LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ANNOUNCES 2023 HOLLYWOOD BOWL SUMMER SEASON
LOS ANGELES (Feb. 7, 2023)—The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association today announces the 2023 Hollywood Bowl summer season with concerts at the iconic amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills spanning classical to pop and everything in between from June to September 2023.
The Hollywood Bowl 2023 lineup reflects the excitement audiences experience each year returning to the LA Phil’s spectacular summer home with superstar names in music, blockbuster films with live orchestra and nights dedicated to jazz, blues, R&B, classical, rock and more. The LA Phil continues its tradition of presenting classical concerts under the stars with LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel conducting the orchestra and a roster of star-studded guest artists. Jazz Plus nights offer an eclectic trip through the world of jazz, blues, R&B and beyond, with LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock at the helm.
LA Phil Chief Content and Engagement Officer Renae Williams Niles said, “There is no place like the Hollywood Bowl on a summer night, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another unforgettable season of music led by the extraordinary vision of Gustavo Dudamel.”
Gustavo Dudamel said, “As we look to the next hundred years at the Hollywood Bowl, I am honored and excited to share a season which, to me, speaks of a beautiful future ahead. From timeless music by Mendelssohn, de Falla and Verdi, to modern-day classics by John Williams and Duke Ellington, to the soul-filling sounds of our Pan-American Music Initiative, to the singular energy of Café Tacvba, each of these programs takes us on the kind of magic journey that can only begin at the Bowl.”
SEASON DETAILS
Pop and Rock Concerts
Opening Night on June 10 kicks off a star-filled summer schedule with the iconic Janet Jackson, joined by special guest GRAMMY Award-winning rapper Ludacris and featuring a special appearance by musicians of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), conducted by Thomas Wilkins.
The annual July 4th Fireworks Spectacular will feature The Beach Boys performing with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by HBO Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins (July 2-4). Much-anticipated July weekend performances continue with two nights featuring Kool & The Gang and the Village People (July 14-15) and one night only featuring Sparks and They Might Be Giants (July 16). A special birthday concert, Quincy Jones’ 90th-Birthday Tribute: A Musical Celebration, will feature performances of the recording legend’s songs by a roster of special guests and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by composer, conductor and Jones collaborator Jules Buckley (July 28-29).
Fresh off his chart-topping album Walls and first-ever solo tour, British singer-songwriter and former member of One Direction Louis Tomlinson takes the stage with his vibrant mix of sounds (June 30). Iconic English pop band and GRAMMY Award winners Culture Club return to the Bowl with their new-wave soul with added touches of reggae, calypso, salsa and country music. Boy George’s flamboyant style—and his barbed tongue—made them sensations, but it all came back to the idea of making music that would bring together people of different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities. The band will revisit the unforgettable songs that defined the sounds of the 1980s, including “Karma Chameleon,” “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya,” and “Time (Clock of the Heart).” (Aug. 25-26).
Additional concerts include innovative Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (June 21), making their Hollywood Bowl debut in a three-hour marathon set of psychedelic music; Mexican indie-pop guitarist and singer Carla Morrison (Aug. 12); and a one-night-only double bill of Air Supply and Michael Bolton (Sept. 3).
Three-time GRAMMY-winning soul singer and songwriter Maxwell leads the Fireworks Finale, hooking his supple and soulful R&B—and three decades of hits—to elegant backing from his veteran touring band (Sept. 8-10).
Gustavo Dudamel
Music & Artistic Director, Walt and Lilly Disney Chair
Gustavo Dudamel returns for his 14th Hollywood Bowl season on July 6 conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mendelssohn’s whimsical incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transforming the Bowl with director Alberto Arvelo and projections on the Hollywood Bowl’s shell. Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, performed by Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, concludes the program. On July 11, Dudamel revisits Verdi’s Requiem, a piece he last conducted a decade before, with an emotional performance featuring young soloists—soprano Angel Blue, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, tenor Mario Chang and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green—with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Longtime Dudamel friend and collaborator John Williams, considered one of the greatest composers in Hollywood movie history with films including the Star Wars series, E.T., the Indiana Jones movies and Jaws, joins Dudamel as the two share the podium for three special evenings of Maestro of the Movies: John Williams with the LA Phil, including a selection of film clips on the big screens accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic (July 7-9).
