Hollywood Bowl History | Hollywood Bowl

1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s

For more than 100 years, music and performance have had a central destination in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Bowl is a venue for showcasing artistic greatness and celebrating our global cultural heritage.

It is also a proving ground for emerging artists and a living laboratory for experimentation and discovery. To explore the Bowl’s vibrant and dynamic past is to have a window on the voices and ideas that have influenced our history and continue to shape our world.

Browse our many decades below, or visit our museum!

1910s

1916

Hollywood’s first outdoor community theater production, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is performed in Beachwood Canyon in the Hollywood Hills by the...

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...

1919

The Theatre Arts Alliance Inc., with Christine Wetherill Stevenson as President, purchases 59 acres in Bolton Canyon for $47,500. This land becomes...

1920s

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...

1920

The site begins to be referred to as the Hollywood Bowl at community events.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

1921

Hollywood High School’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and The Landing of the Pilgrims attract 10,000 people.

Photo credit: Hollywood...

MAR 1921

The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs its first Easter Sunrise Service.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

NOV 1921

The Women’s World Peace Concert on Armistice Day (November 11) is one of the first major events at the Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

1922

Before the establishment of an official season, Daisy Dell is used for presentations of choral programs, pageants, Shakespeare plays, and band...

1922

The Bowl's first stage consists of a simple wooden platform with a canvas top. Patrons sit on moveable wooden benches.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

1923

The first 150 box seats are built in front of the bench seating sections.

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...

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...

JUL 1925

After several years of Hollywood Bowl concerts featuring popular, familiar favorites, renowned conductor Fritz Reiner brings what is considered...

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...

1926

Allied Architects, an association founded in 1921 to provide governmental organizations with professional architects at a reasonable cost, creates...

1926

Pasadena architect and Rose Bowl designer Myron Hunt creates an elliptical form for the Hollywood Bowl's seating amphitheater. His layout features...

1926

With the completion of the Pacific Electric Railway on Highland Avenue, the Bowl becomes more accessible and sees an increase in attendance.

Photo...

1927

Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, is commissioned to design sets for several theatrical productions at the Bowl. He is subsequently...

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...

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...

1928

The Hollywood Bowl Association gives Lloyd Wright instructions to design a semi-circular shell and tackle the dual issues of acoustics and...

Jul 1928

Aaron Copland performs at the Hollywood Bowl, playing the West Coast premiere of his Piano Concerto.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1928

Percy Grainger, an Australian conductor and composer, conducts the world premiere of his works, including The Warriors: Music to an Imaginary Ballet...

1928

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

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...

1930s

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...

SEP 1932

Jascha Heifetz, considered the 20th century's greatest violinist, makes his Hollywood Bowl debut, returning many times throughout the years. In 1963...

SEP 1932

Lyric tenor and composer Roland Hayes performs a solo recital of classical repertoire and Spirituals. He is considered to be the first...

1934

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

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...

SEP 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...

JUL 1936

Composer and conductor William Grant Still conducts Land of Romance from his Africa Suite and Scherzo from his Afro-American Symphony. On the...

AUG 1936

A performance by the French soprano Lily Pons sets the attendance record of 26,410 for a single concert.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

AUG 1936

Conductor Leopold Stokowski makes his Hollywood Bowl debut at the "Paramount Night of Stars," a benefit concert for the Southern California Symphony...

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...

AUG 1937

Viscount Hidemaro Konoye is the first Japanese conductor to appear at the Hollywood Bowl. Konoye conducts the ballet Etenraku (roughly translated as...

SEP 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...

Jul 1938

Wagner's Die Walküre, starring Maria Jeritza as Brünnhilde, is considered the most lavish opera production staged at the Hollywood Bowl. It features...

AUG 1939

Jazz comes to the Bowl for the first time with a performance by clarinetist Benny Goodman.

Photo credit: MCA Photos

SEP 1939

Lorin Maazel, violinist and conductor, performs at the Hollywood Bowl at the age of 9.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1939

The Tea Room is built at the bottom of the hill on Peppertree Lane as one of the WPA projects. Before an official Tea Room was built, the Bowl...

