians under sonotubes

1970

Architect Frank Gehry and acoustician Christopher Jaffee are hired to improve the Bowl’s acoustics. They install sonotubes, prefabricated cardboard forms used to create concrete columns, which are placed inside the shell and extended along the outer wings of the stage, enhancing the sound for both the audience and musicians. However, the placement of the sonotubes obstructs views of the Bowl’s famous shell, which creates public outcry.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Four singers performing onstage with microphones and a pianist, backed by colorful geometric staging.

1970

Stevie Wonder actúa por primera vez en Hollywood Bowl .

Crédito de la foto: Music Pictures

Vintage group portrait of five men with dark hair in patterned and solid outfits against a light background.

AUG 1970

Deep Purple toca con la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles, convirtiéndose en la primera banda de rock que actúa con la orquesta en la página web Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musical ensemble facing audience under a curved pavilion with a conductor at the center

JULY 1971

"Bach at the Bowl Mini-Marathon", dirigido por Lukas Foss, es el primer concierto maratoniano que se presenta en el Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man wearing glasses, looking downward with a slight smile.

JULY 1971

El pianista Alfred Brendel debuta en el Bowl interpretando el Concierto nº 19 de Mozart Piano .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man conducts while a woman stands beside him on stage, black-and-white photo.

AUG 1971

Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo, and Sherrill Milnes star in a production of La Traviata with James Levine conducting.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white concert poster reading James Taylor in Concert with date and credits, featuring large bold title.

SEPT 1971

James Taylor debuta en Hollywood Bowl . Vuelve en el 2001, 2005, 2010 y 2014.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Art deco “Jesus Christ Superstar” event poster with ornate face illustration and Hollywood Bowl performance details.

SEPT 1971

Jesus Christ Superstar is performed at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage stadium entrance with concrete columns and a roofed grandstand, seen in black-and-white.

1972

The reflecting pool is drained to eliminate further damage to the Bowl’s acoustics and the performers’ string instruments. An exclusive section of box seats with its own concierge and food service (installed in 1995) now occupy the space; it is named the "Pool Circle" in memory of the reflecting pool.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vintage Pink Floyd concert poster with four band members, Hollywood Bowl date text, and “On Stage Pink Floyd” title.

1972

Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd y Joe Cocker son los titulares en el Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 1972

The Hollywood Bowl’s 50th season opens with soprano Jessye Norman making her US operatic debut in a concert performance of Aida conducted by James Levine.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Dana Ross Photography

Vintage poster reading “Marathons Are Bach!” with baroque music details and times for a Home of L.A. Philharmonic event.

AUG 1972

The season includes Baroque, Beethoven, and Stravinsky marathons directed by Lukas Foss.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Singer in sparkly attire performs on stage with microphone, surrounded by cheering crowd holding phones and drinks

AUG 1972

Rod Stewart debuta en la Bowl. Vuelve en 1989, 1996, 1998, 2004 y 2011.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a man in tuxedo shouting with fists raised in the air.

SEPT 1972

José Carreras appears in Rigoletto.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white close-up of an older man playing flute, smiling softly.

AUG 1973

El renombrado flautista Jean-Pierre Rampal debuta en el Bowl con una interpretación del Concierto para flauta en re menor de Khachaturian.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 1973

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents film composers Elmer Bernstein, John Green, and John Barry conducting music from their own and others’ movie scores in a concert titled "Filmharmonic ’73-The Academy at the Bowl."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Bearded man in hat and patterned robe singing beside microphones in a concert hall with an orchestra.

AUG 1973

Opera newcomer Luciano Pavarotti makes his Hollywood Bowl debut. He sings Rodolfo in a semi-staged production of Puccini’s La bohème. After achieving renown as one of the opera world’s greatest stars, Pavarotti becomes a Bowl favorite, consistently performing to sold-out crowds.

Foto: David Weiss

Performer at piano under two spotlight beams in a dark concert hall, with silhouetted audience in foreground.

SEPT 1973

Elton John performs for a TV special at the Bowl. One of the most popular pop stars to perform at the venue, he returns to the Bowl in 1982, 1988, and 1995, usually performing for three nights in a row.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white poster featuring four musicians in hats, with text for Procol Harum and Los Angeles Philharmonic concert

SEPT 1973

Procol Harum actúa con la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles en el Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

A young man in a white jacket conducts, surrounded by seated musicians in black-and-white.

JULY 1974

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas debuts at the Bowl with performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, with soloist André Watts, and scenes from Boris Godunov featuring bass-baritone Norman Treigle.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 1975

El pianista Emanuel Ax debuta en Hollywood Bowl con el Concierto n.º 2 de Liszt, Piano .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling older man in a white suit singing into a handheld microphone against a dark background.

1976

Mel Tormé makes his Bowl debut. Tormé becomes a long-standing Bowl artist; his final Bowl concert is in 1995. The celebration of his final concert features the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Clark Terry, Doc Cheatham, Roy Hargrove, and Terence Blanchard.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Curly-haired man in a tuxedo conducting on stage

SEPT 1976

director de orquesta Simon Rattle debuta en el Bowl al frente de la London Schools Symphony Orchestra.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musician in suit with violin alongside people in costume as Chewbacca and Darth Vader outside a building columns

NOV 1977

The Star Wars Concert, complete with lasers, takes place at the Hollywood Bowl. The Los Angeles Philharmonic starts a nation-wide phenomenon becoming the first orchestra to dazzle audiences with this new technology. This concert happens only six months after the film’s theatrical release.

Concertmaster Sidney Harth, Chewbacca in an Angels jersey and a costumed Darth Vader promote the Music from Outer Space concert at Anaheim Stadium after "Star Wars" was released.

Photo credit:LA Phil Archives

Three men seated on a couch, smiling in a black-and-white portrait.

JULY 1978

El flautista James Galway debuta en el Bowl interpretando conciertos de Bach, Vivaldi y Mozart durante un Festival Barroco de tres días.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two older people at a table, reviewing sheet music

JULY 1978

Conductor John Williams makes his Hollywood Bowl debut. The music of Williams, who conducts his own film scores, remains one of the Bowl’s most popular attractions.

Photo credit:LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a man wearing glasses and a bowtie looking off to the side

SEPT 1978

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma debuts at the Bowl in a performance of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1. He is joined by colleagues Yefim Bronfman and Shlomo Mintz in Beethoven’s "Triple" Concerto in C for Piano, Violin, and Cello.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a young man in a dark suit and bow tie, seated and smiling at the camera.

1978

Leonard Slatkin makes his conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His father, Felix Slatkin, debuted at the Bowl as a violinist in 1935 and made many recordings during the 1950s with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Playboy Jazz Festival poster advertising June 15–16, 1979 at the Hollywood Bowl with lineup and performers.

JUNE 1979

El primer Festival de Jazz de Playboy se celebra en la página web Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Ballet dancer silhouette leaping across a black-and-white poster for Baryshnikov, Martins, at Hollywood Bowl

AUG 1979

Ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov causes a sensation at his Hollywood Bowl debut. His three performances with the New York City Ballet have been his only Bowl performances to date.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1980s

Outdoor amphitheater with spheres suspended above the stage

1980

Frank Gehry sustituye los sonotubos por esferas huecas de fibra de vidrio suspendidas, lo que permite a los músicos escucharse mejor.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Robert Millard

Jazz at the Bowl concert poster: Chick Corea and special guest Al Di Meola, July 16, 1980 at 8 p.m., Hollywood Bowl.

JULY 1980

Jazz at the Bowl, a series sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is inaugurated. The first season includes Chick Corea, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton, Lloyd Glenn, Mel Tormé, and Carmen McRae.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a music director with long hair gesturing with his hands under dark lighting.