Dudamel continues his five-year Pan-American Music Initiative with Estancia with Dudamel, presenting works by two Mexican composers: Francisco Cortés-Álvarez’s La Serpiente de Colores (LA Phil commission) and Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño with trumpeter Pacho Flores. The evening also offers a rare performance of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s ballet Estancia, baritone Gustavo Castillo and the dance company Grupo Corpo (July 18).
Dudamel leads An Ellington Celebration, honoring the American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington (July 13). He also conducts a night of Russian music bookended by Sergei Prokofiev, including his beloved Romeo and Juliet; Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme serve as a stellar showcase for cellist Alisa Weilerstein (July 20).
Dudamel’s summer Bowl concerts conclude when he leads the LA Phil and GRAMMY Award-winning Mexico City indie rockers Café Tacvba for two nights (July 21-22).
KCRW Festival
The LA Phil is proud to partner once again with KCRW to present a series of genre-spanning concerts: Reggae Night XXI featuring Beres Hammond, Steel Pulse and Third World (July 23); rock band Portugal. The Man, psych-soul four-piece band Chicano Batman and Brooklyn-based, seven-piece Say She She (Aug. 6); Maggie Rogers and Alvvays (Aug. 13); rock band My Morning Jacket with indie folk group Fleet Foxes (Aug. 20); and Los Auténticos Decadentes with a celebration of Argentina from a band of rockers that mixes ska, cumbia, reggae, bolero and more, with additional artists to be announced (Sept. 24).
Jazz, Soul and Rhythm & Blues
The Hollywood Bowl’s exceptional roster of jazz, soul, R&B and blues icons starts with Jill Scott (June 22), one of R&B and soul’s most influential and beloved singers and songwriters, performing her 2000 debut studio album Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol 1 in its entirety. R&B icon Charlie Wilson (a.k.a. Uncle Charlie) returns to the Bowl July 12 with hits from his days as lead singer of the Gap Band (“Outstanding,” “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “Party Train”) and his solo career (“Charlie, Last Name Wilson,” “There Goes My Baby,” “You Are,” “I’m Blessed”). Making his Hollywood Bowl debut will be blues rock superstar guitarist, singer, songwriter and three-time GRAMMY nominee Joe Bonamassa, who has topped the Billboard blues charts a record-breaking 25 times with his signature take on the genre (Aug. 9). And on Aug. 11, powerhouse Latin music icon Rubén Blades comes back to the Bowl stage.
On Aug. 16, the Empress of Soul and seven-time GRAMMY-winning artist Gladys Knight returns to the Bowl with a show spanning her more than 50-year career of No. 1 hits in pop, gospel, R&B and adult contemporary.
Blues rock star and eight-time GRAMMY winner Buddy Guy reappears at the Bowl in a concert opened by contemporary blues, rock ’n’ roll, R&B and soul musician Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (Sept. 6).
Co-curated by jazz titans Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington, the two-day Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival hosted by Arsenio Hall features Washington along with Leon Bridges, West Coast Get Down, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Digable Planets, Poncho Sanchez, Aziza, The Soul Rebels with Big Freedia, Samara Joy, Lionel Loueke and Gretchen Parlato, Boukman Eksperyans, Butcher Brown, Andrew Gouché and Prayze Connection, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA, The Cardinal Divas of SC, LACHSA Jazz, LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band and more (June 17-18).
Returning to the Bowl with their popular jazz evenings will be celebrated artist Diana Krall (July 19) and legendary award-winning pianist and LA Phil Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock (Aug. 23) with special guests.
