Hollywood Bowl Orchestra

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (HBO) is a symphony orchestra which is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl.

John Mauceri led the orchestra from its founding in 1990 until he stepped down after the 2006 Hollywood Bowl season. During this time, his titles included Conductor, Principal Conductor, and finally, Director. He now holds the title of Founding Director.

In March 2008, Thomas Wilkins was named Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra for a two-year contract beginning in Summer of 2008. The contract was extended multiple times until 2014 when Wilkins was promoted to "Principal Conductor."

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has 80-100 players drawn from the large pool of world-class freelance musicians in the Southern California area, many of whom perform regularly with movie studios, regional orchestras, and other entertainment-related organizations.

There is no cross-over between the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra musicians and the regular roster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This is in notable contrast to the Boston Pops Orchestra which draws its players directly from the Boston Symphony (i.e. the Boston Symphony without its principal players), or the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra which is simply the Cincinnati Symphony playing under a different name.

Since 1922 orchestras performed regularly at the bowl, primarily drawn from the Los Angeles area. In 1927 a "Hollywood Bowl Orchestra" was established under conductor Eugene Goossens. The orchestra made a series of recordings for Victor in 1928 issued as "Symphonies under the Stars" notable for being recorded in the open air.

The first incarnation of a permanent orchestra was in 1945 as the "Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra" under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. They had a number of recordings under Stokowski plus others under different conductors, including:

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