JULY 1980

Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Carlo Maria Giulini makes his Bowl debut in a concert of works by Mozart and the rarely heard Four Sacred Pieces by Verdi.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Vibrant concert poster showing a stylized Statue of Liberty, “Survival Sunday 4,” June 14, 1981, Hollywood Bowl

JUNE 1981

Survival Sunday IV, a rock concert bringing awareness to the anti-nuclear movement, features rock legends Jackson Browne, Gary US Bonds, The Chambers Brothers, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Rankin, Stephen Stills, Peter Yarrow, and others.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two older men wearing sunglasses stand together under a tarp outdoors, one holding a cigarette

1982

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, conceived by Leonard Bernstein and co-founded by Ernest Fleischmann, is established at the Hollywood Bowl with Bernstein and conductor Daniel Lewis as artistic directors. The program operates for ten seasons, providing world-class training for young instrumentalists and conductors, many of whom have since returned to the Bowl to perform, including Keith Lockhart and David Alan Miller.

Conductors Daniel Lewis and Leonard Bernstein

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white Monty Python illustrated poster for

JUNE 1982

Monty Python Live at The Hollywood Bowl brings the popular English comedy troupe, which filmed its performance for release as a motion picture.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Stravinsky centenary festival poster with repeating portraits of composer and event details for Hollywood Bowl

JULY 1982

The Los Angeles Philharmonic hosts a two-week Stravinsky Festival to celebrate the composer’s centenary, conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white concert flyer featuring Oscar Peterson Trio and Herbie Hancock Trio with date, time, and performers.

JULY 1982

Oscar Peterson y Herbie Hancock inauguran el ciclo Jazz at the Bowl. Su dúo piano es lo más destacado del concierto.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Orchestra performing in a concert hall under large curved ceiling beams, with brass and string sections seated.

JULY 1982

Los Angeles Philharmonic Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Michel Beroff in Stravinsky’s Movements for Piano and Orchestra as part of a two week Stravinsky Centenary Festival at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white concert poster for The Go-Gos: “At the Hollywood Bowl, August 29, 1982.

AUG 1982

Las Go-Go's son el primer grupo de rock formado exclusivamente por mujeres que actúa en la página web Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1983 Jazz at the Bowl program cover featuring Miles Davis Sextet and Gil Evans Orchestra, dated July 20, 1983.

JULY 1983

Miles Davis and Gil Evans, two of the most influential jazz artists of the 20th century, open the Jazz at the Bowl series. Rounding off the 1983 jazz season is a concert featuring a unique blend of jazz greats–Dave Brubeck Quartet, Stan Getz Quartet, and Gerry Mulligan and his quartet.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of an older man in a white suit conducting with one arm out and the other raised.

AUG 1983

Leonard Bernstein dirige Sinfonía No. 3 de Beethoven.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Stone building entrance with arched window, metal railing, and embossed sign reading

1984

El Museo Hollywood Bowl abre sus puertas en el edificio que originalmente era el Salón de Té.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white photo of a man wearing round sunglasses, singing behind a microphone.

JUNE 1984

Ray Charles debuta en Hollywood Bowl en el Festival de Jazz de Playboy. Vuelve en 1996 y 2001.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Donald Dietz

Black-and-white photo of musician smiling while playing a drum set onstage with cymbals and microphones nearby.

JULY 1984

Buddy Rich and the Buddy Rich Orchestra open the Jazz at the Bowl series. Special guest and Bowl alumna Rosemary Clooney performs along with the Harry James Orchestra. The concert is a tribute to the late all-time-great trumpeter Harry James, who passed away the year before.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Olympic designs on Hollywood Bowl stage facade with lighting and smoke effects

JULY 1984

The 23rd Summer Olympic Games are held in Los Angeles. This is the second time the Olympics are held in LA. The Bowl produces a jazz marathon including performances by Free Flight, The Wynton Marsalis Quintet, Count Basie Orchestra, and Joe Williams. Part of the programming is the recreation of the 1784 Westminster Abbey performance of Handel’s Messiah.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

young man in white suit on stage, holding a conductor’s baton and poised with raised hand.

JULY 1985

Esa-Pekka Salonen makes his debut at the Bowl. He later becomes the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Music Director, a post he holds from 1992 to 2009.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a woman with curly hair and a dark high-collar outfit, looking to the side.

JULY 1985

Kiri Te Kanawa debuta en Hollywood Bowl en un recital en solitario con el pianista Martin Katz.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Los Angeles Philharmonic program cover with 1985 performance details, including Groves, Fleisher, Schuman, Ravel, Elgar

SEPT 1985

Renowned pianist Leon Fleisher returns to the Bowl after a 20-year hiatus due to loss of the use of his right hand, diagnosed as focal dystonia.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 1986

Violinist Joshua Bell debuts at the Bowl performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in an all Tchaikovsky program conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig.

Photo credit: Mark Sink

Black-and-white studio portrait of a smiling woman with short, swept-back hair and light eyes.

JULY 1986

Lorraine Hunt makes her Hollywood Bowl debut as Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 1987

La violinista Midori debuta en el Bowl con la Orquesta Sinfónica de Montreal en el Concierto para violín en mi menor de Mendelssohn.

Foto: Jack Mitchell

Hollywood Bowl concert program for Los Angeles Philharmonic with Andre Previn and Krystian Zimerman, 1987

AUG 1987

Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director André Previn conducts one of his signature works—Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony as well as Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring pianist Krystian Zimerman.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Los Angeles Philharmonic concert flyer for Chamber Music Under the Stars with the Bartók Quartet at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

1988

"Chamber Music at the Ford Amphitheater" is inaugurated. These performances take place on the east side of Highland Avenue at the venue formerly known as the Pilgrimage Theater.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Hollywood Bowl program featuring Yuri Temirkanov and James Galway, with works by Borodin and Khachaturian

JULY 1988

El ruso director de orquesta Yuri Temirkanov debuta en Hollywood Bowl y en la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a smiling man resting his face on his hand against a dark background.

AUG 1989

El pianista Jean-Yves Thibaudet debuta en el Bowl interpretando el Concierto nº 2 de Saint-Saëns Piano .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a smiling man leaning forward in a chair, hands clasped.

SEPT 1989

Lou Rawls hace su debut en Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

1990s

Orchestra and dancers on stage during a celebration with fireworks and colorful spotlights at night

JUNE 1990

Se pone en marcha el Festival del Mariachi USA, que se une al Festival de Jazz de Playboy como uno de los pilares de los eventos de pretemporada en el Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a conductor with curly white hair, smiling while holding a baton.

AUG 1990

Principal Guest Conductor Simon Rattle conducts Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling older man in a suit and red striped tie, facing the camera against a light background.

SEPT 1990

Tony Bennett y Diane Schuur hacen su primera aparición en Hollywood Bowl junto a George Shearing.

Crédito de la foto: Foto cortesía del artista

Hollywood Bowl program for September 13, 1990, Los Angeles Festival, featuring Kulintang Ensemble, F.A.M.E. Freedom Choir

SEPT 1990

As part of the LA Festival, the Hollywood Bowl presents the first cut of Peter Sellars’ silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, accompanied by John Adams’ Harmonielehre.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Orchestra performing on a stage under colorful light arches and spotlights, with musicians seated and a conductor visible

1991

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is founded as a separate entity from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. John Mauceri serves as the first conductor, from 1991 to 2006. Under his direction, the Orchestra develops an international reputation as a result of its successful recordings and popular performances with the increasing emphasis on multimedia events, often incorporating film elements projected onto the big screen.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

SEPT 1991

Violinist Gil Shaham makes his Hollywood Bowl debut in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor with conductor David Alan Miller and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Outdoor concert crowd seated at Salzburg festival bowled arch framing historic cathedral dome and hills in background.

AUG 1992

Music Director-Designate Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two concerts of works that the orchestra performs later that summer as Resident Orchestra at the 1992 Salzburg Festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Jazz festival advertisement poster for Hollywood Bowl featuring performers including Chick Corea, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

AUG 1992

The Bowl’s "A Hot Night of Blues" concert brings together John Lee Hooker, the Coast to Coast Blues Band, Albert Collins, Etta James, the Roots Band, Charles Brown, and Maceo Parker.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Hollywood Bowl program for Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sept 8, 1992, featuring Lawrence Foster and Sarah Chang.