An evening of Smooth Summer Jazz with Dave Koz and Friends will be headlined by multiplatinum saxophonist Dave Koz joined by Morris Day & The Time (Aug. 27). British multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier collaborates with the LA Phil, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, in an evening showcasing his music combining jazz with other musical genres (Sept. 13). An all-star lineup performs Promises, the acclaimed 2021 album-length composition recorded with the late tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, featuring performances by Floating Points (Sam Shepherd), Shabaka Hutchings and more (Sept. 20).
Classical
The 2023 Hollywood Bowl season offers more than 20 classical programs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. In July, Leonard Slatkin conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, Cindy McTee’s Timepiece and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Japanese jazz pianist Makoto Ozone (July 25). French conductor Stéphane Denève, Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, leads the LA Phil with violinist Rachel Barton Pine in Billy Childs’ Violin Concerto No. 2 (July 27).
August brings a series of acclaimed pianists, starting with an all-Rachmaninoff program led by South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung that features the Symphonic Dances and pianist Yunchan Lim playing the Piano Concerto No. 3 (Aug. 1). French pianist Hélène Grimaud performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 under the baton of Ryan Bancroft, who also leads Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte and Elgar’s Enigma Variations (Aug. 8). A Nordic program will highlight Finnish-Cuban pianist Anton Mejias playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto, led by Tarmo Peltokoski, who also conducts Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 (Aug. 10). Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet takes the stage Aug. 15 for an evening of French music including Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, with Jonathon Heyward conducting Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (Aug. 15).
Young virtuoso Sterling Elliott joins the LA Phil for Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in a program led by Anna Rakitina, who brings the evening to a thunderous close with Shostakovich’s powerful Fifth Symphony (Aug. 17).
The Hollywood Bowl welcomes the return of its audience favorite Tchaikovsky Spectacular with conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser leading the composer’s Waltz from Swan Lake, his Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Bruce Liu and the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, capping off the evening with the 1812 Overture featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band and a stunning fireworks display (Aug. 18-19).
Teddy Abrams leads a concert of familiar and brand-new American music, including Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite and genre-defying mandolinist Chris Thile’s LA Phil-commissioned concerto/narrative song cycle in its West Coast premiere (Aug. 22); Italian-Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes leads Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and his Violin Concerto with soloist Clara-Jumi Kang (Aug. 29); and New Zealand-born Gemma New conducts the LA Phil in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with violinist Nathan Cole, a selection of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons and Shift, Change, Turn, a work by Jessie Montgomery inspired by Vivaldi’s masterpiece (Aug. 31).
In September, the Hollywood Bowl’s annual Mozart Under the Stars will be led by the English Baroque conductor Nicholas McGegan, featuring the composer’s Don Giovanni Overture; Violin Concerto No. 5, “Turkish” with soloist Bomsori Kim; and Symphony No. 38, “Prague” (Sept. 5). Masaaki Suzuki will conduct Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major with Concertmaster Martin Chalifour as soloist, Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, “Italian” (Sept. 7). Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers returns to the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Phil conducted by Karen Kamensek to perform Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1, followed by Gustav Holst’s fan favorite The Planets (Sept. 12).
Music from the Stage and Screen
The Hollywood Bowl continues to thrill audiences with evenings of music from the stage and screen. The 2023 season offers the epic finale to the Harry Potter Film Concert Series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ Part 2, bringing the final chapter to the big screens as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra performs the dazzling score by Alexandre Desplat (June 24).
For two nights in September, the Bowl presents Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert, featuring the 1983 installment in the Star Wars saga, with David Newman conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic as it plays John Williams’ legendary score live to picture. (Sept. 1-2).
As Warner Bros. celebrates 100 years of entertaining audiences around the world, the Hollywood Bowl will add a highlight to the yearlong celebration through Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time, performed live to picture by the LA Phil (Aug. 3).
Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Concert will showcase the breadth and depth of the music and animation of Disney Animation over the past century, from Snow White to Frozen and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Thomas Wilkins and joined by guest vocalists, will accompany beloved film clips on the big screen live to picture (Aug. 4-5).
