Los Angeles Music Center
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The Los Angeles Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is a complex of four entertainment venues located on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States.
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[edit] Performing arts venues
The four main venues of the complex (which also includes some smaller theaters and outdoor amphitheaters) are:
- Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: 3,197 seats
- Mark Taper Forum: 745 seats
- Ahmanson Theatre: 1,600 to 2,007 seats, depending on configuration
- Walt Disney Concert Hall: 2,265 seats
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[edit] Resident companies
The complex has four resident companies:
- Center Theatre Group
- Los Angeles Master Chorale
- Los Angeles Opera
- Los Angeles Philharmonic
[edit] Membership groups
The Music Center has a number of organized membership groups:
- Fraternity of Friends
- Blue Ribbon
- Proscenium Club
- Club 100
[edit] History
Fundraising for the complex was begun in 1955 by Dorothy Chandler, who sought a permanent home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Construction of the facility began on March 9, 1962. The first hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, held its first performance on December 6, 1964. The complex was completed when two additional halls, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre, were dedicated on April 9, 1967. The center then totalled the approximately seven acres (28,000 m²), bounded by Grand Avenue, Hope Street, 1st Street and Temple Street.
The Dance Door, a bronze sculpture, was created in 1978 by Robert Graham and donated to the Music Center in 1982 by Frederick and Marcia Weisman. "Dance+Door"&hl=en
In 1994, major renovations were completed on both Mark Taper and the Ahmanson.
In 1987, Lillian Disney pledged $50 million towards a fourth venue, which became known as the Walt Disney Concert Hall. After various problems and cost overruns, the new concert hall finally opened on October 23, 2003. The complex now totals 11 acres (45,000 m²) and extends across the equivalent of three city blocks from Temple Street to 2nd Street.
[edit] References
Hunt, William, Total Design: Architecture of Welton Becket, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972. (the firm of Welton Becket and Associates designed the Music Center and other modernist buildings. In 1994 the Mark Taper Forum was re-designed by Ellerbe-Beckett)
