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Top 10 Facts about the Walt Disney Concert Hall

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the 4^th hall of the Los Angeles Music Centre.

This Concert Hall came to be through the generosity of Lillian and the Disney family, corporate donors and other well-wishers.

Photo by Daniel Hartwig – Wikimedia

They greatly enjoyed the performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and other fantastic visiting artists from around the world.

Architect Frank Gehry designed this internationally famous landmark. It is one of the most acoustically chic concert halls in the world.

The exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall is defined by stainless steel curves.

Furthermore, the interior has soft furnishings, hardwood panelling of the main auditorium, glazed curtain walls and pre-cast concrete. There are 2,273 seats in the concert hall.

This magnificent building is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They perform the best classical music, contemporary music, world music and jazz.

Read more on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the top 10 facts below.

1. The Walt Disney Concert Hall project was initiated in 1987

Lillian Disney, the widow of Walt Disney, donated $50 million towards the construction of the Concert Hall in 1987.

She wanted to gift the people of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Philharmonic with a state of the art concert hall. Additionally, she wanted to pay tribute to her late husband.  

Frank Gehry was tasked with designing the hall, he delivered the completed designs in 1991.

A year later, construction work on the underground parking garage began. This aloe cost $110 million; it was settled by Los Angeles County.

The Concert Hall was constructed in 1994 but stalled in 1996 after they ran out of funds. Plans were revised since they exceeded the original budget.

After 16 years since the idea was conceptualized, the Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed in 2003.

2. Several architects were shortlisted to design the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo sourced from Wikimedia

After the conceptualization of the Concert Hall, the next step was to find an architect to design and execute the plan.

A public call was made and about 80 able architects were shortlisted. They came from all over the world.

Out of the 80 applicants, 25 were picked, then 6 and then the final 4. Architect Frank Gehry was among the 4.

His work is one of the best and his design came so close to that of Walt Disney’s. he was therefore commissioned with designing the concert hall.  

Together with his team, they worked on complex issues that involved planning and implementation.

Their main concern was the acoustics of the hall, contractual agreements and overall use of the site.

3. Architect Frank Gehry changed the original design of Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo by Michael J Fromholtz – Wikimedia

When architect Frank Gehry designed the original plan, the Walt Disney Concert Hall was intended to have an exterior clad in stone.

This however changed after his previous work in Bilbao, it is a titanium building, that received much praise, he changed the exterior from stone to metal.

He tweaked the shape and created the enigmatic silver sails seen today. As he visualized the building, he wanted the lobby to be flooded with natural light that leads to the sidewalk.

This was a symbolic design meant to seamlessly show the relationship between everyday life and the inner refuge.

Other modifications were done to the Founders Room exterior.

4. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is home to LA Phil

The LA Philharmonic is widely regarded as one of the world’s great orchestras. Their artistic director is Gustavo Dudamel.

They host several concerts annually with musicians from all over the world. Additionally, they perform season-themed songs.

To attend their concert, you can attend the regular season of concerts starting from October to June. The summer season concerts happen from July to September at the Hollywood Bowl.

Since its opening in 2003, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has presented 57 world débuts.

5. The exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall was altered

Photo by jjron – Wikimedia

When Gehry designed the Concert Hall to have a metallic exterior, a problem arose from that.

The neighbouring buildings suffered glare caused by sunlight that was reflected off these surfaces. It made the rooms uncomfortably warm and made the air conditioning cost rise.

It was not just the neighbouring condominiums but the sidewalk too. Traffic accidents increased too from the blinding sunlight reflected from the surfaces.

Gehry and his Partners had to come up with a solution. They conducted a computer analysis of the building’s surfaces and identified the offending panels.

The panels were dulled in 2005 by lightly sanding panels to remove unwanted glare.

6. The Walt Disney Concert Hall has a seating of more than 2000

Photo by Daniel Hartwig – Wikimedia

The Concert Hall has a seating capacity of 2,265. The seats are steeply raked and surround the stage.

This design was by Ernest Fleischmann, former Executive Director of the LA Phil. He did not like the previous plan of the seats that had balconies and boxes.

Ernest mentioned that it brought social hierarchy and proscenium arches that separated players from listeners. His advice was to have these removed.

Today, the orchestra plays in the space in which the audience sits. The audience has an intimate connection with the artists and the conductor from the comfort of their seats.

7. The Walt Disney Concert Hall has some of the best music equipment

One of the concerns of architect Frank Gehry when designing the Walt Disney Concert Hall was how musicians would experience the building.

He wanted the sound to be good to make the musicians more confident and in return have them perform better.

To be able to achieve this, Gehry worked with expert acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota. They also worked with the then-Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen.

These three men created the perfect instrument for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

8. Architect Frank Gehry designed the organ in Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo sourced from Wikimedia

One central feature of Walt Disney Concert Hall is the 6,134-pipe organ above the rear of the stage. Its design looks like gigantic French fries.

Architect Frank Gehry gave his all to the design of the organ. He got assistance from Manuel J. Rosales, an organ designer.

Gehry wanted an organ different from a typical church organ. They, therefore, included rows of metal tubes.   

They finished designing the organ a year after the Concert Hall was opened. When tuning the organ, Rosales required absolute silence in the Hall. There were no rehearsals during the tuning session.

9. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is a famous landmark in Los Angeles

Photo by Carol M. Highsmith – Wikimedia

Walt Disney Concert Hall continues to get the attention of people from all over the world. It has changed the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall was a dream brought to reality. This building became the new favourite place for people to be. It is an artistic and social renaissance of downtown Los Angeles.

Today, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the most iconic structure in Los Angeles.

10. The Walt Disney Concert Hall was a gift to LA Phil

The construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall was a tribute to Lillian B. Disney’s late husband, Walt Disney.

This family had a long-standing relationship with the music centre and donated $50 million. They wanted an iconic place where people could enjoy music as well as other civic activities.