SEPT 1992

La violinista Sarah Chang, de 10 años, debuta en Hollywood Bowl con una interpretación del Concierto para violín de Tchaikovsky.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Earth Day concert poster featuring Paul McCartney & His Band and The Steve Miller Band, April 16, 6:30 pm

APR 1993

Paul McCartney returns as a solo act to host an Earth Day concert at the Bowl. This concert also features Don Henley, Steve Miller, 10,000 Maniacs, and Kenny Loggins. McCartney jokingly addresses the audience saying "You look a bit different than the last time I was here." McCartney is joined by fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr on drums for the concert’s finale.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Rock singer in sparkly mesh dress and high heels performs with male guitarist at a live concert, holding mic and raising arm.

JUNE 1993

Madonna, Tina Turner, John Paul Jones y Whitney Houston actúan.

Foto: Josh Daniel

Two smiling people pose together in a black-and-white indoor photo, woman in a sequined dress and man in a cardigan.

JULY 1993

Natalie Cole debuta con la Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Natalie Cole y John Mauceri

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert program for Los Angeles Philharmonic, Aug 3, 1993, featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen and Arturo Sandoval.

AUG 1993

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his first Bowl concert as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and The Chairman Dances by John Adams, plus Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto with soloist Arturo Sandoval.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 1994

Lee Ritenour, George Benson, and Mundell Lowe perform at the Bowl in a concert aptly named "Guitar Greats."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

World Cup USA 1994 poster with fireworks over a stadium and FIFA flag banner, July 10–16, 1994.

JULY 1994

En Hollywood Bowl se celebra la Semana de la Copa del Mundo, en la que participan artistas que van desde Van Cliburn e Itzhak Perlman hasta Linda Ronstadt y Garth Brooks.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling woman with short gray hair in a vintage, soft-focused close-up portrait.

JULY 1994

La famosa pianista Maria Tipo debuta en Hollywood Bowl en el ocaso de su carrera.

Fotografía: Serrat/ EMI Pathe Marconii

Los Angeles Philharmonic Hollywood Bowl 94 program cover for July 20, 1994, featuring Ute Lemper and John Mauceri

JULY 1994

German-born chanteuse Ute Lemper appears for the first time with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in an evening of songs from the cabaret repertoire.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Bulldozer and construction workers excavating soil near a stadium with empty bleachers in the background.

1995

An extensive multi-phase renovation is initiated to bring the Bowl’s technical infrastructure up to date and visually enhance and unify the amphitheater’s supporting buildings. A completely new stage, shell, backstage, and office areas are built. Highlights of the renovations include an expansion of the Hollywood Bowl Museum and the main entrance plaza, where the Box Office, Information Center, and Bowl Store are now located.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a woman with short curls, smiling

JULY 1995

Dionne Warwick performs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in an evening featuring songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David as well as Brazilian jazz.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Hollywood Bowl Museum building with glass facade, stair railing, and marquee sign against a clear blue sky

1996

The Hollywood Bowl Museum is completely rebuilt and reopened as the Edmund D. Edelman Hollywood Bowl Museum in honor of the former member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (1975 to 1994).

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Woman in white dress sits on a stool on stage with musicians and microphones behind her under red lighting.

JULY 1996

La polifacética cantante, actriz y comediante Carol Burnett interpreta temas de Broadway con la orquesta Hollywood Bowl .

Fotografía: Mathew Imaging

Los Angeles Philharmonic “Hollywood Bowl 96” program page with concert details, conductors, and works by Mozart and Beethoven

AUG 1996

Conductor Nicholas McGegan makes his Hollywood Bowl debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a concert featuring Mozart’s Symphony No. 32 and Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, plus pianist Robert Levin in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, and Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Mark Baranov playing Beethoven’s Romance No. 2 in F for Violin and Orchestra.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musician with dreadlocks performing live, singing into a microphone while playing an acoustic guitar onstage in black and white.

SEPT 1996

The A Night in Brazil concert is inaugurated with performances by Djavan and special guests João Bosco, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Rosa Passos.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Outdoor concert stage with orchestra performing under large curved venue and a giant illuminated screen.

1997

The first ever Hollywood Bowl Gala is held, honoring the memory of Ella Fitzgerald. This concert spawns the creation of the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated in 2000.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man in white shirt on stage with microphone and equipment, arms raised, holding papers during performance.

AUG 1997

Kent Nagano conducts a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz.

Foto: David Weiss

Lexus Jazz at the Bowl 97 program poster for Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Aug. 20, 1997

AUG 1997

Un concierto de blues sureño con Buddy Guy, los Neville Brothers y Dr. John.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert flyer for “Jazz at the Bowl 98,” featuring a tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Jorge Ben Jor.

AUG 1998

The three-year mini-series A Night in Brazil runs for the last time with a salute to Antonio Carlos Jobim and features Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Nana Vasconcelos, and Oscar Castro-Neves.

Jazz at the Bowl 98 concert program for Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, Diana Krall Trio, and Oscar Peterson Quartet

AUG 1998

The Jazz at the Bowl series includes performances by Oscar Peterson, who makes his first Los Angeles appearance in eight years; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson; Diana Krall; The Mancini Institute Orchestra; and Ray Pizzi.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Symphony orchestra seated on stage under large white arch, suspended spheres, and warm lighting.

AUG 1998

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts a performance of his own LA Variations.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling woman with long black curls and makeup, wearing a light lace top in a warm indoor setting

JUNE 1999

Vocalist Dianne Reeves electrifies the audience in her fifth appearance at the Playboy Jazz Festival with standout performances and surprise guest keyboardist George Duke.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Older man in a cream jacket conducts, focused with one hand raised onstage under dim lighting.

JUNE 1999

George Martin, productor de The Beatles, organiza y dirige el primer concierto de homenaje a los Beatles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

World Festival ’99 poster for Brazil Nights at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Viver Brasil, Sérgio Santos, and Carlinhos Brown.

JUNE 1999

National Public Radio member station KCRW initiates its World Music Festival series to present popular and classical music from diverse countries throughout the world. The Dalai Lama appears as part of the festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Holleywood Bowl program listing “Fantastic Odyssey,” with conductor and choir names, August 24, 8:30 p.m.

AUG 1999

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents a concert that features works by Stravinsky, Scriabin, Ligeti, and Varèse, including a film for the latter’s Déserts by Bill Viola.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert program text for Los Angeles Philharmonic at Hollywood Bowl featuring “Arabian Nights” by Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov

SEPT 1999

Dawn Upshaw debuts at the Bowl with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Shéhérazade by Ravel.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

2000s

Open-air concert stage at dusk with musicians and bright lighting in front of empty amphitheater seating

2000

The architectural firm Hodgetts & Fung designs a renovation of the Hollywood Bowl shell to bring the performance stage and backstage facilities up to current seismic standards. The multi-phase plan is completed in 2004.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man with glasses conducting, black-and-white portrait.

JUNE 2000

El Salón de la Fama Hollywood Bowl se establece como un evento anual de recaudación de fondos. Los dos primeros miembros son John Williams y Garth Brooks.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Woman in a light gown speaks at a microphone on a blue-lit stage, with musicians in the background.

JULY 2000

In her Hollywood Bowl debut, Audra McDonald shares the stage with Patti LuPone and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in a celebration of Broadway and popular songs.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Conductor in a dark suit gestures with baton while orchestral musicians play string instruments on stage.

JULY 2000

Lang Lang, de 17 años, debuta en Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Four men in suits with musical instruments, including the Dave Brubeck Quartet, in a vintage group photo.

AUG 2000

Dave Brubeck celebra su 80 cumpleaños con un concierto homenaje.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Lexus “jazz at the Bowl” event poster for Louis Armstrong’s 100th birthday celebration at the Bowl.

SEPT 2000

Nicholas Payton, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Roy Hargrove y Jon Faddis se unen al Bowl para honrar el centenario de Louis Armstrong.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white close-up of an older man wearing glasses and a striped shirt, gesturing with his hands.

SEPT 2000

Itzhak Perlman makes his conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Dvořák.

Foto: David Weiss

Brian Wilson performs at The Hollywood Bowl during The Pet Sounds Symphonic Tour, poster art with date Sept 24, 2000.

SEPT 2000

Brian Wilson makes his solo Bowl debut with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He returns in 2005 with his sixth studio album, SMiLE.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Singer in red dress and conductor on stage with microphones under blue spotlights and orange-red lighting

JUNE 2001

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Marilyn Horne, Monty Python, Bonnie Raitt, John Raitt y Stevie Wonder.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Black-and-white portrait of a woman smiling with fists raised wearing jewelry and a patterned outfit.