1940s

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...

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...

1942

Hollywood Bowl audiences are limited to 5,000 due to war-related safety concerns.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 1942

At the conclusion of Vladimir Horowitz’s Hollywood Bowl performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the composer walks on stage, takes...

AUG 1943

Frank Sinatra’s Hollywood Bowl debut on August 14 is the first appearance by a pop singer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: Music...

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...

JAN 1944

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

Photo credit: Music Center Archives/Otto...

AUG 1944

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

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...

1945

Leopold Stokowski is appointed as the first Music Director of the Hollywood Bowl Symphony. Arnold Schoenberg writes Fanfare for a Bowl Concert for...

AUG 1945

Conductor and arranger Johnny Green makes his Hollywood Bowl debut, ultimately performing 77 American musical theater pops concerts over the course...

SEP 1945

Violinist Isaac Stern performs Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Hollywood Bowl Symphony.

Photo credit...

JUL 1946

Hollywood Bowl Music Director Leopold Stokowski conducts 17-year old violinist Camilla Wicks and the orchestra in a performance of Wieniawski’s...

1947

The Patroness Committee, the Hollywood Bowl’s first volunteer group, is founded.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

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...

1952

The Hollywood Freeway opens near the Bowl, altering the environment and creating more ambient traffic noise around the venue.

Photo credit: Music...

1953

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...

JUL 1953

Composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Sir William Walton conduct concerts of their own works. Arminda Neves d’Almeida and Villa Lobos.

Photo credit...

SEP 1953

Otto Klemperer conducts the 1,000th concert at the Hollywood Bowl, a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Photo credit: Los Angeles...

SEP 1953

Peggy Lee makes her Hollywood Bowl debut and later appears in one of the first television programs shot at the Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

1954

Six 35-foot light and sound towers are built along the east and west perimeters of the Bowl’s seating area.

Photo credit: Music Center Archives...

AUG 1954

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

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...

SEP 1954

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

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...

AUG 1955

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

Photo...

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...

JUL 1958

Pianist Van Cliburn debuts at the Hollywood Bowl fresh from his recent win at the Moscow Tchaikovsky competition.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

AUG 1958

Duane Eddy is the first rock 'n' roll artist to appear at the Hollywood Bowl, in a year that also sees the first of several Dick Clark-produced...

1958

Dorothy Buffum Chandler is honored with the premiere of "The Dorothy Chandler Theme for the Hollywood Bowl," a carillon fanfare by Elinor Remick...

OCT 1958

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus perform on the Hollywood Bowl’s stage complete with elephants, flying trapeze, and cannons.

Photo...

1959

A fountain is installed in the reflecting pool. Its rainbow-colored water show becomes a popular feature during intermissions. A particularly...

JUL 1959

Famed Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan makes his Hollywood Bowl and Philharmonic debut with works by Wagner, Mozart, and Richard Strauss, and a...

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...

1960s

JULY 1960

Ella Fitzgerald makes her second appearance at the Bowl. Over her lifetime she performs a total of five times at the venue.

Photo credit: Music...

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...

SEPT 16, 1961

Although rain begins to fall during a memorable Hollywood Bowl concert by Judy Garland, not a soul leaves.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

1962

The first two moving sidewalks are constructed at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: Music Center Archives/ Otto Rothschild Collection

JUL 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...

JUL 1962

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

Photo credit...

AUG 1962

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

Photo credit: Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection

SEP 1963

Jascha Heifetz performs Brahms' Double Concerto with master cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.

Photo credit: Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild...

OCT 1963

Bob Dylan makes his debut at the Hollywood Bowl. He returns in 1993, 1999, and 2012. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez

Photo credit...

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...

JUN 1965

The Bowl hosts a "Beach Boys Summer Spectacular," an American response to what is commonly referred to as the "British Invasion" (when rock and pop...

SEP 1965

Composers Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland conduct their own works.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JAN 1965

Sonny and Cher make their Bowl debut. Cher returns to the Bowl stage for two nights of performances in 2005.

Photo credit: Music Center Archives...

