May 13, 1987
Funding
Lillian Disney, the widow of Walt Disney, offers an initial donation of $50 million to create what will become Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.
"I have always had a deep love and admiration for my husband and I wanted to find a way to honor him, as well as give something to Los Angeles which would have lasting qualities," she says in a statement.
"The thought that a concert hall would be built that would entertain the public with the finest musical offerings would be enormously gratifying to him."
The estimated time for completing the hall was an optimistic four to five years. (It would take more than a decade for construction on the actual hall to begin.)
Animator Walt Disney (1901-66) and his wife, Lillian, at home, about 1955.
(Gene Lester / Getty Images)
Dec. 12, 1988
Design
Frank Gehry's design is officially named the winner by the Walt Disney Concert Hall Committee. Gehry beats out competing designs by Gottfried Böhm, Hans Hollein, James Stirling and Michael Wilford.
Frank Gehry with a model of the proposed Walt Disney Concert Hall on the day he was selected as architect.
(Thomas Kelsey / Los Angeles Times)
Sept. 4, 1991
Design
Frank Gehry unveils the final shape of his Disney Hall design. Estimated price tag: $110 million. (The final cost eventually would escalate to more than double that.)
The Times receives many letters from readers who don't care for Gehry's swooping curves. "If it's an architectural masterpiece, why is it so ugly?" writes one reader. Another calls it "an atrocious embarrassment."
A Times review of the design is more favorable and leads with the headline: "Gehry's Crown for Bunker Hill Is a Fitting Tribute for Disney."
Architect Frank Gehry looks over a model of Walt Disney Concert Hall during groundbreaking ceremonies in Los Angeles.
(Michael Tweed / Associated Press)
Oct. 8, 1992
Programming
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his first concert as the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in its home, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The program features Mahler's Symphony No. 3.
Salonen succeeded André Previn, who had left three years before, following a rocky tenure.
PHOTOS: Esa-Pekka Salonen | Career retrospective
Esa-Pekka Salonen receives flowers after his third curtain call at his first concert as the L.A. Philharmonic's music director.
(Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)
Dec. 10, 1992
Construction
Construction on Disney Hall's underground parking garage begins. By this time, Disney family members have donated additional funds, bringing their total contribution to $93 million.
The Music Center plans to raise $17.5 million, with other money coming from the county and other donations.
Estimated date of completion for the entire hall: 1996.
Architect Frank Gehry, third from right, turns a shovel of dirt at the groundbreaking for Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Steve Dykes / Los Angeles Times)
Aug. 22, 1994
Funding
Officials announce a $50-million cost overrun, bringing the estimated final price tag to $260 million. The expected completion date is pushed to sometime in 1997.
The cost overrun is blamed on stricter earthquake codes — the Northridge quake occurred earlier the same year — and a tougher construction market.
The Disney Hall construction site can be seen at the bottom of the picture.
(Carol Cheetham / For The Times)
Nov. 2, 1994
Construction
Construction on Disney Hall is halted by leaders so that they can study ways to manage spiraling costs. The county insists that 95% of the budget be raised before construction of the hall begins.
"We believe that this is an important step that we've taken, because we want to ensure that this project is not going to proceed out of control," the chairman of the Walt Disney Hall Committee tells The Times .
"That is crucial particularly in light of the fact that we have to raise the money."
The Disney Hall construction site.
(Carol Cheetham / For The Times)
June 21, 1996
Funding
Billionaire Eli Broad and then-mayor of L.A. Richard Riordan step in to launch a new fundraising effort that will bridge the now more than $50-million cost overrun.
Broad doesn't commit to making a personal donation to the project at the time. (He would eventually contribute $5 million.) The final cost is now estimated at $255 million.
Eli Broad in 2000. Behind him is a photo of the Walt Disney Concert Hall design.
(Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times)
May 30, 1997
Design
Architect Frank Gehry threatens to quit in a letter sent to fundraiser Eli Broad. The architect objects to a proposal that his design be finalized by another architectural firm, with Gehry serving as a consultant.
"The past few years have been difficult for me as I have taken a lot of heat for what has happened," Gehry writes in the letter. "Please forgive me as I withdraw myself from any future relationship to this project."
