Follow along as L.A. Phil's new music director arrives in L.A., beginning with In-N-Out, the Dodgers and a traffic jam

Newly announced Los Angeles Philharmonic euphony manager Daniel Harding got a Sunny California invited Tuesday. Fresh disconnected a formation from his location successful Paris, the incoming conductor was treated to In-N-Out Burger, a show by a jazz quartet astatine the Beckmen YOLA Center, a circuit of the Hollywood Bowl, and a Dodgers crippled with outgoing euphony manager Gustavo Dudamel.

Harding and Dudamel walked the tract successful personalized jerseys earlier the crippled — their shared emotion of taking selfies connected show alongside their passionateness for puerility euphony education.

A autochthonal of Oxford, England, Harding’s travel marked the commencement of his modulation to becoming an honorary Angeleno. Although the conductor isn’t acceptable to statesman his assignment until the 2027-28 season, the L.A. Phil squad treated their caller person to a time afloat of metropolis blistery spots.

Daniel Harding arrives astatine the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.

Plane spotting astatine In-N-Out

The In-N-Out Burger connected Sepulveda Boulevard adjacent LAX airdrome is celebrated for its level spotting, making it the cleanable archetypal halt for the part-time Air France aviator whose fondness for aviation is rivaled lone by his emotion of the conductor’s podium. Harding enjoyed his luncheon (hamburger with nary cheese, plain fries and a “liter of ketchup”) with Kim Noltemy, president and main enforcement of the L.A. Phil, and Meghan Umber, main programming serviceman and president of the Hollywood Bowl.

Harding posed for photos portion biting into his hamburger, and popped onto a adjacent spot of writer to grin with the planes. When helium climbed onto a rod to get a amended changeable with an overhead plane, a subordinate of the L.A. Phil squad called out, “Please don’t termination our euphony director.”

Meghan Umber, president of the Hollywood Bowl and main programming officer, left, and Daniel Harding devour burgers extracurricular an In-N-Out.

It was an unusually cloudy day, but the prima made a little appearance, allowing the radical to devour extracurricular arsenic planes roared overhead. An In-N-Out worker called it a “slow day,” but hundreds of tourists streamed past Harding and done the edifice doors, suitcases successful hand, connected their mode to and from the airport.

At lunch, Harding met respective members of the L.A. Phil’s squad for the archetypal clip successful person. He asked their societal media manager astir however to get verified connected Instagram, and exchanged stories astir touring crossed the satellite with their videographer. Eager to larn astir American culture, helium asked if French fries were “still state fries?”

Harding spent astir of the luncheon nerding retired implicit the planes successful the sky. He explained to Umber however upwind patterns impact landings and asked whether helium could invitation his friend, an Air France aviator who had conscionable flown overhead into LAX, to an upcoming L.A. Phil event.

Daniel Harding looks astatine a level flying by extracurricular the In-N-Out Burger.

Harding’s abbreviated reply to whether In-N-Out lived up to the hype? “This was excellent.”

All that jazz astatine Beckmen YOLA Center

As Harding approached the entranceway to the euphony acquisition gathering astatine the Beckmen YOLA Center successful Inglewood, the excitement wrong was palpable. Employees, alumni and donor Thomas L. Beckmen met Harding with a passageway of boomwhackers — colorful, hollow tubes utilized to assistance children signifier their rhythm.

“Thank you,” Harding exclaimed arsenic helium ran the gantlet portion assemblage members cheered retired “YAY Maestro.”

Daniel Harding is interviewed by a pupil astatine the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.

Dudamel projected grooming children successful underserved communities erstwhile helium was appointed arsenic euphony manager of the L.A. Phil successful 2007, and the halfway has been 1 of the large achievements of his tenure. The Frank Gehry-designed installation opened successful 2021 arsenic portion of a $14.5-million renovation that turned a erstwhile Burger King into a state-of-the-art euphony school.

Although it was Harding’s archetypal sojourn to the center, helium already has plans to transportation connected Dudamel’s legacy, promising the assembled team, “You won’t beryllium capable to get escaped of me.”

YOLA alumni Kaylee Vasquez and Moses Aubrey told Harding astir their experiences with the enactment portion taking him connected a circuit of the center, which Aubrey called a “magical space.” Harding noted that helium began playing instruments arsenic a kid successful 3 section orchestras adjacent wherever helium grew up, and was anxious to stock his appreciation for euphony education.

“I privation to provender disconnected each of this unthinkable enthusiasm and energy,” Harding said. “I deliberation that my acquisition backmost location has been that euphony acquisition and the accidental for everyone to partake successful euphony actively was thing that we took for granted, and we mislaid it. I deliberation immoderate programme that’s reinforcing that and giving backmost that accidental to arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable is amazing, and we request it arsenic musicians.”

Daniel Harding listens to students execute astatine the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.

Harding listened intently to a jazz quartet of caller YOLA alumni — Gael Saldaña, Marcos Salgado, Isabel Mora and Amoye Olutosin — tapping his fingers to the bushed throughout. After the performance, YOLA’s pupil of the year, 16-year-old Jaelle Couch, presented Harding with a colorful acquisition container of L.A. Phil and YOLA swag. The 2 sat down for a little Q&A, during which Harding expressed his opinions astir In-N-Out, adjacent if helium wanted to support it a concealed for his son, George’s, sake.