JULY 2001

Se estrena "Global Divas", con Cesaria Evora y Bebel Gilberto.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Band performing on stage with singers, trumpets, drums, and guitar under purple lighting.

JULY 2001

KCRW World Festival debuts Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club with Rubén González, Omara Portuondo, and Ibrahim Ferrer.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Jazz at the Bowl event flyer: July 18, 2001, 8:00, Lou Rawls, Joey DeFrancesco, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

JULY 2001

Jazz at the Bowl highlights include Shirley Horn, Lou Rawls, and Les McCann in his last performance at the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Conductor in a black suit holds a baton, arms extended during an orchestral performance on stage.

AUG 2001

The Latin Festival brings together the world renowned Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and two of Cuba’s most dazzling stars, Arturo Sandoval and Albita, with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Miguel Harth-Bedoya as conductor. The concert is organized to celebrate composer Joaquin Rodrigo’s 100th birthday.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 2001

Radiohead debuta en el Bowl y vuelve en el 2003 para dos actuaciones.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two men in suits in an outdoor stadium with rows of seats behind them

SEP 2001

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the West Coast premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise for orchestra, choir, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The concert happens 2 days after the events of 9/11.

Photo credit: Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times /Getty Images

Musician in white dress performs center stage with band as flames and round lights glow overhead

OCT 2001

Björk actúa en Hollywood Bowl. Vuelve en el 2003 y 2013.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Marc Goldstein

Woman in a red embellished dress sings into a microphone on stage, arms out, eyes closed.

2002

La vocalista de jazz Dianne Reeves es nombrada primera presidenta creativa de jazz de la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Curly-haired singer in a black lace gown stands at a microphone on a dark concert stage with blue lighting

JUN 2002

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Kathleen Battle, George Harrison, Randy Newman y Bernadette Peters.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Five elderly men in dark coats walking outdoors along a road, with hills and trees in the background.

JUL 2002

The Chieftains return to the Bowl to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band. They play with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Randall Craig Fleisher conducting.

Photo credit: James O'Mara

Bald man with glasses and goatee seated on a couch, with a saxophone against a brick wall.

JUL 2002

Seven-time Grammy winner and saxophonist Michael Brecker receives a standing ovation after he takes the stage for a rare, five-minute sax solo with no accompaniment, as part of Herbie Hancock’s set at the Playboy Jazz Festival.

Photo credit: John Sann

Collage of musicians at KCRW World Festival 2002 with a smiling guitarist and performers under the Hollywood Bowl title.

AUG 2002

KCRW World Festival includes the debut of Reggae Night, with Steel Pulse, Lucky Dube, and Burning Spear. This is now one of the Southland’s premier annual reggae events.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Hollywood Bowl concert program listing Los Angeles Philharmonic and Mahler, Strauss, August 13, 2002.

AUG 2002

The distinguished German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff makes his Hollywood Bowl debut with Mahler's Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musicians in red-and-yellow uniforms perform outdoor ceremony, playing large drums on a stage with an audience

APR 2003

The inaugural Korean Music Festival is brought to Southern California by the Korea Times for the benefit of the Korean community in Los Angeles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Stage performer sings into microphone while playing guitar under magenta and blue concert lights

MAY 2003

Coldplay debuta en Hollywood Bowl con dos actuaciones. La banda vuelve en el 2012 para tres noches.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling woman in a black dress sings into a microphone with both hands raised during a live concert.

JUN 2003

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Roger Daltrey, Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, The Smothers Brothers y Leopold Stokowski.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Older man playing acoustic guitar while singing into a microphone on stage.

JUL 2003

João Gilberto hace su primera aparición en el Bowl tras un paréntesis de 39 años.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JAZZ at the Bowl flyer featuring Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard, dated July 30, 2003, 8:00 pm

JUL 2003

The Movie Music of Spike Lee includes clips and music by Terence Blanchard. Public Enemy close the show with "Fight The Power."

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man with short dark hair and goatee wearing a white shirt, looking at the camera, tattoos on both arms

AUG 2003

Ben Harper debuta en el Hollywood Bowl. Vuelve en el 2013.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

SEPT 2003

For the final week of the 2003 season, the Bowl offers Treasures of China. The Peking Acrobats make their Bowl debut, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by John Mauceri, plays classical hits and scores from famous Chinese films.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Robert Millard

Singer in a dark sequined jacket performs into a microphone on stage, holding a stand under spotlights.

SEP 2003

James Brown hace su debut en Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Two older musicians sing and play bass and keys on a stage with warm lighting and microphones

JUN 2004

Entre los miembros del Salón de la Fama se encuentran Henry Mancini y Brian Wilson.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Costumed performer in bright orange with another costumed performer holding a hoop under pink light

JUL 2004

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Mendelssohn’s Overture and Incidental music to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring "A Noise Within." This event marks the 70th anniversary of Max Reinhardt’s 1934 production at the Bowl, as well as being the first performance of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the new Hollywood Bowl shell.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Blonde woman in a dark suit with red cuffs raising her arms and holding a baton against a black background.

AUG 2004

Marin Alsop dirige la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles en una rara representación escénica de la "Misa" de Leonard Bernstein de 1971.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Grant Leighton

Mickey Mouse mascot and conductor in black tuxedos wave onstage with orchestra in the background.

AUG 2004

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra pays tribute to film scores from the Walt Disney films Steamboat Willie, Fantasia, and The Lion King.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

LA Phil poster: silhouettes of musicians on a dark stage with “Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl 2004” text.

SEP 2004

Jazz at the Bowl includes a performance by Van Morrison. LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz Dianne Reeves opens the series.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musician in black shirt plays a violin on stage during an orchestra performance.

JUN 2005

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Joshua Bell, Frank Sinatra y Trisha Yearwood.

Fotografía: Mathew Imaging

Conductor in white jacket raises arms with baton before large orchestra and cheering audience

JULY 2005

Leonard Slatkin is appointed as the first Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Slatkin programs a week of Gershwin’s music, featuring selections from Porgy and Bess, with Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and others.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Singer with curly hair performs and smiles while a band plays drums and guitar onstage under purple lights.

AUG 2005

Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan perform. Knight returns to the Bowl in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2023, and 2026; Khan returns in 2012, 2022, and 2024.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Musicians performing on stage with cello, violin, and drums under soft lighting.

AUG 2005

Yo-Yo Ma actúa con su Silk Road Ensemble en la primera de sus muchas apariciones en el Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Conductor in white jacket leading an orchestra from a podium under dark stage lights.

SEPT 2005

Gustavo Dudamel makes his US conducting debut at the age of 24. Dudamel conducts Revueltas’ La noche de los Mayas and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Orchestra performing under warm stage lights while a large screen shows a gladiator and a tiger

SEPT 2005

A concert titled "AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores" features classic scenes from movies projected on the Bowl’s big screen and accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Bearded man on stage behind podium, wearing colorful scarf, arms outstretched and speaking into microphone.

SEPT 2005

Luciano Pavarotti interpreta su concierto de despedida con la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Smiling man in a gray suit and glasses stands in front of a large open-air stage arena with equipment towers

2006

Christian McBride asume el cargo de Presidente Creativo de Jazz.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Man in a black hat performing with an electric guitar on stage, with a pianist and warm lighting behind him

JUNE 2006

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Carlos Santana y André Watts.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Performer in a shiny jacket sings at stage center with musicians and a group of dancers in red and cream behind

JULY 2006

KCRW World Fesitval presents the first ever Bollywood night at the Bowl, featuring A.R. Rahman and Musafir with movie clips on the Bowl's side screens.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Los Angeles Philharmonic “Hollywood Bowl Part of Your Life” program listing Stravinsky and Mozart, July 25, 2006

JULY 2006

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago debuta en Hollywood Bowl bailando la Suite Pulcinella de Stravinsky y Sinfonía No. 40 en sol menor de Mozart.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two speakers seated on stage, with “SUNSET BLVD.” banner, woman gesturing while man smiles in front of orchestra.