JUL 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...

JUL 1966

Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez conducts a concert featuring his own Sinfonía India.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 1966

African American and native Angeleno conductor Henry Lewis conducts performances by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, his wife at the time, in arias from...

JUL 1967

Simon & Garfunkel make their first appearance at the Bowl. They return in 1968 and 2004.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1967

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

NOV 1967

The Who perform in their Bowl debut, returning again in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

1969

Ernest Fleischmann is hired as General Director of the Hollywood Bowl and Executive Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Under Fleischmann’s...

JUL 1969

B.B. King makes his Hollywood Bowl debut. He returns in 1974, 1980, 1985, 1988, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012.

Photo credit: ABC Photos

AUG 1969

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 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...

1970s

1970

Architect Frank Gehry and acoustician Christopher Jaffee are hired to improve the Bowl’s acoustics. They install sonotubes, prefabricated cardboard...

1970

Stevie Wonder performs at the Hollywood Bowl for the first time.

Photo credit: Music Pictures

AUG 1970

Deep Purple plays with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, becoming the first rock band to perform with the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit...

JUL 1971

"Bach at the Bowl Mini-Marathon," directed by Lukas Foss, is the first marathon concert to be presented at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit...

JUL 1971

Pianist Alfred Brendel debuts at the Bowl in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1971

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

Beverly Sills and conductor...

SEP 1971

James Taylor makes his Hollywood Bowl debut. He returns in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2014.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 1971

Jesus Christ Superstar is performed at the Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1972

The reflecting pool is drained to eliminate further damage to the Bowl’s acoustics and the performers’ string instruments. An exclusive section of...

JUN 1972

Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, and Joe Cocker all headline at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

JUL 1972

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

AUG 1972

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1972

Rod Stewart makes his Bowl debut. He returns in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2004, and 2011.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 1972

José Carreras appears in Rigoletto.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1973

Renowned flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal debuts at the Bowl with a performance of Khachaturian’s Flute Concerto in D minor.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

AUG 1973

The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents film composers Elmer Bernstein, John Green and John Barry conducting music from their own and others’ movie...

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...

SEP 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...

SEP 1973

Procol Harum performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 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...

AUG 1975

Pianist Emanuel Ax debuts at the Hollywood Bowl in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1976

Mel Tormé makes his Bowl debut. Tormé becomes a long-standing Bowl artist; his final Bowl concert is in 1995. The celebration features the Carnegie...

SEP 1976

Conductor Simon Rattle debuts at the Bowl conducting the London Schools Symphony Orchestra.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

JUL 1978

Flutist James Galway debuts at the Bowl performing concertos by Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart during a three-day-long Baroque Festival.

Photo credit...

JUL 1978

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

SEP 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...

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...

JUN 1979

The first Playboy Jazz Festival is held at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

1980s

1980

Frank Gehry replaces the sonotubes with suspended hollow fiberglass spheres, allowing the musicians to hear one another better.

Photo credit...

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

JUN 1981

Survival Sunday III, a rock concert bringing awareness to the anti-nuclear movement, features rock legends Jackson Browne, Gary U.S. Bonds, The...

1982

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, conceived by Leonard Bernstein and co-founded by Ernest Fleischmann, is established at the Hollywood Bowl...

JUN 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...

JUL 1982

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

JUL 1982

Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock kick off the Jazz at the Bowl series. Their piano duet is the highlight of the concert.

Photo credit: Hollywood...

JUL 1982

Los Angeles Philharmonic Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Michel Beroff in Stravinsky’s Movements for Piano and Orchestra as part of a...

AUG 1982

The Go-Go’s are the first all-female rock band to perform at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 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...

AUG 1983

Leonard Bernstein conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1984

The Hollywood Bowl Museum opens in the building that was originally the Tea Room.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 1984

Ray Charles makes his Hollywood Bowl debut at the Playboy Jazz Festival. He returns in 1996 and 2001.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

JUL 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...

JUL 1985

Kiri Te Kanawa makes her Hollywood Bowl debut in a solo recital with pianist Martin Katz.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 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...