Everybody Rise! A Sondheim Celebration presents a journey through the world of one of the most celebrated figures in the history of musical theater, with guest vocalists and an orchestra bringing Stephen Sondheim’s most iconic songs to the stage (July 30).
On Aug. 24, composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi, best known as the musical mind behind nearly all of famed Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki’s films with Studio Ghibli, leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Debussy’s sea-inspired, impressionistic La mer and the symphonic suite from Hisaishi’s own evocative score to the landmark anime Princess Mononoke.
An audience perennial favorite and a highly anticipated Bowl tradition returns: Sing-A-Long Sound of Music, the annual special screening of the Oscar®-winning film with pre-show costume contest for audience members, will once again be hosted by the hilarious Melissa Peterman (Sept. 16).
The Game Awards 10-Year Celebration showcases the emotional and unforgettable role music plays in video games, featuring orchestral music selections and suites from many of the world’s top video game franchises performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (June 25).
Ticketing
Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl 2023 summer season will be available online at hollywoodbowl.com or via phone at 323 850 2000 on the following dates:
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Currently on sale (as of February 7, 2023):
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Louis Tomlinson
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Subscription renewals
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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
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Jill Scott
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Group sales on sale in February 2023
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New subscriptions available February 7, 2023.
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“Create Your Own” packages available Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
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The Hollywood Bowl Box Office opens for single ticket sales Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Programs, artists, prices and dates are subject to change. Ticket limits may apply.
For additional information, please visit: http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/
Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine
The culinary program at the Hollywood Bowl is curated by the celebrated team of local team of chef Suzanne Goin and sommelier Caroline Styne. The James Beard award-winning duo, along with Executive Chef Jeff Rogers, will be providing freshly prepared food and carefully selected wine for purchase from the on-site marketplaces, as well as Picnic Boxes that can be pre-ordered for pickup in the marketplaces or delivered directly to guests’ box seats. For box seat holders, Supper in Your Seats can be pre-ordered and is served in the boxes for the ultimate Hollywood Bowl experience. The Street Food Stands (available in person and via mobile ordering) offer burgers, artisanal pizzas, tacos and Chef Goin’s famous Spanish Fried Chicken. Two freestanding restaurants are also available to enjoy: Ann’s Wine Bar (by a.o.c.), which offers a selection of small plates for in-person outdoor dining; and the backyard, with its two wood-fired grills and a menu featuring a raw bar, local vegetables and salads as well as grilled fish, poultry and chops. Reservations for both restaurants are available through Open Table.
For the most up-to-date information on dining options at the Hollywood Bowl, including select picnic areas, please visit here.
Press Materials
2023 Press Kit (English PDF version)
2023 Learning Factsheet (English)
2023 Learning Factsheet (Español)
Public Relations and Press Queries
Hours: 10am-5pm, Monday-Friday
Sophie Jefferies
sjefferies@laphil.org
Holly Wallace
hwallace@laphil.org
Laura Cohen
lcmediapr@gmail.com
Kassandra Winchester
kwinchester@laphil.org
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF THE LA PHIL HOLLYWOOD BOWL 2023 CONCERTS
About the Hollywood Bowl
One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922 and plays host to the finest artists from all genres of music, offering something for everyone. It remains one of the best deals anywhere in Los Angeles; to this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many classical and jazz performances. In June 2021, the Hollywood Bowl was awarded Amphitheater of the Decade at the 32nd Annual Pollstar Awards. It was also awarded the Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year award at the 31st Annual Pollstar Awards, an honor bestowed 14 previous times, as well as Top Amphitheater prize at the 2017 and 2018 Billboard Touring Awards. For millions of music lovers across Southern California, the Hollywood Bowl is synonymous with summer. hollywoodbowl.com
About the LA Phil
Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multi-genre, multidisciplinary presenting program and such youth development programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and The Ford—as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today.