After an intervention by Diane Disney Miller , the daughter of Walt and Lillian Disney, Gehry agrees to stay on.
RELATED: Diane Disney Miller, the reluctant savior
Diane Disney Miller, Walt Disney's daughter.
(Perry C. Riddle / Los Angeles Times)
Dec. 16, 1997
Funding
Lillian Disney dies at 98 , having never seen the completion of the concert hall.
Earlier the same month, the Walt Disney Co. announces a matching gift of $25 million for the hall. The news is announced by the company's then-chairman and chief executive, Michael Eisner, at a news conference at the Music Center.
The gift provides for the creation of a theater space at Disney Hall that will eventually be named the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT).
Michael D. Eisner, left, chairman and chief executive of the Walt Disney Co. greets architect Frank Gehry during presentation of a "challenge gift" toward construction of the hall. At right is Tim Disney, Walt Disney's great-nephew, whose parents Patty and Roy E. Disney pledged the first matching gift of $5 million.
(John T. Barr / Associated Press)
March 1, 1998
Programming
Ernest Fleischmann steps down as general manager of the L.A. Philharmonic after three decades leading the orchestra. Fleischmann, who was a key force behind Disney Hall, would remain involved with the L.A. Philharmonic until his death in 2010.
He is succeeded at the helm by Willem Wijnbergen, whose troubled tenure with the orchestra would last 15 months .
Ernest Fleischmann
(Paul Morse / Los Angeles Times)
July 20, 1998
Funding
Officials announce that sufficient funds have been raised to resume construction on Disney Hall following four years in limbo.
The drive brings the total amount raised to $196 million. Officials tell The Times that new donations total 17 in number and range in size from $250,000 to $2 million.
Among the changes to Gehry's design is the decision to use stainless steel for the exterior of the hall instead of limestone.
A detail of the main entry of the most recent design for the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times)
Dec. 8, 1999
Construction
Construction on the hall itself officially begins with a ceremony featuring members of the Disney family and musicians from the L.A. Philharmonic.
The final cost of the building is estimated at $274 million.
Architect Frank Gehry, left, and Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney, applaud as a giant mural of Walt Disney Concert Hall is unveiled during a construction commencement ceremony.
(John T. Barr / Los Angeles Times)
Jan. 1, 2000
Programming
Deborah Borda becomes the orchestra's new president and chief executive officer, having served in a similar role at the New York Philharmonic.
RELATED: Make no mistake, she's in charge
Deborah Borda at an introductory news conference, standing between Esa-Pekka Salonen, left, the Philharmonic's music director, and Barry Sanders, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn.
(Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times)
July 30, 2003
Design
Music is played for an audience and the hall works.
In Disney's first significant performance, a 45-minute mini-concert is played for VIPs. The orchestra is heard with new clarity and Salonen and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota acknowledge breathing huge sighs of relief.
Yasuhisa Toyota, the Disney Hall acoustician
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Oct. 23, 2003
Programming
More than 15 years in the making, Disney Hall officially opens with celebrity-heavy gala celebrations and performances led by Salonen.
The gala, spread over three concerts, includes performances of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," John Adams' "The Dharma at Big Sur" and a piece by movie composer John Williams.
Then-Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff writes in a review : "Few buildings in the history of Los Angeles have come burdened with greater public expectations than the Walt Disney Concert Hall. None has lived up to such expectations so gracefully. … [T]he hall is the most significant work ever created by a Los Angeles architect in his native city."
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts on Walt Disney Concert Hall's opening night.
(Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times)
Nov. 16, 2003
Programming
The Los Angeles Master Chorale begins its residency at Disney Hall.
The inaugural concert, "Music in the Key of New," conducted by Grant Gershon, includes pieces by Bach, John Adams and two world premieres co-written by Bobby McFerrin and Roger Treece.
REVIEW: A chorus worthy of approval at Disney | Mark Swed
The Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2003, performing in Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Sept. 30, 2004
Programming
The hall's eye-catching organ, with its signature "French fry" pipes, makes its debut.
