Things Happening on The Music Center Campus Tickets & Free Events

A bold world premiere comedy from Los Angeles-based playwright, Larissa FastHorse, about being whoever you want to be, even when it’s not who you are. FastHorse is a critically acclaimed writer who focuses her keen sense of satire to examine Native American perspectives on contemporary life and will be the first Native American writer to have a mainstage production on the Mark Taper Forum stage. A member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, and author of the Broadway comedy, The Thanksgiving Play, FastHorse’s new work shines a hilarious light on ‘shifters’ who exist in a world of self-determined identity. This thought-provoking comic play asks what happens when you don’t believe you are the race you want to be? Change it! Fake It Until You Make It takes an absurd look at what defines who we are, and the lengths some people will go through to change it.

The wine is flowing a little too freely, and two young men enter into a risky (and risqué) bet: Each will try to seduce the other’s fiancée. Hijinks ensue, with dashing disguises, outrageous flirting, and, of course, wedding bells—but we won't say who ends up together! 

Mozart’s razor-sharp comedy is back in a delightful production by director Michael Cavanagh. A stylish set by Erhard Rom updates the action to a swanky American country club, bursting with kitsch and color. James Conlon conducts a fantastic ensemble cast, led by longtime LA Opera favorites Ana María Martínez and Rod Gilfry as the schemers behind the deception. Featuring an endless parade of exquisite ensembles, Mozart’s deliciously scandalous opera is a can’t-miss for newcomers and seasoned fans alike.

Celebrating over 40 years of her visionary artistry, this violin icon returns with her longtime recital partner Özgür Aydin for an emotive program which offers musical reflections on suffering and loss that is inspired by the Spanish writer Federico García Lorca’s poem "Casida of the Lament." Complementing one another’s strengths and personality on stage, Midori and Aydin have been praised by The New York Times as a duo whose performance "became a master class on color and nuance."

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor Jason Isbell has steadily earned his place as one of music’s greatest performing songwriters. The six-time Grammy Award winner and rock 'n' roll icon celebrated a remarkable year in 2023, starring in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, releasing his ninth studio album, Weathervanes, and adding two more Grammy Award wins to his growing list of accolades. Isbell lights up any stage with “brutally beautiful” (Rolling Stone) songs such as “Cover Me Up,” “If We Were Vampires,” “King of Oklahoma,” and “Cast Iron Skillet,” and he returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for a special solo acoustic performance.

Grammy-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich moves fast and furiously through the only violin concerto Tchaikovsky composed, which Hadelich says is the most exhilarating, satisfying, and exhausting piece to perform. “Each one of the suspensions out of which the theme is built feels both pleasant and painful and feels more urgent than the last,” Hadelich writes. Joana Mallwitz revels in the grandness of Schubert’s “Great” Symphony from its opening solo French horn call, through its romping scherzo, to its glorious fanfare finale. 

These 45-minute interactive Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts introduce young audiences to symphonic music. Before each concert, families are invited to participate in hands-on arts workshops.

This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.

Her long-awaited return to our stage in 2022’s Tosca confirmed what opera lovers in New York, Milan, London, Vienna, Berlin and Paris have known for years: Angel Blue is one of the most radiant superstars of our time, drawing thunderous applause and standing ovations around the world.

LA Opera is proud to welcome Angel Blue back to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage for a thrilling evening of opera’s greatest arias, backed by the magnificent LA Opera Orchestra under the baton of Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados.

Celebrate one of Broadway’s true icons with this legendary theatrical event! Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is an irresistible celebration to the master himself, with a company headlined by none other than Tony Award^® winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends comes to Broadway from London’s West End, where it sold out in a matter of hours, earned a bevy of five-star raves and was hailed by The Times as "unmissable musical theatre."

Center Theatre Group will present the North American premiere of Old Friends at the Ahmanson Theatre in advance of the Broadway premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club on March 25, 2025.

A bold world premiere comedy from Los Angeles-based playwright, Larissa FastHorse, about being whoever you want to be, even when it’s not who you are. FastHorse is a critically acclaimed writer who focuses her keen sense of satire to examine Native American perspectives on contemporary life and will be the first Native American writer to have a mainstage production on the Mark Taper Forum stage. A member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, and author of the Broadway comedy, The Thanksgiving Play, FastHorse’s new work shines a hilarious light on ‘shifters’ who exist in a world of self-determined identity. This thought-provoking comic play asks what happens when you don’t believe you are the race you want to be? Change it! Fake It Until You Make It takes an absurd look at what defines who we are, and the lengths some people will go through to change it.

