LACMA’s galleries make music history

The public can tour the sweeping new structure and hear a special musical presentation by Kamasi Washington. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries will be filled with artful music on June 26-28 when the public is invited to enter the building for the first time for a special sneak peek.

Guests will tour the elevated exhibition level of the 110,000 square-foot new structure at sunset and take in the magnificent views of the city. The public tours will be followed by previews for LACMA members from June 30-July 6, which will mark the final time guests are allowed inside before the April 2026 opening. LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan said it will also be the last time the building is empty, as immediately afterward thousands of artworks will be installed over the next nine months.

Govan added that the public is in for a special treat during the upcoming events, which will be a “sonic preview” melding architecture and music. They will also have a chance to witness history being made as composer, bandleader and saxophonist Kamasi Washington, joined by more than 100 musicians, presents his work “Harmony of Difference” in its entirety for the first time. The six-movement suite explores the beauty of contrast and unity through the musical concept of counterpoint, where different melodies are combined into a harmonious whole.

“I worked so hard to see if we could get this little space of time … the few weeks where the building would be empty before we started art installation and it would be clean and accessible to, I want to say, give it a proper blessing,” Govan said. “This performance, I’ve been talking to Kamasi for years about it … because I was so taken by his composition. ‘Harmony of Difference’ is his homage to Los Angeles, to the diversity of the people of Los Angeles. And I sort of joked with him that it was our theme song for the museum – it should be. And there was this idea that the building empty, without curtains, without art, without anything, would be resonant, like an instrument. So he came during the early part of the year, even last year once, to test it out, first with four or five musicians, and then with 25, and it works. He’s been working diligently to try to do something that he’s never done before. I don’t know that it’s been done anywhere before.”

Govan said guests will enter through the north side of the building and experience the fluid music as they walk through the ever-changing galleries. The musicians will be stationed at different locations throughout the enormous structure spanning Wilshire Boulevard.

“The idea is that it fills or infuses the entire space, all three football fields of it, with sound that is connected, overlapping and resonant in space as well as time,” Govan added.

Washington wrote “Harmony of Difference” in 2017, “to celebrate the beauty of humanity’s diversity through a metaphor of music,” he said in a statement announcing the upcoming previews.

“In music it is the combination of different notes, chords and rhythms that create beautiful songs. The same is true in life; most of humanity’s greatest achievements came from the combined efforts of people of different backgrounds with different knowledge and abilities. As we come together to learn and work with each other humanity advances and grows,” Washington said. “This will be the first time I will be performing the entire ‘Harmony of Difference’ suite in front of a live audience, and to do it in L.A., a true haven of diversity and my hometown, is really special. The Geffen Galleries has a truly unique acoustic environment that is perfect for ‘Harmony of Difference.’ This performance will have more than 100 musicians spread throughout the space in ensembles of varying types playing the entire suite simultaneously. As people walk through the galleries they will directly hear the musicians they are closest to while hearing the ‘spirit’ of the other groups. This will be a truly once in a lifetime sonic experience that I’m so excited for people to witness.”

As anticipation builds for the upcoming previews and the grand opening next April, Govan said a lot of hard work lies ahead as artworks are moved inside and finishing touches are put on the building and surrounding grounds. He said a final timeline for the opening and plans for a celebration are still being formulated, but they will include events for artists and the public, and possibly a block party.

“April is around the corner in museum time. We’re focused right now on making this preview beautiful, and then we’re just starting to sketch out what the openings will look like,” Govan said. “We just need to get through this month, and then I think we’ll probably announce the specific dates. It’s going to be fun. We have a lot of ideas.”

The public previews will be held on June 26, 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets will be made available at lacma.org/kamasiwashington on June 12 at 10 a.m. and will be $100 for the public and $80 for LACMA members. Sign up on the website to receive an email reminder the day before the sale date. The previews for LACMA members will be held June 30-July 6. To become a member, visit lacma.org. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd.

Kamasi Washington will perform his work “Harmony of Difference” in its entirety for the first time. (photo by Vincent Haycock)

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