(bright classical music)
- [Narrator] For 10 years,
Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles
has been a unique locust for music,
the arts, and architecture.
Since opening in October of 2003,
it has become one of the most recognizable symbols
of Los Angeles.
Not to mention, one of the best-known concert halls
the world over.
From Frank Gehry's first sketches,
to last night's concert,
Walt Disney Concert Hall stands as a monument
to the forward-thinking artistic minds
of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
the city of Los Angeles,
and concert-goers who walk through these doors every season.
Sitting on four acres atop Bunker Hill,
this monument to music serves as a study in contrasts
that manages to find the balance
between imposing and inviting.
With its shiny steel-clad exterior
and warm, expansive interior,
the design reflects Gehry's vision
of being built from the inside out.
With pinpoint acoustics overseen
by master acoustician, Yasuhisa Toyota,
Walt Disney Concert Hall is meant to be seen,
heard, and experienced by all.
The first thing visitors notice on arriving at the hall
is its breathtaking exterior.
Sheathed in stainless steel,
visitors have said the lines and curves
of Walt Disney Concert Hall remind them of ships,
sails, and whatever else the imagination can conjure.
But it's really upon entering
that the true purpose of Gehry's creation
comes in to full view.
For as grand as it is from the outside,
its well-lit, welcoming, and warm interior
begins with the lobby's Douglas fir-wrapped tree columns
and continues until one takes a seat in the main auditorium.
Just above the main lobby is one of
Walt Disney Concert Hall's two interior performance spaces.
The dramatic yet intimate BP Hall.
Like the main auditorium, BP Hall was built
with both acoustics and the concert-goer in mind,
and hosts pre-concert talks, musical performances,
receptions, and private events.
Walking past BP Hall, you'll come across
the Library of Congress Ira Gershwin Gallery,
a place where rotating, musically-themed historical exhibits
are displayed for the public to enjoy.
Next up is one of the spaces dedicated to thanking
the many who helped make Lillian Disney's vision a reality.
Features throughout the concert hall
are named for benefactors,
such as the sweeping Henry Mancini Family staircase,
which provides a unique, colorful view of BP Hall.
After climbing the Mancini staircase,
you'll find another wall with many names on it.
The subtle, yet striking major gifts donor wall
proudly commemorates those individuals and organizations
instrumental in Walt Disney Concert Hall's
conception and construction.
And it's fitting that such recognition is bestowed here,
where it can remind guests and concert-goers
of the effort and generosity of the many arts patrons
who work together to make Walt Disney Concert Hall happen
just before they enter the breathtaking main auditorium.
(dramatic classical orchestral music)
Whether in the highest reaches of the balcony,
or in the front orchestra,
concert-goers can be assured that they're seeing and hearing
exactly what architect Frank Gehry
and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota intended.
Like the lobby, the main auditorium
features the warm tones of Douglas fir
and Alaskan yellow cedar for visual and acoustical purposes.
And the wildflower design of the seat covering
adds a striking dimension
to the light-infused openness of the hall.
But of all the eye-catching features in the auditorium,
perhaps the most iconic
is the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ.
A collaborative design of Frank Gehry,
and organ builder Manuel Rosales.
Some have referred to it as the french fries.
Composer Terry Riley dubbed it hurricane mama.
But whatever you call it,
the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ demands your attention
wherever you're seated.
In many ways, the organ reflects Frank Gehry's vision
for both concert hall and auditorium at large,
a marriage of form and function,
a larger than life set piece
that still manages not to overwhelm
by maintaining a human scale.
The auditorium, which envelopes up to 2400 concert-goers,
with its welcoming, yet lofty design, is the perfect home,
not only for the L.A. Phil,
but for the entire city of Los Angeles.
The final stop of any tour of the hall
might also be its most surprising,
the Walt Disney Concert Hall Community Garden
on the third level.
The community garden features an outdoor performance space
and landscaping that evokes Southern California,
and provides a break from the bustling city
that surrounds the hall.
The garden is open to all,
and welcomes everyone who passes through its gates,
free of charge.
The centerpiece of the community garden is without a doubt
the Lillian Disney Fountain.
Inscribed with, "A rose for Lily,"
the fountain is undeniably beautiful
and unmistakably Gehry.
Its rose shape echoes features
found throughout Walt Disney Concert Hall,
such as the inverted tulip of the founders room,
and is covered with a mosaic
of artfully broken pieces of delft china.
The fountain, one of the most photographed features
of Walt Disney Concert Hall,
is Gehry's tribute to the woman whose gift meant...
(dramatic classical music)
At it's most basic, Walt Disney Concert Hall is a home,
a home to the L.A. Phil,
its musicians and employees,
and a home for the arts in Los Angeles.
And as millions of visitors each year can attest,
this monument and the power, grandeur,
and humanity of the arts, is one of a kind.
Seen all over the world in movies,
television shows, and commercials,
perhaps no other building better symbolizes
the creative spirit of the city that houses it.
A concert hall, an educational space, a park,
an office, and a cultural landmark, all rolled into one,
Walt Disney Concert Hall represents the best
of the city of Los Angeles and the performing arts.
And the L.A. Phil is proud to call it home.
(dramatic classical music)