AUG 2006

Douglas Sills and Betty Buckley perform in the Broadway version of classic film noir Sunset Blvd.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Musician in blue suit kneeling and singing on stage with band behind under red lights

SEPT 2006

Jazz at the Bowl includes a performance by James Brown with a jazz big band, based on his jazz and soul album Soul On Top. The event is curated and musically directed by Creative Chair for Jazz Christian McBride. It is to be James Brown’s last Bowl performance and last major venue play before he passes away in December 2006.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Rock band performing on a stage with blue spotlights, lead singer at center with microphone and guitarists flanking

OCT 2006

Roger Waters performs the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon for three nights.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Hermosa Wave Photography

Rock musicians perform onstage with microphones and an electric guitar under colorful spotlights.

NOV 2006

Aerosmith debuta en la Bowl y vuelve en el 2012 con Cheap Trick.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two men pose for a photo indoors, one with gray beard and the other in a bow tie and tuxedo.

JUNE 2007

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Plácido Domingo y John Mauceri.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Musicians perform on stage with a man in a pink suit singing and playing guitar alongside band members.

AUG 2007

Cheap Trick and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra celebrate the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band40th anniversary.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Two performers in a stage acrobatic pose above a metal framework, one in orange top and white pants.

SEPT 2007

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his own Foreign Bodies in the world premiere of choreography by Diavolo. The choreography was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the first of three commissions.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Smiling man in white shirt speaking into a microphone on stage with musicians behind him.

2008

Thomas Wilkins es nombrado Principal Invitado director de orquesta de la Orquesta Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Playboy Jazz Festival 30th anniversary poster with collage of colorful album covers and speaker imagery, 1959–1988.

JUNE 2008

Tower of Power celebra su 40º aniversario en el Playboy Jazz Festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Performer in black with pink stole sings into a microphone on a blue-lit stage, with musicians behind.

JUNE 2008

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Sir James Galway, Liza Minnelli y B.B. King.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Musician in white outfit plays a bright red electric guitar at a microphone stand onstage.

JUNE 2008

Gilberto Gil hace su presentación en el Bowl. Vuelve en el 2012.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Conductor in white tuxedo extends arms and gestures with baton on stage amid blurred audience lights

2008

Bramwell Tovey is appointed as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He debuts with performances of his own composition Urban Runway and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

La Phil event flyer for August 3, 2008 Sunday, KCRW’s World Festival lineup with performers and times

AUG 2008

La Noche de Reggae del Festival Mundial KCRW cuenta con las actuaciones de las estrellas británicas del reggae UB40, Beres Hammond y Barrington Levy.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Smiling older man with gray hair and beard holding a classical guitar close-up against a light background.

SEPT 2008

Bossa Nova at 50 celebrates the first 50 years of bossa nova. Pioneering Brazilian musician Oscar Castro-Neves presides over the concert, which features Vince Mendoza.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Flyer for LA Phil presenting Wednesday, September 17, 2008, featuring Cat Power, Spiritualized, and Nick Cave.

SEPT 2008

Actúan The Police, The Cure, Nick Cave y los Bad Seeds.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Program flyer for Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Strings at Saturday Sept 20, 2008, listing conductor and sections.

SEPT 2008

Beck makes his Bowl debut with featured bands Spoon and MGMT. He returns several times throughout the years.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Performer in a black suit singing into a microphone onstage under blue lighting, with musicians blurred behind

JUNE 2009

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Kiri Te Kanawa y Josh Groban.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 2009

Bassist and vocalist esperanza spalding makes her debut at the 31st Playboy Jazz Festival. At the festival, Sergio Mendes, Eddie Palmieri, and Poncho Sanchez band together for a stellar show. Buddy Guy performs with featured artists Dr. John & The Lower 911 and James Cotton.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

July 23, 2009 LA Phil concert program listing Glass and Koyaanisqatsi with Los Angeles Philharmonic and master choir

JULY 2009

The Philip Glass Ensemble joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic to perform Glass’ score to Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Blue poster of a woman with red lips, “Grace Jones” and “Of Montreal” text, with “Dengue Fever” details.

JULY 2009

Grace Jones debuta en Hollywood Bowl en el marco del KCRW World Festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Conductor leads a youth orchestra on stage with children playing flutes and other instruments under bright lights

OCT 2009

A special festival celebrates the beginning of Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure as the 11th Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The "¡Bienvenido Gustavo!" concert, inspired by Dudamel’s dedication to the music education of young children, includes performances by young people along with established artists. Performers include: André Crouch with a gospel choir, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) with the Silverlake Conservatory Ensemble, Herbie Hancock with the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Jazz Band, David Hidalgo and Taj Mahal with Los Cenzontles, and the Philharmonic-sponsored YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra. The concert concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a combined choir from throughout the Los Angeles area.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Musician in a white hat plays acoustic guitar while singing beside a bandmate at an outdoor stage with microphones

OCT 2009

Rock and pop performances include Taj Mahal, Depeche Mode, and Death Cab for Cutie with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

2010s

Man in white jacket conducts at a concert grand piano, with musicians seated behind under blue stage lighting.

2010

Herbie Hancock, icono del jazz y ganador de catorce premios Grammy, es nombrado Presidente Creativo de Jazz.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Playboy Jazz Festival poster with colorful sax, trumpet, and dancers against a blue geometric city background.

JUNE 2010

Trombone Shorty y su grupo Orleans Avenue debutan en el Playboy Jazz Festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Orchestra on stage with brass, strings, piano, blue lighting, and musicians

JUNE 2010

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Donna Summer, The Carpenters y Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Smiling man in a pinstripe suit with a raised hand against a white background.

JULY 2010

Smokey Robinson debuta en el Bowl celebrando sus 50 años en el mundo de la música.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 2010

Bugs Bunny on Broadway, an orchestra-and-film concert that debuted in 1990, celebrates its 20th anniversary with the newly re-imagined production, "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony." Animated cartoon characters are accompanied by a live orchestra and performances of classical music.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

A man in a light jacket conducts with arms raised, holding a baton in a dark arena.

AUG 2010

Music Director Gustavo Dudamel makes his Los Angeles opera conducting debut, leading a performance of Bizet’s Carmen.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Group photo of the Trey McIntyre Dance Project and Preservation Hall Jazz Band in colorful skeleton costumes, instruments.

AUG 2010

Jazz at the Bowl includes performances by The Neville Brothers, and Preservation Hall with Trey McIntyre Dance Project, which combines jazz and contemporary dance.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

LA Phil event program for Sunday, September 5, featuring Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and film music selections.

SEPT 2010

The Big Picture, one of the Bowl’s most popular annual orchestra-and-film programs, pays tribute to the 75-year legacy of 20th Century Fox. "The Big Picture: The Films of 20th Century Fox," celebrates some of the greatest films in the studio’s history, including Star Wars, All About Eve, Cleopatra, Alien, Planet of the Apes, and Avatar.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Seven men posing on a lakeside dock at sunset under a bright sun flare, wearing casual streetwear and sunglasses

SEPT 2010

"¡Viva México!" celebrates the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, featuring artists Ozomatli, Los Super Seven, Mexican Institute of Sound, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, and Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JULY 2011

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Harry Connick, Jr. y Gloria Estefan.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

MGM HD “West Side Story” event poster with couple embrace; Los Angeles Philharmonic David Newman date July 8/9.

JULY 2011

David Newman conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a musical accompaniment to the film West Side Story, marking the film’s 50th anniversary.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

LA Phil concert program poster listing July 12–14, 2011; Gustavo Dudamel conducts and Lang Lang plays.

JULY 2011

Gustavo Dudamel dirige al pianista Lang Lang en una interpretación del Concierto nº 3 para Piano de Prokofiev.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Older man plays a brown violin, eyes focused, bow and fingers positioned against a blue-gray background.

JULY 2011

Pinchas Zukerman interpreta el Concierto para violín nº 1 de Bruch con Gustavo Dudamel y la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles.

Foto: Paul Lebelle

Blonde singer playing a yellow acoustic guitar on stage with a colorful LED backdrop.