JUL 1986

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

JUL 1986

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1987

Violinist Midori debuts at the Bowl with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.

Photo credit: Jack Mitchell

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...

1988

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

JUL 1988

Russian conductor Yuri Temirkanov makes his Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Philharmonic debut.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

AUG 1989

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet debuts at the Bowl in a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 1989

Lou Rawls makes his Hollywood Bowl debut.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

1990s

JUN 1990

The Mariachi USA Festival is launched, joining the Playboy Jazz Festival as one of the pillars of pre-season events at the Hollywood Bowl.

Photo...

AUG 1990

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 1990

Tony Bennett and Diane Schuur make their first Hollywood Bowl appearance alongside George Shearing.

Photo credit: Photo courtesy of the artist

SEP 1990

As part of the L.A. Festival, the Hollywood Bowl presents the first cut of Peter Sellars’ silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, accompanied by...

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...

SEP 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...

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...

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...

SEP 1992

10-year-old violinist Sarah Chang makes her Hollywood Bowl debut with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

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...

JUN 1993

Madonna, Tina Turner, John Paul Jones, and Whitney Houston perform.

Tina Turner and John Paul Jones

Photo credit: Josh Daniel

JUL 1993

Natalie Cole debuts with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Natalie Cole and John Mauceri

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

JUL 1994

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

JUL 1994

The Hollywood Bowl hosts World Cup Week, featuring artists ranging from Van Cliburn and Itzhak Perlman to Linda Ronstadt and Garth Brooks.

Photo...

JUL 1994

Famed pianist Maria Tipo makes her Hollywood Bowl debut in the twilight of her career.

Photo credit: Serrat/ EMI Pathe Marconii

JUL 1994

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

1995

An extensive multi-phase renovation is initiated to bring the Bowl’s technical infrastructure up to date and visually enhance and unify the...

JUL 1995

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

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...

JUL 1996

The multi-talented singer-actress-comedienne Carol Burnett performs Broadway tunes with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Photo credit: Mathew Imaging

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...

SEP 1996

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

Photo credit...

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...

AUG 1997

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

Photo credit: David Weiss

AUG 1997

A Southern blues concert features Buddy Guy, the Neville Brothers, and Dr. John.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

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...

AUG 1998

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 1999

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

JUN 1999

George Martin, producer of The Beatles, organizes and conducts the first Beatles tribute concert.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 1999

National Public Radio member station KCRW initiates its World Music Festival series to present popular and classical music from diverse countries...

AUG 1999

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

SEP 1999

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

2000s

2000

The architectural firm Hodgetts & Fung designs a renovation of the Hollywood Bowl shell to bring the performance stage and backstage facilities up to...

JUN 2000

The Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame is established as an annual fund-raising event. The first two inductees are John Williams and Garth Brooks.

Photo...

JUL 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...

JUL 2000

17-year-old Lang Lang makes his Hollywood Bowl debut.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

AUG 2000

Dave Brubeck celebrates his 80th birthday with a concert tribute.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 2000

Nicholas Payton, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Roy Hargrove, and Jon Faddis join the Bowl to honor Louis Armstrong’s 100th birthday.

Photo credit...

SEP 2000

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

Photo credit: David Weiss

SEP 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...

JUN 2001

Hall of Fame inductees are Marilyn Horne, Monty Python, Bonnie Raitt, John Raitt, and Stevie Wonder.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 2001

"Global Divas," with Cesaria Evora and Bebel Gilberto, debuts.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 2001

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

JUL 2001

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

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...

AUG 2001

Radiohead makes its Bowl debut and returns in 2003 for two performances.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

OCT 2001

Björk performs at the Hollywood Bowl. She returns in 2003 and 2013.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Marc Goldstein

2002

Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves is appointed first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

JUN 2002

Hall of Fame inductees are Kathleen Battle, George Harrison, Randy Newman, and Bernadette Peters.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

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...

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...

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 premiere...

AUG 2002

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

Photo credit...

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...

