Hollywood Bowl Museum

Don't come to the Bowl without stopping by the terrific and free Hollywood Bowl Museum! It's open every night before concerts - and daytime all year round.

New at the Bowl Museum: Hollywood Bowl - Music For Everyone

Albertina Rasch ballet, 1930 • Music Center Archives/Irish Collection

Taking its cue from a Bowl slogan from the 1950s, the new exhibit at the Hollywood Bowl Museum is called Hollywood Bowl: Music For Everyone.

Program cover, 1930

It’s been true of the Bowl for a long time that people can find just about any kind of music they like. That’s part of the Bowl’s history and its success. Looking back at programs and photographs of the Bowl since its inception in the early 1920s, it’s clear that Music For Everyone is no platitude. While symphonic music formed the core of early Bowl presentations, there were early adventures in opera (a full house for the unamplified coloratura soprano of Amelita Galli-Curci), and modern dance (with works by pioneering choreographers such as Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Norma Gould, Adolph Bolm, Agnes de Mille, and Lester Horton). Jazz was introduced to the Bowl in the thirties by Benny Goodman, followed in the forties by Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Lena Horne, and others, with a breakthrough concert in 1956 featuring Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Chubby Checker, Duane Eddy, and Frankie Avalon were among the first rockers to appear at the Bowl in the late fifties. Folk and world music concerts began as early as the 1920s with a Native American festival and have become a staple at the Bowl in the last ten years.

Korean Festival, 2007

The new exhibit, on the main floor of the museum, is organized into sections on dance; pop, rock, jazz and world music; symphonic music and opera; architecture and history of the Bowl; and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Video screens are an integral part of the exhibit, allowing us to show hundreds of still photos and extensive film footage.

You are invited to visit the museum before concerts to enhance and enrich your Bowl experience. Admission is free.

Continuing at the Bowl Museum: Rock + Roll at the Bowl

Carlos Santana, 1993. Photo: Donald Dietz

Jimi Hendrix

From Frankie Avalon to the Flaming Lips, the Hollywood Bowl has been home to the greatest rock shows of all time. The Beatles caused a sensation in 1964, followed soon by the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Sonny & Cher, the Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and the rest of the world of classic rock. Elton John, Sting, and Rod Stewart have played the Bowl many times over the years, and more recent blockbuster artists include Coldplay, Radiohead, Bjˆrk, Nine Inch Nails, and many more.

Mick Jagger at the Hollywood Bowl, 2005. Photo: Corbis

The Hollywood Bowl Museum celebrates this fabulous history with an all-new exhibit featuring never-before-seen photos, posters, videos, and rock memorabilia. Some of the more intriguing items include candid backstage photos of Jimi Hendrix hanging out with Michelle Phillips and Mama Cass of the Mamas & the Papas, photos of the Grateful Dead's tower of amps completely covering the Hollywood Bowl stage, dozens of backstage passes, and great rock posters.

Museum Resource Center

Second Floor Gallery:
The Museum Resource Center, the Hollywood Bowl Museum's own intranet site, covers the history and breadth of the Bowl through hundreds of photographs, audio and video samples, as well as past museum exhibits. There are three computer workstations open at all times during the museum's public hours. In addition, the museum's collections are available for study by appointment.