JULY 2011

Dolly Parton debuta en el Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Sunday July 24 program flyer for KCRW’s World Festival featuring Global Soul and La Phil, 7:00pm.

JULY 2011

Stevie Wonder and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) perform a sellout show on the KCRW World Festival.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 2011

"Joni’s Jazz," a celebration of the music of Joni Mitchell with Kurt Elling, Aimee Mann, Glen Hansard, Cassandra Wilson, Chaka Khan, and Herbie Hancock, is presented.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Four musicians seated outdoors, playing guitar and saxophone with two women smiling in a vintage photo.

AUG 2011

La Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club y sus invitados actúan en el Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Outdoor concert at dusk with a large illuminated amphitheater stage and crowd filling the seats

2012

Renovation of all public restrooms and new LED jumbo screens are added to the amphitheater. The new LED screens are brighter and less susceptible to interference from ambient light, which makes them particularly suitable for early evening Bowl concerts.

Photo credit: Adam Latham

Three orcas in icy ocean with BBC Earth Frozen Planet in Concert title over polar landscape.

JULY 2012

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents the world premiere of Frozen Planet in Concert, led by the film’s award-winning conductor and composer, George Fenton. The LA Phil performs the documentary film’s score while the film plays on the Bowl’s big screens. This concert was the culmination of the BBC and Discovery Channel trilogy of documentary films titled The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and Frozen Planet. The Blue Planet Live was performed in 2003, and Planet Earth Live was performed in 2010.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Concert flyer for Friday/Saturday July 20–21, 2012 featuring Smokey Robinson with LA Philharmonic

JUL 2012

Smokey Robinson makes his orchestra debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Sarah Hicks. He returns in 2015 for the annual three-day July 4th Fireworks Spectacular concerts.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 2012

Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel y la Filarmónica de Los Ángeles colaboran en la interpretación del Concierto para violonchelo de Schumann.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Concert stage with orchestra under purple lighting, large screen shows Paramount 100 years mountain backdrop

SEPT 2012

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by David Newman, celebrates the 100th anniversary of Paramount Studios with performances and films clips from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Sunset Boulevard, The Godfather trilogy, Titanic, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, among many other favorites.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Man in a tuxedo and two women on stage with microphones and purple spotlight, smiling and cheering during a performance.

JAN 2012

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Reba McEntire y Chaka Khan. Reba McEntire, director de orquesta Thomas Wilkins y Chaka Khan

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Couple dining outdoors in stadium-style seats, smiling and talking at a table with drinks and food

2013

An outdoor wine bar is added to the top of the first large popcorn and refreshments stand by the plaza. The addition of new benches and tables throughout the Bowl property provides a more enjoyable picnicking experience for visitors.

Photo credit: Adam Latham

JUNE 2013

R&B/pop singer Jeffrey Osborne makes his Playboy Jazz Festival debut with two-time Grammy-winning pianist and keyboardist George Duke, who passes away later this year.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

People in formalwear on stage waving as musicians and microphones sit behind them under purple lighting.

JUNE 2013

Los miembros del Salón de la Fama son Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Patti Austin y John Legend. John Legend, Joe Perry, Patti Austin y Steven Tyler

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Smiling man wearing a fedora and suit jacket with a white flower pinned on his lapel, sepia-toned portrait.

JULY 2013

Sergio Mendes, Herb Alpert y Lani Hall actúan en el Bowl. Este concierto marca el debut de Herb Albert en Hollywood Bowl .

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Woman with white-blond hair in a black corset sings with arms raised during a concert, orchestra behind her

AUG 2013

Kristin Chenoweth interpreta su primer espectáculo en solitario en el Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Singer in black dress performs onstage with orchestra, while musicians play drums and other instruments in the background.

JUNE 2014

Kristin Chenoweth, The Go-Gos y Pink Martini entran en el Salón de la Fama.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Curly-haired man in a tuxedo conducting with a baton onstage

JULY 2014

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of music from his film score for Libertador.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Colorful musical poster reading Let the Sunshine In! Hair-style hands up over orange and yellow cloudburst background

AUG 2014

The annual musical is a revival of Hair, the 1968 rock musical that celebrates hippie counterculture.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archivesem>

Three women singers in coral gowns perform on stage with microphones, backed by a live band under blue lighting.

SEP 2014

In The Academy Celebrates The Black Movie Soundtrack, Grammy-winning musician and composer Marcus Miller and producer and director Reginald Hudlin offer a soulful celebration of music and movies, with clips shown on the Bowl’s big screen. Performances range from Stormy Weather and Super Fly to Purple Rain and The Bodyguard. Special guests include Bilal, Anthony Hamilton, Princess (Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum), Public Enemy, En Vogue, Lalah Hathaway, and host Craig Robinson. En Vogue

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

LA Phil Friday concert program listing Trey Anastasio and Richard Reed Parry with musicians, September 26, 2014 at 7:30pm

SEPT 2014

Trey Anastasio, the front man and founding member of the band Phish, returns to the Bowl. Anastasio previously performed with the LA Phil at the Walt Disney Concert Hall for his first-ever orchestral tour in 2012.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Sunlit patio with four dark wooden chairs and a small glass railing beside light wood fencing.

2015

The terrace boxes, garden boxes, and pool boxes are redone to mirror the original 1930s aesthetic along with a full renovation of the orchestra lounge.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musicians perform on a concert stage with a singer at center, band members and colorful spotlights overhead.

JUNE 2015

Hollywood Bowl El artista Journey, incluido en el Salón de la Fama, inaugura la temporada.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Two actors in a stage production hold a remote-controlled device above an orchestra under blue-lit arches.

JUNE 2015

Back to the Future celebrates the 30th anniversary of the film’s release with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Alan Silvestri’s score live, with the film projected onto the Bowl’s big screen.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

Flyer for LA Phil July 22, 2015 “Sinatras 100th Birthday Celebration” with program listings and cast details

JULY 2015

Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday is honored with a celebration featuring performances by Kurt Elling, José James, Seu Jorge, Seth MacFarlane, John Pizzarelli, Luciana Souza, Christian McBride, The Count Basie Orchestra, and Carmen Bradford.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Cast in medieval costumes performs on a theater stage with a stone castle set under colorful lighting

JULY 2015

Eric Idle brings Spamalot, the 2005 Tony Award winner for "Best Musical," to the Bowl.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives/Mathew Imaging

LA Phil concert program for Wednesday, August 12, 2015, featuring Wayne Shorter Quartet and Herbie Hancock guest

AUG 2015

"Jaco’s World," a tribute to bass player Jaco Pastorius, features members of Weather Report, Alex Acuna, Peter Erskine, Wayne Shorter, Manolo Badrena, plus Felix Pastorius and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. Word Of Mouth is recreated with orchestra conducted by Vince Mendoza.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

LA Phil concert program for Thursday, August 13, 2015, featuring Tan Dun, Ray Chen, Johannes Moser, and Zhang Zuo.

AUG 2015

Hollywood Bowl El compositor y director de orquesta director de orquesta Tan Dun debuta en la dirección de orquesta en un concierto de música de cine y de concierto de su autoría.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Los Angeles Philharmonic concert program for Tuesday, August 18, 2015, featuring Brad Lubman and “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

AUG 2015

The iconic Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey is accompanied by a live performance of the score by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

AUG 2015

Jazz at the Bowl incluye el último concierto de la Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JUNE 2016

Featuring founding members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan opens the season with its trend-setting jazz/rock blend, rich with blazing solos, infectious tunes, and bodacious harmonies. The Grammy-winning Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers, who helped define contemporary American music with hits such as “Rikki Don't Lose That Number,” “Peg,” and “Nineteen,” share the stage for the first time with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Weird Al concert poster with portrait of performer, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and July 22–23 show dates.

JULY 2016

With over 30 years of fearless irreverence, Weird Al Yankovic’s pop culture parodies and original satire have defined a recording genre all his own. Appearing for the first time with full orchestra, the five-time Grammy winner brings his Mandatory World Tour and a treasure trove of hits to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl. Acappella group Straight No Chaser kicks off the evening.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Dance troupe in gold costumes and top hats, posing on stage before a purple geometric backdrop.