“My son, he’s 21, cooks specified a bully burger, and if I accidental that I similar In-N-Out, helium mightiness halt making maine burgers,” Harding said, laughing. “So, conscionable betwixt you and me, In-N-Out’s the champion burger. If this is going retired successful the wide world, George, you inactive marque the champion burger.”

Harding besides discussed that portion he’s excited to research everything L.A. has to offer, euphony is what he’s astir looking guardant to.

“There’s truthful overmuch to observe successful this incredibly breathtaking city, and truthful galore contrasts, and truthful overmuch vitality,” Harding said, adding that astatine the extremity of the day, arsenic a musician, helium is astir excited about, “Making euphony with these musicians, and sharing it with this audience.”

Los Angeles’ champion views astatine the Hollywood Bowl

On his mode to the Hollywood Bowl, Harding received his archetypal existent sensation of beingness arsenic an Angeleno: being stuck successful crosstown traffic. After astir an hr successful the car, helium made it done the hills and to the iconic set ammunition that serves arsenic the L.A. Phil’s 2nd home. Wind ruffled Harding’s hairsbreadth arsenic helium took clip to shingle hands and present himself to each Bowl worker helium came into interaction with.

Meghan Umber, left, points retired the Hollywood Bowl set shell’s lights to Daniel Harding.

Mark Ladd, the Bowl’s superintendent and manager of operations, took Harding connected a circuit of the bare venue, describing the features that marque the installation unique, including its almighty talker strategy and the venue’s sharp, 600-foot vertical rise. Harding walked onstage done the backmost doors, joking to Ladd, “Quite a bully abstraction you got.”

After taking successful the presumption from the stage, the squad brought Harding to the nosebleed seats astatine the acold backmost of the venue. Harding posed for photos against a scenery engulfed by mountains and tied unneurotic with the Hollywood Sign. At 1 constituent helium stuck retired his manus to unreal helium held the distant set ammunition successful his cupped palm.

“That’s the cheesiest photograph I’ve ever done,” helium said with a smile.

Daniel Harding takes a photograph of the Hollywood Bowl.

Despite the day’s packed schedule, Harding took clip unsocial to savor the infinitesimal — and the bonzer hillside view. He crouched down successful an effort to find the close space for a photograph of the country connected his phone.

With different sojourn present over, Harding erstwhile again received a acquisition container — this 1 filled to the brim with Bowl merch, including a jean overgarment from a caller collaboration with Citizens of Humanity, and embroidered hats to artifact retired the L.A. sunshine. Paying homage to some Harding’s acquisition arsenic a aviator and the Bowl’s retro “No Fly” posters, the conductor received vintage poster prints with substance requesting pilots not to alert implicit the venue during a concert.

The astir breathtaking gift, however, was apt Harding’s caller all-access walk to the Hollywood Bowl.

A bucket-list infinitesimal astatine Dodger Stadium

At the adjacent of an abundant day, Harding met Dudamel astatine Dodger Stadium to ticker L.A.’s hometown heroes instrumentality connected the Colorado Rockies. The famed departing euphony manager eagerly embraced Harding, and the brace strolled arm-in-arm arsenic the Rockies warmed up.

“These are the 2 managers of the team,” Dudamel joked portion pointing astatine himself and Harding.

The musicians soon shed their achromatic jackets successful speech for personalized Dodgers jerseys emblazoned with their past names, and numbers 11 and 12, representing their respective positions connected the abbreviated database of L.A. Phil’s euphony directors. Harding had lone been successful the metropolis for a day, but helium crossed disconnected a large Angeleno bucket-list point erstwhile helium walked retired connected the tract of Dodger Stadium alongside Dudamel.

Gustavo Dudamel, left, and Daniel Harding basal successful the dugout earlier a Rockies vs. Dodgers crippled astatine Dodger Stadium.

The brace looked successful connected the Dodgers dugout, but didn’t situation interaction the players’ bats (an worker likened a bat to a musician’s instrument). Pretending to manager the team, Harding called out, “run faster” to the players connected the field.

“We’re bully astatine this,” Dudamel said, smiling.

Harding challenged Dudamel to a contention astir the bases, but earlier the brace could lace up their cleats, Dudamel rapidly told him, “You volition win.” Dudamel remained a large protagonist of his successor, adjacent aft Harding revealed his British allegiances erstwhile helium compared shot to cricket.

“Cricket is closer, and it’s much running. But this is much lazy,” Dudamel told Harding.

Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky joined the radical arsenic they walked astir the third-oldest stadium successful the MLB, and Dudamel and Harding aboriginal watched the crippled from the Dodgers owner’s suite.

Much of the sojourn was spent taking photos, but Harding utilized a fewer escaped moments to ticker the warm-ups successful beforehand of him. Amid the cameras and crowd, Dudamel and Harding stood side-by-side arsenic batters launched baseballs crossed the field.

The cherry connected apical of a genuinely L.A. time came astatine the extremity of the nighttime erstwhile the Dodgers delivered a blowout win, crushing the Rockies 15-6.

Daniel Harding, left, and Gustavo Dudamel connected the tract earlier a Dodgers vs. Rockies shot crippled astatine Dodger Stadium.