Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr. After his death the Southern California Symphony Association was formed in 1934 to sponsor the orchestra. It was housed in Philharmonic Auditorium from 1920 until 1964, when it moved to the newly constructed Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Music Center of Los Angeles County. It occupied that building until 2003, when it moved into the Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by for it by Frank Gehry. The orchestra holds summer concerts in the Hollywood Bowl, which seats 20,000. Its first conductor was Henry Rothwell, who held the podium from 1919 to 1927. Later music directors have included Artur Rodzinski (1929–33); Otto Klemperer (1933–39), Alfred Wallenstein (1943–56), Eduard van Beinum (1956–59), Zubin Mehta (1962–78), Carlo Maria Giulini (1978–84), and Sir André Previn (1985–89). Previn remained as conductor until Esa-Pekka Salonen became music director in 1992; Gustavo Dudamel succeeded Salonen in 2009.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.