JULY 2016

A Chorus Line is the Bowl’s annual, fully staged production for the year. With an unforgettable score by Marvin Hamlisch, iconic choreography by Michael Bennett, and songs like “I Hope I Get It”, “The Music and the Mirror” and “One,”, A Chorus Line's music and message remain fresh and true. The original direction and choreography are restaged by Baayork Lee, and the production is conducted by Patrick Vaccariello.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Group of men posing indoors, one in front wearing a wide-brim hat and denim shirt, others behind.

AUG 2016

Three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper and his reunited band The Innocent Criminals perform for the first time with a full orchestra. The soulful singer-songwriter performs songs from his celebrated career and new album Call It What It Is. A solo set by City and Colour opens with introspective folk-rock melodies.

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

Singer in a shimmering pink dress performs with smile on stage under purple lights, with band members and keyboards behind

AUG 2016

Back by popular demand, Grammy-winning musician Marcus Miller and acclaimed producer/director Reginald Hudlin reprise the Hollywood Bowl’s 2014 celebration of classic music from Black cinema. The 2016 edition features new clips and music, as well as some favorites from the original show. Special guests Gladys Knight, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Charlie Wilson, and Common, among others, perform with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by Vince Mendoza, and the evening is once again hosted by actor and comedian Craig Robinson.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Musician with curly gray hair sings at a microphone while holding a black electric guitar on a red-lit stage

septiembre 2016

Jeff Lynne’s ELO performs three shows at the Hollywood Bowl for the Fireworks Finale. Joined by the strings of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, these concerts mark the first time the band has played at the iconic venue. With the exception of a club show to celebrate the release of their album, this is also the first time Jeff Lynne’s ELO performs in Los Angeles in nearly 30 years.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Krafterwerk VR headset packaging with “KRAFTWERK” text, shown in white and red on a black background

septiembre 2016

Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, formed in Düsseldorf in 1969 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, continue their streak of highly acclaimed 3-D concerts by undertaking their first Hollywood Bowl appearance. With their visions of the future, Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for our digital age. Bringing together music, computer animations, and performance art, their 3-D concerts are true “Gesamtkunstwerk”—“a total work of art.”

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Two musicians performing onstage, one playing a red electric guitar and the other holding a bass under blue lights.

JUNE 2017

The 2017 Bowl season is launched with the 50th anniversary of The Moody Blues’ world-shattering album Days of Future Passed (“Nights in White Satin,” “Tuesday Afternoon,” etc.), along with more of their greatest hits. Thomas Wilkins conducts the concert, which features YOLA musicians performing alongside the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Photo credit: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Blonde singer in sequined jacket performs at microphone, wearing sunglasses, with glittering backdrop and stage lights behind her

JULY 2017

In the ultimate co-bill, Blondie and Garbage, two highly influential forces of nature, bring punk-rock feminism to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl. Rebellious synth pop, rock, and new wave from LA’s own Sky Ferreira opens the show.

Photo credit: Timothy Norris

Ballet dancer couple in blue stage lighting, ballerina in a flowing white dress held by a partner onstage

JULY 2017

The Hollywood Bowl’s classical season leaps into action as Gustavo Dudamel conducts an enchanting evening of beloved ballet scores selected to showcase some of the most celebrated stars of dance, including hometown hero Misty Copeland who, as the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, makes her Bowl debut, dancing with Marcelo Gomes, Sergei Polunin, and Natalia Osipova.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Elderly man in blue suit speaks at microphone during concert, smiling as musicians applaud in background.

JULY 2017

The legendary retired sports broadcaster Vin Scully narrates the powerful words from the nation’s 16th president that composer Aaron Copland incorporated into his 1942 work Lincoln Portrait. This is the first time Scully performs with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: Timothy Norris

Older man in light suit stands with blonde woman in sparkling dress holding a microphone on stage under blue lighting

JULY 2017

20-time Grammy winner Tony Bennett performs with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil for the first time, in a program that also includes Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino. Lady Gaga makes a surprise appearance when she joins her friend and frequent collaborator to perform two of their favorite jazz standards, “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “Cheek to Cheek.”

Photo credit: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

JULY 2017

Dudamel leads this cabaret-style journey through the extraordinary life and career of Stephen Sondheim, considered one of musical theater’s greatest composers and lyricists.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Group of dancers in colorful costumes cheer with raised arms on a blue-lit stage during a performance.

JULY 2017

Mamma Mia!, the Bowl’s annual all-star staged musical, is the 2001 smash hit about a young woman’s plot to uncover the identity of her father among three of her mother’s former loves, and is filled with ABBA’s timeless songs, including “Dancing Queen” and “Voulez-Vous.” The program is directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall and conducted by David Holcenberg.

Photo credit: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Smiling woman wearing a blue-and-orange patterned headscarf and matching dress, with jewelry and a hand pose.

AUG 2017

"Africa’s premier diva” Angélique Kidjo brings an eclectic mix and the sounds of Cuban salsa, while Latin Grammy-winning Gente de Zona mixes reggaetón with traditional Cuban styles for an exuberant party complete with dancers, horns, and more. Grammy nominee Pedrito Martinez and his group open with their celebrated blend of Latin jazz and world influences.

Photo credit: Youri Lenquette

septiembre 2017

Powerful and inspiring, and with a No. 1 record closing out 2016, Grammy winner Solange guides and curates a divine musical journey with soulful special guests, including Dev Hynes’ Blood Orange, finding power in danger and exploring provocative themes. This musical collective of friends and genre-defying artists celebrates the diversity of experimentation with R&B, folk, and jazz for the KCRW World Festival program.

Photo credit: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Large stage rig and spotlight beams illuminate a packed outdoor concert crowd at night, with fog and trees in background.

JUN 2018

Flying Lotus, Grammy-nominated music producer and mastermind of the exploding LA beat scene, takes the Bowl on a pioneering 3-D space-age voyage. Swedish electro-pop group Little Dragon turn on a dime from funk and R&B to soul and ’80s-inspired jams, part of KCRW’s World Festival.

Crédito de la foto: Dustin Downing

Promotional poster for Bernstein 100 celebration with Dudamel, featuring Los Angeles Philharmonic and vocalists, July 10

JUL 2018

In celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial, Gustavo Dudamel leads a program of some of the American maestro’s most beloved music. This all-Bernstein concert—featuring vocalists Kristin Chenoweth and Brian Stokes Mitchell, clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan, and cellist Edgar Moreau—includes Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, “A Julia de Burgos” and “To What You Said” from Songfest, “Big Stuff” (for Billie Holiday), and selections from West Side Story.

Source: LA Phil Archives

Performers and orchestra on a brightly lit stage with red letters and blue backdrop under purple spotlights

JUL 2018

The Bowl celebrates one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Annie. This classic story of a young girl overcoming adversity features a score of hits, including “Tomorrow” and “It’s a Hard Knock Life”. The program is directed by Michael Arden, conducted by Todd Ellison, and choreographed by Eamon Foley.

Fotografía: Mathew Imaging

Musician in black performs on a Steinway piano with orchestra behind, conductor raising arms on stage.

AUG 2018

LA’s own Randy Newman brings his signature mix of songs that run the gamut from heartbreaking to satirical for a celebration of his half-century-spanning career. Joined by his own band and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by David Newman, he performs selections from 11 studio albums, from his 1968 self-titled debut to his 2017 recording Dark Matter, highlighting the insightful humanity for which the beloved Grammy- and Oscar-winning songwriter is known.

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Musicians and conductor on stage during a concert, with guitarists smiling under green lighting

AUG 2018

En su debut en la Bowl, el dúo mexicano de guitarras Rodrigo Y Gabriela se alía con Gustavo Dudamel y los LA Phil para una noche de jolgorio rítmico.

Photo credit: Timothy Norris

Promotional poster for Queen Latifah and Common, with their portraits and “Aug 22” release date.

AUG 2018

The ever-versatile Queen Latifah returns to her throne for a soul-driven set showcasing the emotional power of her voice and her sophisticated presence as a singer. With his second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song—an award he won in 2013 for “Glory”—artist, poet, and actor Common fuses social justice and large-hearted positivity for a highly charismatic performance.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

John Williams, maestro, raising his baton for Los Angeles Philharmonic 40th anniversary celebration event text.

