Newly announced Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Daniel Harding got a Sunny California welcome Tuesday. Fresh off a flight from his home in Paris, the incoming conductor was treated to In-N-Out Burger, a performance by a jazz quartet at the Beckmen YOLA Center, a tour of the Hollywood Bowl, and a Dodgers game with outgoing music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Harding and Dudamel walked the field in personalized jerseys before the game — their shared love of taking selfies on display alongside their passion for childhood music education.
A native of Oxford, England, Harding’s trip marked the start of his transition to becoming an honorary Angeleno. Although the conductor isn’t set to begin his appointment until the 2027-28 season, the L.A. Phil team treated their new leader to a day full of city hot spots.
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Daniel Harding arrives at the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.
Plane spotting at In-N-Out
The In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard near LAX airport is famous for its plane spotting, making it the perfect first stop for the part-time Air France pilot whose fondness for aviation is rivaled only by his love of the conductor’s podium. Harding enjoyed his lunch (hamburger with no cheese, plain fries and a “liter of ketchup”) with Kim Noltemy, president and chief executive of the L.A. Phil, and Meghan Umber, chief programming officer and president of the Hollywood Bowl.
Harding posed for photos while biting into his hamburger, and popped onto a nearby patch of grass to smile with the planes. When he climbed onto a pole to get a better shot with an overhead plane, a member of the L.A. Phil team called out, “Please don’t kill our music director.”
Meghan Umber, president of the Hollywood Bowl and chief programming officer, left, and Daniel Harding eat burgers outside an In-N-Out.
It was an unusually cloudy day, but the sun made a brief appearance, allowing the group to eat outside as planes roared overhead. An In-N-Out employee called it a “slow day,” but hundreds of tourists streamed past Harding and through the restaurant doors, suitcases in hand, on their way to and from the airport.
At lunch, Harding met several members of the L.A. Phil’s team for the first time in person. He asked their social media manager about how to get verified on Instagram, and exchanged stories about touring across the world with their videographer. Eager to learn about American culture, he asked if French fries were “still freedom fries?”
Harding spent most of the lunch nerding out over the planes in the sky. He explained to Umber how wind patterns affect landings and asked whether he could invite his friend, an Air France pilot who had just flown overhead into LAX, to an upcoming L.A. Phil event.
Daniel Harding looks at a plane flying by outside the In-N-Out Burger.
Harding’s short answer to whether In-N-Out lived up to the hype? “This was excellent.”
All that jazz at Beckmen YOLA Center
As Harding approached the entrance to the music education building at the Beckmen YOLA Center in Inglewood, the excitement within was palpable. Employees, alumni and donor Thomas L. Beckmen met Harding with a tunnel of boomwhackers — colorful, hollow tubes used to help children practice their rhythm.
“Thank you,” Harding exclaimed as he ran the gantlet while crowd members cheered out “YAY Maestro.”
Daniel Harding is interviewed by a student at the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.
Dudamel proposed training children in underserved communities when he was appointed as music director of the L.A. Phil in 2007, and the center has been one of the great achievements of his tenure. The Frank Gehry-designed facility opened in 2021 as part of a $14.5-million renovation that turned a former Burger King into a state-of-the-art music school.
Although it was Harding’s first visit to the center, he already has plans to carry on Dudamel’s legacy, promising the assembled team, “You won’t be able to get rid of me.”
YOLA alumni Kaylee Vasquez and Moses Aubrey told Harding about their experiences with the organization while taking him on a tour of the center, which Aubrey called a “magical space.” Harding noted that he began playing instruments as a child in three local orchestras near where he grew up, and was eager to share his appreciation for music education.
“I want to feed off all of this incredible enthusiasm and energy,” Harding said. “I think that my experience back home has been that music education and the opportunity for everyone to partake in music actively was something that we took for granted, and we lost it. I think any program that’s reinforcing that and giving back that opportunity to as many people as possible is amazing, and we need it as musicians.”
Daniel Harding listens to students perform at the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center.
Harding listened intently to a jazz quartet of recent YOLA alumni — Gael Saldaña, Marcos Salgado, Isabel Mora and Amoye Olutosin — tapping his fingers to the beat throughout. After the performance, YOLA’s student of the year, 16-year-old Jaelle Couch, presented Harding with a colorful gift bag of L.A. Phil and YOLA swag. The two sat down for a brief Q&A, during which Harding expressed his opinions about In-N-Out, even if he wanted to keep it a secret for his son, George’s, sake.
