Usually as the summer gets underway, I post the ten Hollywood Bowl Concerts not to miss. But this is quite a good year for concerts at Los Angeles’ beloved outdoor venue. So this year it is 12 Hollywood Bowl Concerts Not to Miss.
Here are the twelve concerts I think warrant a journey to the Hollywood Bowl this summer:
JULY FOURTH FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR WITH HARRY CONNICK, JR. – July 2nd – July 4th
If you’ve never experienced a fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl, you clearly don’t know what you’re missing. This year’s headliner for the annual July 4th concerts is Harry Connick, Jr.
His most recent album centered on songs of faith, but I would expect this concert to focus more on the material he’s best known for which are jazz standards and songs from the Great American Songbook.
Thomas Wilkins leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in these three concerts.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
For those not in the Los Angeles area, he’ll be performing at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego on July 6th; Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA on July 9th and 10th and at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, WA on July 12th and 13th. These are the only dates on his schedule right now.
ALL- GERSHWIN – July 11th
Who could ask for anything more than pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, opera’s Isabel Leonard and Broadway star Tony Yazbeck in an evening of songs and music by George Gershwin?
The program opens with the Cuban Overture and is then followed by Variations on “I Got Rhythm.“ Leonard and Yazbeck conclude the first half with selections of Gershwin’s songs.
The second act features Thibaudet playined Rhapsody in Blue and closes with An American In Paris.
Lionel Bringuier conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
MAESTRO OF THE MOVIES: THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS AND MORE – July 12th – July 14th
This annual celebration of all things John Williams will be a little different. Yes, Williams curated the program utilizing his own music and many classic scores he loves from the Golden Age, but he will not be appearing this year.
Williams had to cancel all upcoming appearances due to a health issue “from which he is expected to make a full recovery.” Does that mean light sabers won’t be at the ready for the inevitable selections of music from Star Wars? Of course not.
David Newman, who regularly conducts the first half of these concerts each year, will be conducting the full program.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
BIG BAND NIGHT – July 17th
If you love large ensemble jazz music, this concert is for you. The evening opens with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (who have made countless appearances at the Hollywood Bowl).
Next up is The Count Basie Orchestra who will feature vocalist Nnenna Freelon.
The headliner is the Maria Schneider Orchestra which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Earlier this year Maria Schneider released a 3-lp vinyl box set entitled Decades. You can’t stream that recording, you can only get it here. But you can hear this incredible artist and her musicians live. This is her only US appearance until September.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
STRAVINSKY & KHACHATURIAN – July 30th
I’ve written before how Aram Khachaturian’s music isn’t performed often enough. As they did in the Walt Disney Concert Hall this season, the LA Philharmonic is breathing new life into his work in this program that features the composer’s Violin Concerto and the Spartacus Suite No. 2. Martin Chalifour is the soloist for the concerto.
The concert closes with the 1919 version of Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite. Kevin John Edusei conducts.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
PROKOFIEV & SHOSTAKOVICH – August 6th
One of my top five piano concerti of the entire repertoire is being performed by Denis Kozhukhin in this concert. It is Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26. (My favorite recording of it is by Martha Argerich.)
The second half of the program is Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. The work was completed the same year that Joseph Stalin died and is widely interpreted as the composer’s commentary on the brutality of the Soviet government during Stalin’s reign. It’s a big and powerful symphony.
Ryan Bancroft leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
HERBIE HANCOCK HEAD HUNTERS 50th – August 14th
Where were you on October 26, 1973? Maybe you remember the release of Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters which is considered amongst the best jazz-fusion/jazz-funk albums of all time.
Watermelon Man may not be a title recognize, but I guarantee you the music has burrowed its way into your soul.
This is the ONLY reunion of Hancock with the surviving members of that record: drummer Harvey Mason; saxophonist Bennie Maupin and percussionist Bill Summers. Playing bass is Marcus Miller as original bassist Paul Jackson passed away in 2021.
The original four-track album runs less than 45 minutes. Which means there will be a whole lot more music performed by Hancock and his bandmates.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
THE ELEMENTS WITH JOSHUA BELL – August 15th
Joshua Bell commissioned five composers to write individual movements based on the elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space. Those composers are Kevin Puts, Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Higdon, Jake Heggie and Jessie Montgomery.
Bell performs the work with Rodolfo Barráez conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Also on the program are Aaron Copland’s El Salón México, which opens the concert and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story which closes the concert.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
SARA BAREILLES WITH THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA – August 17th
What at one point years ago might have seemed like a pop concert, is now pure heaven for musical theater lovers. Sara Bareilles is a three-time Tony Award nominee having received two nominations for Best Original Score (Waitress in 2016 and SpongeBob SquarePants in 2018) and for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for the 2023 revival of Into the Woods.
Of course, she’ll perform music from throughout her career and this is her only concert on her schedule until late September.
But wait, there’s more. Tony Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) will open the show.
Thomas Wilkins conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
THE RITE OF SPRING – August 22nd
The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky is one of classical music’s most important and enduring works. Hearing this monumental work outside is reason enough to see this concert. But fans of Stravinsky’s music are in for a full evening of his genius.
Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a concert that opens with Stravinsky’s arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner. His Circus Polka follows and the first half closes with Leila Josefowicz performing his Violin Concerto. Then the main attraction is on tap for the second half of the program.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
DUDAMEL LEADS BEETHOVEN 9th – September 10th
Not sure what else anyone needs to know beyond Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. But here goes:
The soloists for this concert are bass Dashon Burton; mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey; tenor Anthony León; countertenor Key’mon Murrah and soprano Hera Kyesang Park. The Los Angeles Master Chorale also performs.
The concert opens with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
DUDAMEL AND THE STARS OF OPERA – September 12th
I couldn’t tell you the last time tenor Jonas Kaufmann performed in Los Angeles, but I can tell you the next time he will – at this concert where he will be joined by soprano Diana Damrau.
The two will perform selected arias and duets.
The concert opens with Verdi’s Overture to I vespri sicilliani which is followed by the ever-popular Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni. Respighi’s Pines of Rome closes the concert.
Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
Those are the 12 Hollywood Bowl Concerts Not to Miss in my opinion. What concerts are on the top of your list? Let me know in the comments.
Main Photo: Hollywood Bowl 2023 (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)