We began with a "Out of the Archives" tour that included the garden on the roof with beautiful mature trees that were moved there 10 years ago into 30 foot deep wells. Many were donated including two that the donor insisted be planted together just as they have been since there were very small. We then went into the archives where there are videos, photography and other items from the L.A. Phil's beginnings.
Next we went into the concert hall for a talk from the CEO Deborah Borda, a concert from 3 members of the strings followed by a question and answering session. Then we ate a tasty free boxed lunch with wine and listened to interviews with members of the orchestra.
We were then on an "Insider Tour" of the back stage, Gustavo's office, visiting conductors and artist's quarters and the 'green room' with green furniture.
Finally we were back to the concert hall for a presentation by Chad Smith, VP of the Artistic Planning department. He travels the world to identify potential visiting musicians and conductors. He then introduced four members of the string section who played a delightful chamber piece. After interviews with them it was opened to questions from the audience. One question coming from the audience was their impression of the differences between the present conductor, Gustavo Dudamel and the previous conductor who was in the hall for 2 weeks of performances...Esa Pekka Solonen. One said that it was like the difference between tropical Venezuela and the Nordic Finland.
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