As concert halls open, we’re helping you get back into the seats. Join Classical KUSC at the Hollywood Bowl this summer!

Since its opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the premier destination for live music in Southern California, hosting incredible musicians under the iconic silhouette of its concentric-arched bandshell. Join Classical KUSC and the LA Phil for Seven nights of great musical performances, under the stars! We’re proud to sponsor a series of summer performances at the Hollywood Bowl. Learn more below.

Photo courtesy of the LA Phil

Peter and the Wolf with Viola Davis and Dudamel
Thursday, July 15 – 8:00pm

Prokofiev’s symphonic fairytale comes to life with the help of an acting icon. The Oscar®-, Emmy®-, and two-time Tony®-winning Viola Davis shares her powerful voice when she joins Gustavo and the LA Phil as narrator for Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which is loved by the children it introduced to the orchestra as well as generations of grownups charmed by its melodies and spirit. Dudamel leads Prokofiev’s Haydn-inspired symphony and selections from Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations. Written in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, the Variations are a cycle of spirituals that were lost, restored, and finally performed for the first time in 2018. Learn more.

Photo by Antony Pott

Tianyi Lu Conducts Pictures at an Exhibition
Tuesday, July 20 – 8:00pm

Mussorgsky’s epic Pictures tops this brass-focused program, which includes brilliant British trumpeter Alison Balsom.

Former Dudamel Fellow Tianyi Lu leads a blazing program that includes Mussorgsky’s unforgettable Pictures at an Exhibition—in Ravel’s dazzling orchestration—a world premiere fanfare by Ricardo Molla dedicated to the LA Phil’s brass and percussion sections, and a new Trumpet Concerto by acclaimed composer Thea Musgrave, played by one of the world’s leading trumpeters, Alison Balsom. Learn more.

Photo by Jessica Schaefer

Mozart and Mendelssohn with Ruth Reinhardt
Tuesday, July 27 – 8:00pm

Sunny classics by Mendelssohn, plus one of Mozart’s most dramatic piano concertos.

The first American to win the prestigious Leeds Competition in 46 years, Eric Lu is a pianist to watch. His rendering of Mozart’s stormy D-minor concerto will balance the high spirits of Mendelssohn’s symphony inspired by the Italian countryside, led by former Dudamel Fellow Ruth Reinhardt, who has been praised for her “incandescent talent, strong musical ideas, and originality.” (The Seattle Times) Learn more.

Photo by Adam Latham

Dudamel Conducts the “New World”
Thursday, August 12 – 8:00pm

Dvořák’s timeless “New World” Symphony, plus virtuoso violinist Randall Goosby.

A contemporary of Mozart, Joseph Bologne—or the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, as he called himself—was an outstanding composer, violin virtuoso, and stellar conductor. Randall Goosby plays Saint-Georges’ dynamic Ninth Violin Concerto. Gustavo Dudamel has received high praise for his fresh interpretation of Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, “[jolting] the familiar score with vitality and imagination.” (The New York Times) Learn more.

Photo by Adam Latham

Dudamel Conducts Beethoven and Falla
Thursday, August 19 – 8:00pm

Gustavo brings us Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Manuel de Falla’s comic ballet The Three-Cornered Hat for a perfect Bowl evening.

In an evening of musical friendships, Dudamel brings four extraordinary artists together for memorable music making. Beethoven’s grand and graceful Triple Concerto is followed by the Flamenco-inspired comic ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, based on Andalusian folk music and designed for Spanish dance. A great opportunity to see Dudamel in action at the Bowl. Learn more.

Photo by John Mac

Beethoven’s Fifth
Tuesday, August 31 – 8:00pm

The charismatic Ray Chen sparkles in Mendelssohn. Bortolameolli leads the world’s most famous symphony.

The Chicago Tribune recently praised Ray Chen for his “long lyric lines, crisp rhythmic articulation, gorgeous tone and an apparently inexhaustible ability to finesse technical challenges.” The violinist shows off all that skill in Mendelssohn’s concerto, and Los Angeles Philharmonic Associate Conductor Paolo Bortolameolli brings his unique perspective to Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony. Learn more.

Photo by Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

Gershwin and Bonds
Tuesday, September 2– 8:00pm

A star lineup of Julia Bullock, Aaron Diehl, and Thomas Wilkins comes together for music by Margaret Bonds and George Gershwin.

Star soprano Julia Bullock performs a selection of songs by George Gershwin and Margaret Bonds, one of the first Black composers to gain recognition in the U.S., known for her arrangements of spirituals and her collaborations with Langston Hughes. Virtuoso jazz and classical pianist Aaron Diehl performs Gershwin’s intricate “I Got Rhythm” Variations with Thomas Wilkins conducting. Learn more.