Grand Performances 2025 Summer Season Reflection
Words by Rafael González, President & CEO, Grand Performances:
Grand Performances just concluded its summer season amidst the chaos and uncertainty we’ve faced all year long. I expected low numbers because of this, but attendance exceeded expectations, even higher than in previous seasons. At times, it felt like we might not have a season at all, a reality made especially clear when we had to postpone Ozomatli’s 30th Anniversary performance.
Wildfires raged, a new administration brought shifting priorities, NEA criteria changed, and our undocumented community faced ICE raids and ongoing injustices, all while we operated from the heart of Downtown LA. Alongside these challenges, the city’s economic pressures reminded us how vital ongoing investment in the performing arts remains. Yet I was determined to move forward. I believed in the power of the performing arts to unite people, provide respite, and give us all a way to resist. We took something daunting and turned it into hope, connection, and joy.
Even before the official season began, we produced major events, from the Las Cafeteras Concert at the Arboretum in January for Altadena families and children who lost their homes in the wildfire to a Cuban Block Party in Culver City in April that had the Westside dancing in the streets with Changüí Majadero, and by summer, our team was already stretched. Still, we carried through and delivered a 2025 summer season that brought people together.
For nearly 40 years, Grand Performances has been more than a concert series, it has been a civic stage, a place where the cultural life of Los Angeles is made visible. This summer, we honored that legacy. We celebrated the music that raised us, inspired us, and gave us strength, from the cool jazz of Coltrane to tributes to Dr. Dre, to the fresh fire of rising artists like Baby Rose and Angelica Garcia and on and on.
Not everything went as planned. Our highly anticipated Ozomatli 30th Anniversary concert was postponed amid urgent calls for justice. That moment reminded us that the arts cannot be separated from the realities of our city. At Grand Performances, we do not shy away from these truths, we lean into them, because art has always been a voice for resistance and renewal.
Yet the season gave us unforgettable moments:
John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme at 60, reimagined as a stirring tribute.
A symphonic salute to Dr. Dre, affirming hip-hop as cultural canon.
Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos, breathing new life into vintage boleros.
The soaring power of Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra and the energy of DEEP with Marques Wyatt.
With JANM, Dave Iwataki’s J-Town/Bronzeville Suite, lifting up an important chapter of Los Angeles history through music and dance.
A special outdoor screening of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, reminding us that the fight against authoritarianism and injustice remains urgent today.
A global journey that carried us from the mystical sounds of Qawwali to the rhythms of Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
Oro Sólido and Banda Máxima Potencia closed the season with fire, drawing thousands in attendance and leaving audiences dancing long into the night.
Fridays were devoted to poetry, classical music, and film, deepening the dialogue between arts and civic life.
This work is not without cost. Our team is tired. We began under pressure, we produced relentlessly, and even now, with the summer behind us, three more major productions await this Fall. At the same time, we face the ongoing challenge of budget cuts and shifts in civic support, making the need for investment in community and culture more urgent than ever. The arts are not ornamental, they are essential to civic health, cultural memory, and community resilience.
Looking back, this season was truly special. We honored the past, celebrated the present, and gave a stage to the future. Against wildfires, political shifts, economic pressures, and societal challenges, our audiences came together, proving that the arts remain vital, relevant, and necessary.
Looking ahead, we are energized to keep that spirit alive. On September 4, we host a Juried Showcase of emerging performing arts talent with the Western Arts Alliance (WAA) right here at Grand Performances. On September 14, we join the Skirball Cultural Center and Zócalo Public Square for “Zona Libre” to celebrate Los Angeles’ deep ties to Mexico and Central America with an afternoon of community activities and an evening of live music. In December, together with the DTLA Alliance, we launch Grand Illuminations, a holiday exhibition with lights and music at California Plaza. And with a few additional projects soon to be announced, the momentum continues as we move beyond summer into fall and winter.
To our artists, partners, and audiences: thank you for being part of this story. You are the reason Grand Performances has endured for nearly four decades.
To my team: let’s take time to rest and catch our breath. I know how much you’ve given, and I also know we can’t keep giving at this pace without care for ourselves and one another. Together, with the right support, we’ll build practices that sustain us, because caring for our well-being is also caring for the future of this organization.
We look forward to continuing this work together as we celebrate Grand Performances’ 40th anniversary in 2026…with clarity, resilience, and purpose.