“My son, he’s 21, cooks such a good burger, and if I say that I prefer In-N-Out, he might stop making me burgers,” Harding said, laughing. “So, just between you and me, In-N-Out’s the best burger. If this is going out in the wide world, George, you still make the best burger.”
Harding also discussed that while he’s excited to explore everything L.A. has to offer, music is what he’s most looking forward to.
“There’s so much to discover in this incredibly exciting city, and so many contrasts, and so much vitality,” Harding said, adding that at the end of the day, as a musician, he is most excited about, “Making music with these musicians, and sharing it with this audience.”
Los Angeles’ best views at the Hollywood Bowl
On his way to the Hollywood Bowl, Harding received his first true taste of life as an Angeleno: being stuck in crosstown traffic. After nearly an hour in the car, he made it through the hills and to the iconic band shell that serves as the L.A. Phil’s second home. Wind ruffled Harding’s hair as he took time to shake hands and introduce himself to every Bowl employee he came into contact with.
Meghan Umber, left, points out the Hollywood Bowl band shell’s lights to Daniel Harding.
Mark Ladd, the Bowl’s superintendent and director of operations, took Harding on a tour of the empty venue, describing the features that make the facility unique, including its powerful speaker system and the venue’s sharp, 600-foot vertical rise. Harding walked onstage through the back doors, joking to Ladd, “Quite a nice space you got.”
After taking in the view from the stage, the team brought Harding to the nosebleed seats at the far back of the venue. Harding posed for photos against a landscape engulfed by mountains and tied together with the Hollywood Sign. At one point he stuck out his hand to pretend he held the distant band shell in his cupped palm.
“That’s the cheesiest photo I’ve ever done,” he said with a smile.
Daniel Harding takes a photograph of the Hollywood Bowl.
Despite the day’s packed schedule, Harding took time alone to savor the moment — and the extraordinary hillside view. He crouched down in an attempt to find the right angle for a photo of the scene on his phone.
With another visit now over, Harding once again received a gift bag — this one filled to the brim with Bowl merch, including a jean jacket from a recent collaboration with Citizens of Humanity, and embroidered hats to block out the L.A. sunshine. Paying homage to both Harding’s experience as a pilot and the Bowl’s retro “No Fly” posters, the conductor received vintage poster prints with text requesting pilots not to fly over the venue during a concert.
The most exciting gift, however, was likely Harding’s new all-access pass to the Hollywood Bowl.
A bucket-list moment at Dodger Stadium
At the close of an abundant day, Harding met Dudamel at Dodger Stadium to watch L.A.’s hometown heroes take on the Colorado Rockies. The famed departing music director eagerly embraced Harding, and the pair strolled arm-in-arm as the Rockies warmed up.
“These are the two managers of the team,” Dudamel joked while pointing at himself and Harding.
The musicians soon shed their black jackets in exchange for personalized Dodgers jerseys emblazoned with their last names, and numbers 11 and 12, representing their respective positions on the short list of L.A. Phil’s music directors. Harding had only been in the city for a day, but he crossed off a major Angeleno bucket-list item when he walked out on the field of Dodger Stadium alongside Dudamel.
Gustavo Dudamel, left, and Daniel Harding stand in the dugout before a Rockies vs. Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium.
The pair looked in on the Dodgers dugout, but didn’t dare touch the players’ bats (an employee likened a bat to a musician’s instrument). Pretending to coach the team, Harding called out, “run faster” to the players on the field.
“We’re good at this,” Dudamel said, smiling.
Harding challenged Dudamel to a race around the bases, but before the pair could lace up their cleats, Dudamel quickly told him, “You will win.” Dudamel remained a big supporter of his successor, even after Harding revealed his British allegiances when he compared baseball to cricket.
“Cricket is closer, and it’s more running. But this is more lazy,” Dudamel told Harding.
Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky joined the group as they walked around the third-oldest stadium in the MLB, and Dudamel and Harding later watched the game from the Dodgers owner’s suite.
Much of the visit was spent taking photos, but Harding used a few free moments to watch the warm-ups in front of him. Amid the cameras and crowd, Dudamel and Harding stood side-by-side as batters launched baseballs across the field.
The cherry on top of a truly L.A. day came at the end of the night when the Dodgers delivered a blowout win, crushing the Rockies 15-6.
Daniel Harding, left, and Gustavo Dudamel on the field before a Dodgers vs. Rockies baseball game at Dodger Stadium.
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