AUG 2018

John Williams, Hollywood's beloved master of cinematic scores, celebrates the 40th anniversary of his Bowl debut with an evening of some of his biggest movie hits, including selections performed with film clips. John Williams and David Newman conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Musician in ornate costume bows on stage beside orchestra, conductor in white jacket smiling nearby.

SEP 2018

Celebrate LA, conceived as one of the LA Phil’s Centennial season’s special programs, showcases the city’s creative spirit in an epic festival that includes 1,800 musicians, artists, and dancers coming together to perform at six hubs and along an eight-mile route. The evening ends with a free concert at the Hollywood Bowl, where Gustavo Dudamel leads the LA Phil and welcomes very special guests Katy Perry, Herbie Hancock, Kali Uchis, Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), and others to the Bowl stage.

Crédito de la foto: Dustin Downing

JUN 2019

An incomparable talent and a charming presence onstage, John Legend is one of only 16 artists to win all four Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards. He kicks off the season with style, accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, members of YOLA, and an appearance by the rapper Common, who joins Legend for their Oscar®-winning song “Glory” as fireworks explode overhead.

Photo credit: Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Older man in a dark suit on stage, smiling and gesturing with one hand while holding a microphone.

JUL 2019

One of the most celebrated singers of the 20th and 21st centuries and a first-rate interpreter of the Great American Songbook, Tony Bennett performs his last show at the Hollywood Bowl prior to retiring in 2021.

JUL 2019

Groundbreaking Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning songwriter and performing artist Cyndi Lauper plays hits from throughout her career with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and conductor Thomas Wilkins. The evening begins with a set from stunning vocal talent Cécile McLorin Salvant, a three-time Grammy winner for Best Jazz Vocal album whose 2018 release The Window wins at the 2019 awards.

Crédito de la foto: Dustin Downing

Dancers leap with arms out on stage before a seated band, under red lighting and spotlights

JUL 2019

Accompanied by the LA Phil under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Dance Project performs a suite from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. The program is choreographed by Benjamin Millepied, Artistic Director of the eleven-member LA Dance Project, which he founded in 2012 with a mission to present daring works in traditional venues and unconventional settings across Los Angeles and worldwide.

Photo credit: Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Orchestra musicians in formal attire standing on stage with cellos and violins, smiling during a performance

JUL 2019

The Hollywood Bowl and the LA Phil celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure as Music Director with a concert featuring members of YOLA and the YOLA National Institute, which launches in 2019.

Photo credit: Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Singer in blue dress holds a microphone onstage while a conductor gestures with a baton beside her.

JUL 2019

10-time Latin Grammy and Grammy Award-winning Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade makes her Bowl debut, joined by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil. The entire evening is livestreamed via YouTube.

Photo credit: Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging

Costumed cast stands on a lit theater stage under spotlights, with backdrop featuring a large moon and “Into the Woods” text.

JUL 2019

Into the Woods, the Tony Award-winning musical by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, transforms the Hollywood Bowl into an enchanted world of magic beans, towering giants, and handsome princes. Robert Longbottom directs and choreographs, and Kevin Stites conducts.

Photo credit: Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging

2020s

Announcement text on dark background: LA Phil 2020 concerts canceled to protect audiences from COVID-19.

MAY 2020

The Hollywood Bowl season is cancelled for the first time in 98 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The reality of a Hollywood Bowl gone quiet for the whole season — a silent summer — is hard to fathom,” writes the LA Times. “With this season gone, there is always next summer and a possible headline: ‘Hollywood Bowl roars back to life in a blaze of fireworks and moonlight.’”

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

JUN 2020

Gustavo Dudamel and musicians from the LA Phil and YOLA are joined by J’Nai Bridges in an outdoor, socially distanced performance at the Hollywood Bowl for “Global Goal: Unite for Our Future.” This event, organized by Global Citizen, includes a virtual concert, campaign, and summit calling for citizens to fight global injustices.

Photo credit: Daniel Anderson/LA Phil Archives

Woman in hat hugging another person, lit by warm red stage lights, with blurred crowd in the background

OCT 2020

The LA Phil launches Sound/Stage as a free online concert series created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series is filmed at the Hollywood Bowl, where musicians can perform together while socially distanced.

Photo credit: LA Phil Archives

Conductor on stage before an orchestra, with empty seats and spotlights in a large dark auditorium.

May 2021

The Hollywood Bowl officially reopens to the public with a free concert featuring Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil intended to honor the frontline and essential workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo credit: Dustin Downing/LA Phil Archives

Orchestra on a concert stage with green and blue lighting and a large backdrop arch at night

JUL 2021

Kool & the Gang headline the first full-capacity performance at the Hollywood Bowl since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for the annual July 4th Fireworks Spectacular. The disco-funk greats are accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra with Thomas Wilkins conducting.

Photo credit: Dustin Downing/LA Phil Archives

Smiling female in suit leads orchestra with brass, strings, and microphones behind her

JUL 2021

Oscar-, Emmy-, and two-time Tony-winning Viola Davis shares her powerful voice when she joins Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil as narrator for Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, a children’s favorite beloved for its melodies and spirit.

Photo credit: Farah Sosa

Singer in black dress holds microphone aloft on stage, arms outstretched, crowd cheering under colorful lights

JUL 2021

Six-time Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Christina Aguilera performs her first concert live with an orchestra, accompanied by the LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel.

Photo credit: Farah Sosa

Singer in colorful patterned robe performs at outdoor stage with band and microphones behind her

JUL 2021

Ledisi, the Grammy-winning singer, joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Thomas Wilkins in a tribute to Nina Simone, a titan of 20th-century music.

Photo credit: Ron T. Young Photography

Performer in white gown sings into a microphone under purple stage lights at a live concert.

JUL 2021

Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo makes her Hollywood Bowl debut, joined by the LA Phil with Thomas Wilkins conducting. The program pays tribute to some of the greatest female singers of all time.

Photo credit: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Concert stage with musicians under warm spotlights, arched hall ceiling, and reflections in the glossy floor

JUL 2021

Billie Eilish performs in the concert film Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, featuring her performance recorded live on stage at the Hollywood Bowl with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil.

Photo credit: Disney/Mason Poole

AUG 2021

Grammy and Oscar Award-winning singer and songwriter H.E.R. makes her Hollywood Bowl debut and performs her first-ever concerts with full orchestra, joined by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil.

Two smiling men pose on stadium seats under a large white canopy.

AUG 2021

Latin Grammy and Grammy-Award-winning Colombian musician Carlos Vives returns to the Hollywood Bowl, joined by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil. Vives is considered by many to be a pioneer of Colombian and Latin American sound.

Photo credit: Fara Sosa

Museo Hollywood Bowl

Our multi-level museum boasts unique, in-depth exhibitions for both first-time visitors and returning Hollywood Bowl enthusiasts. You can even visit for a free guided group tour or self-guided tour!

View exhibits & hours

Artículo

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 white shirt stands at microphone, surrounded by orchestra with instruments and black music stands on stage

Artículo

Your Next Visit

[[ $t(vm.upcomingEvent.event.title) ]]

1910s

1916

1918

1919

1920s

1920

1920

1920

MAR 1921

NOV 1921

1922

1922

JULY 1922

JULY 1922

1923

1924

1924

JULY 1925

AUG 1925

1926

1926

1926

1927

JAN 1927

AUG 1927

1928

JULY 1928

AUG 1928

1928

1929

1930s

AUG 1932

SEPT 1932

SEPT 1932

1934

AUG 1934

SEPT 1934

JULY 1936

AUG 1936

AUG 1936

AUG 1937

AUG 1937

SEPT 1937

JULY 1938

AUG 1939

SEPT 1939

1939

1940s

1940

AUG 1940

1942

AUG 1942

AUG 1943

AUG 1943

JULY 1944

AUG 1944

AUG 1944

1945

SEPT 1945

JULY 1946

JULY 1946

JULY 1948

JULY 1948

1950s

1951

1952

1952

1953

SEPT 1953

SEPT 1953

1954

AUG 1954

AUG 1954

SEPT 1954

AUG 1955

AUG 1955

AUG 1956

JULY 1958