Walt Disney Concert Hall: KCRW Radio Documentaries

Gustavo Dudamel to Lead LA Philharmonic Get the Flash Player to see this player. Listen to the Music: For the first time in years, state money is flowing to public schools for the teaching of music, just as the Los Angeles Philharmonic hires a new conductor who is a poster boy for music education developed in Venezuela. Gustavo Dudamel became director of Venezuela's National Youth Orchestra when he was 17. He's won the Gustav Mahler conducting competition in Germany, and conducted Mozart's Don Giovanni at La Scala. When Esa-Pekka Salonen steps down as music director of the LA Philharmonic at the end of next season, Dudamel will be his successor. Salonen took over when he was 34. Dudamel is now 26. We hear about Dudamel and a possible turnaround for creative arts in California schools. Guests: Mark Swed: Classical Music Critic for the Los Angeles Times Robert Morrison: Founder of Music for All Steven Venz: Elementary Music Specialist for the LAUSD   Music Inspired by Architecture Get the Flash Player to see this player. Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Watts Towers as inspiration for music? Frances Anderton speaks with Art historian Thomas Crow of the Getty Research Institute and Australian composer Liza Lim about a joint Getty-LA Philharmonic program on music created in homage to architecture. Plus, a conversation with architect Richard Weinstein about who's been picked to redesign Grand Avenue!   An Icon Is Born: The Architecture Get the Flash Player to see this player. We track the 16-year rise and fall and rise again of Frank Gehry's architectural vision for Walt Disney Concert Hall. The story of the building's evolution is told through interviews with most of the major players in the creation of the hall, from the original commission in 1987 to the fruition of the building this year. Producer: Frances Anderton   From the Inside Out: The Art of Construction Get the Flash Player to see this player. A look at the ground-breaking engineering and construction techniques of Walt Disney Concert Hall; from the complicated logistics that created the world class acoustics of the concert hall, to the innovative techniques behind the steel panels on the building's striking exterior. Producer: Bob Carlson   The Downtown Band: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Part I Get the Flash Player to see this player. The Downtown Band: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Part II Get the Flash Player to see this player. This month, the curtain rises on a new era for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Music will finally be performed in Walt Disney Concert Hall. In two half-hour programs, join Esa-Pekka Salonen, members of the orchestra, and visiting artists as they anticipate the effect of this new home on their music making. Producers: Nicola Lubitsch and Ray Guarna

Grand Avenue Project: KCRW Radio Documentaries

The Grand Avenue Project will transform the civic and cultural districts of downtown Los Angeles into a vibrant new regional center which will showcase entertainment venues, restaurants, and retail mixed with a hotel and up to 2600 new housing units. Listen to the commentary below.   Should the Public Subsidize Grand Avenue? FEB 12, 2007 Get the Flash Player to see this player. Mayor Antonio Villariagosa is all in favor of spending $100 million in taxpayers' money to subsidize the Grand Avenue Project in downtown LA, but County Supervisor Mike Antonovich says it could turn into an "endless subsidy." That issue, as well as the contribution of several acres of public land, will be on tomorrow's agenda for the Los Angeles City Council and the Board of Supervisors. The project, partly designed by Frank Gehry, will be across the street from Gehry's iconic Disney Hall. The project's total value is $2 billion. Why does the public have to come up with $100 million? We hear the pros and cons from LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and others.   The Future of Grand Avenue, the Legacy of Pierre Koenig: APR 6, 2006 Get the Flash Player to see this player. The architecture of the late Pierre Koenig Today's guests are: Craig Hodgetts is a partner at Hodgetts + Fung, architects of many projects including, the current redesign of the Hollywood Bowl and the 1989 Case Study Housing show at MOCA. Eli Broad is chairman of AIG SunAmerica, founder of the Broad Foundations, which focuses on education, art and civic issues, and co-chair of the Grand Avenue Review Committee. Architect Jon Jerde is founder of Jerde Partnership International, which has designed urban entertainment destinations worldwide, including Citywalk at Universal City and Horton Plaza in San Diego. He is the lead architect in the team for developer J.H. Snyder Company. (Other team members include Johnson Fain and Rios Clementi Hale Studios.) Craig Webb is a design partner at Gehry Partners, architects of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and now lead architect in the Weintraub Financial Services team. Other team members include: Zaha Hadid, Harry Cobb, Jean Nouvel, Norman Foster, Daly Genik, Laurie Olin, Greg Lynn.