MAY 2003

Coldplay makes its Hollywood Bowl debut with two performances. The band returns in 2012 for three nights.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

JUN 2003

Hall of Fame inductees are Roger Daltrey, Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, The Smothers Brothers, and Leopold Stokowski.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

JUL 2003

João Gilberto makes his first appearance at the Bowl after a 39-year hiatus.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

AUG 2003

Ben Harper debuts at the Hollywood Bowl. He returns in 2013.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 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...

SEP 2003

James Brown makes his Hollywood Bowl debut.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

JUN 2004

Hall of Fame inductees include Henry Mancini and Brian Wilson.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

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...

AUG 2004

Marin Alsop leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a rare staged performance of Leonard Bernstein’s 1971 "Mass."

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

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...

SEP 2004

Jazz at the Bowl includes a performance by Van Morrison – in conjunction with a release of an album on Blue Note. LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz...

JUN 2005

Hall of Fame inductees are Joshua Bell, Frank Sinatra, and Trisha Yearwood.

Photo credit: Mathew Imaging

JUL 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...

AUG 2005

Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan perform. Knight returns to the Bowl in 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014; Khan returns in 2012.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

AUG 2005

Yo-Yo Ma performs with his Silk Road Ensemble in the first of many Bowl appearances.

Photo credit: Los Angeles Philharmonic Archives/Mathew Imaging

SEP 2005

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

SEP 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...

SEP 2005

Luciano Pavarotti performs his farewell concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

2006

Christian McBride assumes the position of Creative Chair for Jazz.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2006

Hall of Fame inductees are Carlos Santana and André Watts.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

JUL 2006

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

JUL 2006

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago makes its Hollywood Bowl debut dancing to Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor.

Photo...

AUG 2006

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

SEP 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...

OCT 2006

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Hermosa Wave...

NOV 2006

Aerosmith makes its Bowl debut and returns in 2012 with Cheap Trick.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2007

Hall of Fame inductees are Plácido Domingo and John Mauceri.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

AUG 2007

Cheap Trick and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra celebrate the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s 40th anniversary.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum...

SEP 2007

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his own Foreign Bodies in the world premiere of choreography by Diavolo. The choreography was commissioned by the Los...

2008

Thomas Wilkins is appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

JUN 2008

Tower of Power celebrates its 40th anniversary at the Playboy Jazz Festival.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2008

Hall of Fame inductees are Sir James Galway, Liza Minnelli, and B.B. King.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

JUN 2008

Gilberto Gil makes his Bowl debut performance. He returns in 2012.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

2008

Bramwell Tovey is appointed as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He debuts with performances of...

AUG 2008

KCRW World Festival Reggae Night features performances by British reggae stars UB40, Beres Hammond, and Barrington Levy.

Photo credit: Hollywood...

SEP 2008

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

SEP 2008

The Police, The Cure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds perform.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

SEP 2008

Beck makes his Bowl debut with featured bands Spoon and MGMT. He returns in 2011.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2009

Hall of Fame inductees are Kiri Te Kanawa and Josh Groban.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 2009

Bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding makes her debut at the 31st Playboy Jazz Festival. At the festival, Sergio Mendes, Eddie Palmieri, and Poncho...

JUL 2009

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

Photo credit...

JUL 2009

Grace Jones makes her Hollywood Bowl debut as part of the KCRW World Festival.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

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...

OCT 2009

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

2010s

2010

Jazz icon and fourteen-time Grammy Award winner Herbie Hancock is named Creative Chair for Jazz.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2010

Trombone Shorty and his group Orleans Avenue make their Playboy Jazz Festival debut.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUN 2010

Hall of Fame inductees are Donna Summer, The Carpenters, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection/Mathew Imaging

JUL 2010

Smokey Robinson makes his Bowl debut, celebrating 50 years in the music business.

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl Museum Collection

JUL 2010

Bugs Bunny on Broadway, an orchestra-and-film concert that debuted in 1990, celebrates its 20th anniversary with the newly re-imagined production...

AUG 2010

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

Photo credit: Hollywood Bowl...

AUG 2010

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

SEP 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...

SEP 2010

"¡Viva México!" celebrates the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, featuring artists Ozomatli, Los...