In the final weekend of the Mahler Grooves Festival, Gustavo Dudamel explores the tumultuous relationship of Gustav and Alma Mahler through their music. Their marriage was, at best, “complex,” marked by affairs, an age gap, diminishment, and the death of a child. Alma was a composer in her own right whose career took a back seat at Gustav’s request. At a particularly rocky moment in their relationship, Gustav finally encouraged her to publish Five Songs that are brought to life here by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. Next Dudamel leads Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, which progresses from mourning to triumph, inspired in no small part by Gustav meeting and becoming enchanted by Alma. Within the grand gesture is the Adagietto that was intended as a love letter.

Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.

A bold world premiere comedy from Los Angeles-based playwright, Larissa FastHorse, about being whoever you want to be, even when it’s not who you are. FastHorse is a critically acclaimed writer who focuses her keen sense of satire to examine Native American perspectives on contemporary life and will be the first Native American writer to have a mainstage production on the Mark Taper Forum stage. A member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, and author of the Broadway comedy, The Thanksgiving Play, FastHorse’s new work shines a hilarious light on ‘shifters’ who exist in a world of self-determined identity. This thought-provoking comic play asks what happens when you don’t believe you are the race you want to be? Change it! Fake It Until You Make It takes an absurd look at what defines who we are, and the lengths some people will go through to change it.

The wine is flowing a little too freely, and two young men enter into a risky (and risqué) bet: Each will try to seduce the other’s fiancée. Hijinks ensue, with dashing disguises, outrageous flirting, and, of course, wedding bells—but we won't say who ends up together! 

Mozart’s razor-sharp comedy is back in a delightful production by director Michael Cavanagh. A stylish set by Erhard Rom updates the action to a swanky American country club, bursting with kitsch and color. James Conlon conducts a fantastic ensemble cast, led by longtime LA Opera favorites Ana María Martínez and Rod Gilfry as the schemers behind the deception. Featuring an endless parade of exquisite ensembles, Mozart’s deliciously scandalous opera is a can’t-miss for newcomers and seasoned fans alike.

Associate Artistic Director Jenny Wong leads Carl Orff's epic and propulsive Carmina Burana, along with the world premiere of a vibrant new work by Swan Family Artist-in-Residence Reena Esmail. Carmina Burana's evocative lyrics, drawn from medieval poetry, speak of love, lust, and the inexorable wheel of fate. Esmail's new work will be based on a variety of folk songs representing different languages and traditions of the Indian subcontinent.

Her long-awaited return to our stage in 2022’s Tosca confirmed what opera lovers in New York, Milan, London, Vienna, Berlin and Paris have known for years: Angel Blue is one of the most radiant superstars of our time, drawing thunderous applause and standing ovations around the world.

LA Opera is proud to welcome Angel Blue back to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage for a thrilling evening of opera’s greatest arias, backed by the magnificent LA Opera Orchestra under the baton of Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados.

These 45-minute interactive Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts introduce young audiences to symphonic music. Before each concert, families are invited to participate in hands-on arts workshops.

This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.

Grammy-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich moves fast and furiously through the only violin concerto Tchaikovsky composed, which Hadelich says is the most exhilarating, satisfying, and exhausting piece to perform. “Each one of the suspensions out of which the theme is built feels both pleasant and painful and feels more urgent than the last,” Hadelich writes. Joana Mallwitz revels in the grandness of Schubert’s “Great” Symphony from its opening solo French horn call, through its romping scherzo, to its glorious fanfare finale. 

A bold world premiere comedy from Los Angeles-based playwright, Larissa FastHorse, about being whoever you want to be, even when it’s not who you are. FastHorse is a critically acclaimed writer who focuses her keen sense of satire to examine Native American perspectives on contemporary life and will be the first Native American writer to have a mainstage production on the Mark Taper Forum stage. A member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, and author of the Broadway comedy, The Thanksgiving Play, FastHorse’s new work shines a hilarious light on ‘shifters’ who exist in a world of self-determined identity. This thought-provoking comic play asks what happens when you don’t believe you are the race you want to be? Change it! Fake It Until You Make It takes an absurd look at what defines who we are, and the lengths some people will go through to change it.

Grammy-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich moves fast and furiously through the only violin concerto Tchaikovsky composed, which Hadelich says is the most exhilarating, satisfying, and exhausting piece to perform. “Each one of the suspensions out of which the theme is built feels both pleasant and painful and feels more urgent than the last,” Hadelich writes. Joana Mallwitz revels in the grandness of Schubert’s “Great” Symphony from its opening solo French horn call, through its romping scherzo, to its glorious fanfare finale.