Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, with Los Angeles County in the center, and Orange County to the southeast. The Los Angeles–Anaheim–Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) covers 33,954 square miles (87,940 km2), making it the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area. The contiguous urban area is 2,281 square miles (5,910 km2), whereas the remainder mostly consists of mountain and desert areas. With a population of 18.4 million in 2024, it is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, behind New York, as well as one of the largest megacities in the world.
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California, the second most populous city in Los Angeles County, and the largest city in California that is not a county seat.
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by Rolling Stone magazine in 2018. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. He gave his last performance with the San Francisco Symphony in January 2024 while fighting brain cancer.
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Scott, but to The Family, she was most commonly known as Katie.
Raymond Torres-Santos is a Classical and film music composer and conductor, pianist, arranger, and producer of both classical, film and popular music. Malena Kuss described him as the most versatile Puerto Rican composer active in the 21st century in her book, Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: an Encyclopedic History.
John Thomas Johnson was an American orchestral tuba player. He performed on more than 2,000 film soundtracks, most notably John Williams' Jaws score, in which he played a high-register tuba solo as the melodic theme for the shark.
California has 21 major professional sports franchises, far more than any other US state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread amongst three cities: San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Greater Los Angeles Area has ten major league teams. San Diego and Sacramento each have one major league team.
The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music is the school of music at California State University, Long Beach. In March 2008, the music department was renamed the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in honor of an endowment gift of $16.4 million from the estate of Robert "Bob" Cole. Cole, a Long Beach real estate investor, long-time music lover, and amateur pianist, died in 2004. Following its disbursement, the gift will benefit the students of the conservatory in the form of scholarships and other awards.
John Laurence Seymour was an American composer and playwright. As a composer Seymour is best known for his operas, which have "complex orchestral textures and italianate lyricism".
Alan Baer is an American tuba player who is Principal Tuba for the New York Philharmonic. He has also been principal tuba with several other orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, he has performed and recorded with the Cleveland Orchestra led by Vladimir Ashkenazy, performances with the Peninsula Music Festival of Wisconsin, New Orleans Symphony, Los Angeles Concert Orchestra, Ojai Festival Orchestra (California), Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a featured soloist, touring several countries in Europe, including Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and France.
Bernard Howard Gilmore was an American composer, conductor, French horn player, and Professor Emeritus of music at the University of California, Irvine. He is best known for his compositions, including Five Folk Songs for Soprano and Band which has become a reputable work in contemporary band music repertoire.
James Martin Self is an American tubist and composer from Los Angeles. Self has performed extensively in Los Angeles and internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral tubist, and, most notably, as a studio musician in the Los Angeles movie studios having appeared on over 1500 soundtracks. He is also known for his association with the Pasadena Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Los Angeles Opera and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
The International City Theatre (ICT) in Long Beach, California, is a professional, non-profit theatre company located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.
Ralph Cato is an American baritone singer. Cato has performed many styles of music including opera, oratorio, jazz, and musical theatre. Cato has performed on many stages globally, and in the United States, and is known to be a versatile and collaborative artist.
The Tate–LaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 9–10, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators killed five people on the night of August 8–9: pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her companions Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, along with Steven Parent. The following evening, the Family also murdered supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.
Ron Linden is a California abstract painter, independent curator, and associate professor of art at Los Angeles Harbor College, Wilmington. He lives and works in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles.
Howard Shelton Swan was an American choral conductor, tenor, music educator, and writer on music. A highly influential figure in American choral music during the 20th century, Swan was sometimes referred to as the "Dean of American Choral Directors" during his lifetime. A choral director and professor of voice at Occidental College from 1934 through 1971, his choirs at Occidental gained international critical acclaim. Conductor Robert Shaw stated about Swan's choral work at Occidental that it was "the most distinguished and varied choral repertoire at the highest level of performance in American collegiate history."
Norman W. Pearson is an American orchestral tuba player. who was principal tubist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 2000.
