Rachel Moore News

The Music Center today announced the opening of its 2018-2019 dance season with the Los Angeles premiere of Company Wayne McGregor's Autobiography (October 5-7, 2018), a contemporary dance portrait that fuses science and the human form.  Known for choreography that examines life through the experience of the body, British choreographer and director Wayne McGregor, CBE based Autobiography on the sequencing of his own genome, compiling 23 different sequences that are performed in varying order each night.  McGregor uses a computer algorithm to determine the selection and order of the 23 sections prior to each performance, ensuring audiences will experience a performance that will never be repeated.

 The Music Center announced it will present two star-studded concerts, JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on November 6 and November 7, 2018, featuring an incredible array of singers and musicians who will honor one of the world's most remarkable artists, Joni Mitchell, on her 75th birthday.  On both nights, Glen Hansard, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, Diana Krall, Kris Kristofferson, Los Lobos, Graham Nash, Seal, and Rufus Wainwright, will perform songs from all stages of Mitchell's life and career, across the entire oeuvre of her 19 studio albums.  Co-musical directors, providing the musical arrangements for the evenings, are drummer Brian Blade, who recorded three studio albums and toured extensively with Mitchell, and, pianist, composer, arranger producer Jon Cowherd. 

The Music Center today announced Grand Park's fall/winter programming line-up featuring the return of its most popular free activities and events along with additional programs that inspire Angelenos to celebrate the diverse fabric of Los Angeles and the county's promising future.

The Music Center's Moves After Dark (Moves After Dark) returns for a third season on July 24, 25 and 31 and August 1, 2018, with world premieres of choreography performed by three Los Angeles-based dance companies, all of which are led by female artistic directors.

The Music Center announced it will present the Los Angeles premiere of the live overnight performance of Max Richter's SLEEP, one of the longest single pieces of classical music ever to be recorded and performed, in Grand Park on Friday, July 27 and Saturday, July 28, 2018.  Following its recent successes in New York City and at SXSW, along with performances in London, Berlin and Sydney among others, SLEEP will be performed outdoors for the first time as the first overnight event to be held at Grand Park, Los Angeles County's highly popular gathering space.  Cots will replace traditional seating to allow attendees to fully immerse themselves in the eight-hour experience.  The concert, featuring Richter playing the piano and keyboard along with the musicians on the 2015 Deutsche Grammophon recording of the work, American Contemporary Music Ensemble and soprano Grace Davidson, will begin at 10:30 p.m. on both Friday andSaturday evenings and conclude at 6:30 a.m. the following mornings.  The Music Center Presents Max Richter's SLEEP is supported by the Ring-Miscikowski Foundation/The Ring Foundation.

The Music Center welcomes the return of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) with the company's production of the 19th century classic ballet, La Bayadere, which will be performed at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for the first time from July 13 - 15, 2018.  The final engagement of the 15th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, La Bayadere is set in royal India and tells the story of eternal love, fate, vengeance and justice.  The production will highlight ABT's stellar roster of international ballet stars, including Principal Dancers Isabella Boylston, Jeffrey Cirio, Misty Copeland, Hee Seo, Cory Stearns, Gillian Murphy, Devon Teuscher and Christine Shevchenko.

Oscar-award nominated actress Angela Bassett will host The Music Center's 30th Annual Spotlight Grand Finale Performance at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall on June 5, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. This landmark event will showcase the 14 outstanding Southern California high school students, ages 15-18, who were recently named Grand Prize Finalists and will celebrate three decades of the vital scholarship and arts training program that has helped launch the careers of many of today's most renowned artists. The event culminates a year-long process where more than 1,400 Southern California students participated in the program.

The Music Center named 14 outstanding Southern California high school students as Grand Prize Finalists in the 30th annual The Music Center's Spotlight program (Spotlight), a free nationally recognized scholarship and arts training program for teens.  Two Grand Prize Finalists were named in each of seven categories, including acting, ballet, non-classical dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental and jazz instrumental.  All finalists will receive $5,000 scholarships and appear in a ticketed Grand Finale Performance, open to the public, at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall on June 5, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.  Spotlight Grand Prize Finalists were chosen from more than 1,400 Southern California students who participated in the year-long program.  The Music Center has awarded more than

Southern California audiences will experience some of the most captivating and entertaining dance performances during The Music Center's upcoming dance season, with choreography that expresses deep emotions and movement that showcases the dimensions of both classical and contemporary dance.  Featuring a wide range of popular and groundbreaking dance companies, including The Music Center premiere of Company Wayne McGregor and the return of The Royal Ballet to The Music Center's stages after a 20-year absence, along with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, L.A.'s own Diavolo/Architecture in Motion and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker by Miami City Ballet, the upcoming Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center (Dance at The Music Center) season is the most fearless and dynamic to date.  Center Dance Arts is the founding supporter of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center.