The instrument, designed by Gehry and organ builder Manuel Rosales, is first heard in a recital performed by Frederick Swann.
Organist Frederick Swann introduces his program during the recital that officially inaugurates the Disney Hall organ.
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Dec. 1, 2004
Programming
The three-day "Tristan Project," a collaboration between director Peter Sellars, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and video artist Bill Viola, pushes the hall in new directions .
Of the ambitious undertaking, Times music critic Mark Swed writes "If the 'Tristan Project' is not the greatest moment in the orchestra's history, I can't imagine what was." The project would return to Disney for three days in April 2007.
The second act of the "Tristan Project," with Esa–Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
March 1, 2006
Programming
An all-night rock concert showcases electronic music.
The hall shows it's not just about classical music with a program featuring the U.K. forefathers of ambient house the Orb as part of the Minimalist Jukebox festival. The minimalist festival is set to return to the hall in April 2014.
July 28, 2006
Funding
A lawsuit is settled over construction cost overruns, bringing the final price tag for Disney Hall to an estimated $284 million.
The Times reports that none of the parties admits blame or wrongdoing for cost overruns as part of the settlement.
Pedestrians pass Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
Nov. 1, 2007
Programming
The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Dudamel debut at Disney Hall .
After wowing audiences at the Hollywood Bowl (and propelling the L.A. Philharmonic to select Dudamel as its next music director), the young conductor brings his even younger Venezuelan players to Disney for an indelible concert of Bernstein and Mahler.
Gustavo Dudamel leads Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)
April 19, 2009
Programming
Esa-Pekka Salonen gives his final performance as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic. The concert includes Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" and "Symphony of Psalms."
He currently holds the title of conductor laureate with the orchestra.
RELATED: How Esa-Pekka Salonen and L.A. Phil grew together Esa-Pekka Salonen: The maestro departs
Esa–Pekka Salonen leaves the stage after his final performance as musical director.
(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
April 26, 2009
Programming
Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman stops his Disney Hall performance to make a political statement.
The acclaimed pianist, saying he was protesting U.S military policies, announces this would be his last performance in this country, angering many in the audience inside Disney Hall and, as word spread, across the country.
Pianist Krystian Zimerman
(Kasslara / Deutsche Grammophon)
Oct. 8, 2009
Programming
Gustavo Dudamel, then 28, leads his first performance at Disney Hall as the orchestra's new music director.
The program consists of the world premiere of Adams' "City Noir" and Mahler's First Symphony.
PHOTOS: Gustavo Dudamel by The Times
Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the first time as its music director.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Jan. 1, 2011
Programming
The orchestra kicks off "L.A. Phil Live ," a series of programs transmitted to cinemas across the U.S. and Canada.
Although "L.A. Phil Live" exposes the hall and the orchestra to new audiences, the project doesn't prove cost-effective and is dropped after two seasons .
Cameras capture the Los Angeles Philharmonic's first live broadcast.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
March 29, 2011
Programming
A year after Ernest Fleischmann's death , musical luminaries come to Disney Hall to pay tribute to the L.A. Phil's longtime general manager. Following the naming of the corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue Ernest Fleischmann Square, they hear and participate in a special Green Umbrella concert, "A Tribute to Ernest."
APPRECIATION: Earnest Fleischmann | 1924-2010
Pierre Boulez conducts his "Sur Incise" at the concert honoring Ernest Fleischmann.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
May 1, 2012
Programming
Opera comes to the hall in a big way with a site-specific "Don Giovanni."
The production, designed by Gehry with costumes by fashion brand Rodarte, kicks off Dudamel's three-year project to present Mozart operas written with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. In 2013 Jean Nouvel, the French architect, would find new uses for Disney Hall for "The Marriage of Figaro ." The trilogy is set to close with "Così fan tutte" in 2014.
A scene from "Don Giovanni" at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The set is by Frank Gehry, the costumes by Rodarte.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Sept. 22, 2013
Programming
The orchestra plans for its 10-year anniversary programming to begin with a Sept. 30 gala conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. For the actual anniversary date, Oct. 23, it schedules a performance of Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" to be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen .
Disney Hall at night.
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
