Walt Disney Concert Hall
“In richness of sound, it has few rivals on the international scene.” – The New Yorker
The auditorium at Walt Disney Concert Hall sits like a pearl in architect Frank Gehry’s architectural wonder. In contrast to the cool steel of the building exterior, the auditorium conveys warmth and intimacy in its lofty sail-like curves and rich woods.
But where the room really creates magic is in its acoustics. The sound, so important for the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, makes Walt Disney Concert Hall one of the best in the world. Members of the orchestra don’t declare this lightly. They traveled to concert halls around the world and chose halls in Berlin, Boston and Amsterdam for acoustical standards.
In combination with Gehry’s philosophy that the hall should welcome the city, the sound creates a unique communal experience for visitors. Suitably, Gehry described the auditorium as a wooden boat that takes the orchestra and audience on a journey. In fact, in the early stages of tuning, acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota claimed that the billowing ceiling and warm woods actually improved the sound.
The “vineyard style” of the stage — a style in which the audience unconventionally surrounds the orchestra — also adds to the communal experience of the hall. As Gehry said, he wanted a space where the orchestra and the audience would have intimate dialogues with each other. It’s exactly this experience that makes the concert hall one of the attractions in LA that visitors shouldn’t miss.
Auditorium Highlights
- Seats 2,265
- A 6,125-pipe organ occupies a central position
- Hardwood walls and ceiling are made from Douglas fir
- Eight 30’ x 30’ skylights let in natural light
- Auditorium seats are specially upholstered with fabric designed by Frank Gehry