The Music Center today announced its first Arts Integration Symposium for K-12 educators to be held at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from July 18-20, 2018.  This new program features a first-ever collaboration with both The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts where educators will have access to a team of experts from all three of the nation's leading arts institutions.  Teaching artists from across the country will join together to share their approaches to engaging students in transformative arts education programs and offer participants access to a wide range of professional development.  This opportunity is made possible by the Annenberg Foundation as part of the Annenberg Next Generation Arts Education Program.

 The Music Center today announced Grand Park's 2018 summer season with free programming that offers Angelenos the opportunity to participate in their favorite outdoor activities amidst the beauty of Grand Park.

Grand Park will celebrate L.A. artists from April 27-29 at the first annual Grand Park's Our L.A. Voices: Spring Arts Festival, a public arts exhibition that will gather diverse and powerful talent from around Los Angeles County and showcase the region's artistic excellence. 

A story relevant to generations past and present, Shakespeare's cautionary tale of love serves as a modern metaphor for the influence of society over individual freedom. For although the personal journeys of Romeo & Juliet are integral to the tale, this is a love story within a clear social and political context - the collective identity of the group is considered more important than the desires of its citizens, dooming the young lovers from "opposite sides of the tracks" to their tragic end as their personal lives are molded by the hostilities of the previous era. Beginning in the 1930s during a time when a rigid dictatorial system had taken over the country, the Capulet family represents the upper-class conservatives with stiff, militaristic movement, while the Montagues represent the liberal low and middle classes, danced with loose, flowing motions laced with pedestrian naturalism.

Los Angeles audiences will experience the brilliance of David Bowie like never before with StarDust, Complexions Contemporary Ballet's revelatory tribute to the late icon, taking place at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from April 20 - 22, 2018. Part of the 15th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center (Dance at The Music Center), this production will feature many of the singer's most beloved hits and glam rock-inspired costumes designed by Christine Darch.

The Music Center named 113 of Southern California's most talented high school students as semifinalists in The Music Center's 30th annual Spotlight (Spotlight) program, a free nationally-acclaimed scholarship and arts training program for teens.

The Music Center welcomes the return of The Joffrey Ballet to Los Angeles for a contemporary rendition of Shakespeare's timeless classic with the West Coast premiere of Romeo & Juliet.

For three days in February, nearly 18,000 fifth graders from 234 schools in Los Angeles County will arrive at The Music Center ready to dance as the annual Blue Ribbon Children's Festival gets underway for the 48th consecutive year. Designed specifically for fifth grade students, the Blue Ribbon Children's Festival is an annual admission-free program at The Music Center where students-many for the first time-experience a live professional performance at a world-class performing arts center, then perform a short-choreographed dance piece all together. 

The Music Center today announced Grand Park's spring programming line-up, which continues the celebration of the park's fifth anniversary. Grand Park's spring season includes the return of some of the park's most popular free activities and events, including Grand Park's spring lunchtime concerts and Earth Day L.A., and celebrates the diversity and excellence of L.A.-based artists with the launch of Grand Park's Our L.A. Voices L.A. Arts Festival.

The Music Center today announced approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors of the performing arts center's plan to transform The Music Center Plaza into a highly accessible, welcoming outdoor urban venue in the heart of the Los Angeles Civic Center. With a new plaza, The Music Center will provide a place where Angelenos will not only gather prior to and after performances on its campus, but also come together to share new experiences in a completely refreshed venue with more programming, activities and events, and multiple foodservice options at varying price points.

Los Angeles will once again make its mark on New Year's Eve celebrations around the world as Angelenos join together with friends and family to share their dreams and aspirations for 2018 at the annual Grand Park + The Music Center's N.Y.E.L.A.