Schoenberg Hall UCLA: A History of Music and Architecture
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a rich history dating back to the late 19th century when it began as a teachers' college. Over decades, it evolved into a comprehensive university, marked by significant architectural developments and a vibrant music scene. Among its notable landmarks is Schoenberg Hall, a building dedicated to music and named after the influential composer Arnold Schoenberg.
Early History of UCLA
UCLA's origins can be traced to March 1881, when the California State Legislature authorized a southern branch of the California State Normal School in downtown Los Angeles. This institution aimed to train teachers for the growing population of Southern California. The Los Angeles branch officially opened its doors on August 29, 1882.
In 1914, the teaching college relocated to a new campus on Vermont Avenue in East Hollywood. Recognizing the potential for growth, Regent Edward Augustus Dickson and Director Ernest Carroll Moore lobbied the State Legislature to transform the school into the second University of California campus. Their efforts paid off on May 23, 1919, when Governor William D. Stephens signed a bill establishing the Southern Branch of the University of California.
The Move to Westwood and Architectural Evolution
Under the leadership of UC President William Wallace Campbell, the Southern Branch experienced rapid enrollment growth. By the mid-1920s, the Vermont Avenue location was becoming inadequate. A committee was formed to explore potential new sites, ultimately recommending the Letts' Estate in Westwood. The Janss brothers, the estate's owners, agreed to sell the property for a reduced price, with funding secured through municipal bond measures.
Construction of the new Westwood campus began, with George W. Kelham serving as the supervising architect and David Allison contributing the Romanesque style. In 1929, the first undergraduate classes were held on the new campus, accommodating 5,500 students.
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The architectural landscape of UCLA has evolved significantly since its move to Westwood. The original four buildings were Royce Hall, the College Library, the Chemistry Building, and the Physics and Biology Building. Over time, the campus has seen various architectural movements, including post-World War II modernism, which emphasized minimalism. In the early ‘70s, a postmodernist period began. Architects wanted to break away from the gridlike and blocky appearance of modernist architecture and return to ornamentation and attention to small details. Buildings were initially named based on their function but later began to be named after notable professors.
The Herb Alpert School of Music
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music was established in 2007 as a unit of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, solidifying the university's commitment to arts education. The school's roots go back to 1919, with the creation of an art gallery and music department. Over the years, departments evolved, leading to the formation of the School of the Arts and the School of Theater, Film and Television in 1991.
In 2023, the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music organized a series of concerts and dialogues focused on race and social justice in the modern world. The series, which took place from February 26-28, 2023, centered around a historic performance of The Gates of Justice, jazz legend Dave Brubeck's rarely presented large-scale sacred composition. For the first time ever, Brubeck's sons performed as the accompanying jazz trio. The program also featured six recent and socially conscious works by contemporary composers, including six-time Grammy-winning pianist, composer, and music educator Arturo O'Farrill. The Herb Alpert School of Music has 35 active ensembles that perform classical, contemporary, jazz, popular and world music.
Schoenberg Hall: A Hub for Music
Named in honor of composer Arnold Schoenberg, Schoenberg Hall is a central facility within the Herb Alpert School of Music. Schoenberg Hall houses the Dean's office, administrative offices for the school's departments, most faculty offices, as well as two large theaters. Schoenberg Hall, which seats about 520, is the main auditorium of the Schoenberg building. Aside from the performance venues, Schoenberg Hall also contains the Henry Mancini Media Lab as well as the World Music Center. The World Music Center acts as a composing studio, recording studio, and a classroom. The World Music Center includes the Ethnomusicology Archive, the World Musical Instrument Collection, and is home to publications by the Ethnomusicology department. Schoenberg, white rectangular pillars support the building.
Arnold Schoenberg's connection to UCLA began in 1936 when he joined the music faculty. Fleeing the Nazis, who had branded his modernist compositions as “degenerate,” the Austrian composer arrived in the Hollywood Hills to teach music. Two years later, Schoenberg was appointed a UCLA professor on a salary of $5,400 a year, which allowed him to buy a home across the street from Shirley Temple.
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Other Notable Music Facilities
In addition to Schoenberg Hall, the Herb Alpert School of Music boasts other significant facilities, including the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, completed in 2014. This center features a high-tech recording studio, rehearsal and teaching spaces, a café, a social space for students, and an Internet-based music production center. The center was funded in part by a $10 million donation from Music Industry Executive and Philanthropist Morris “Mo” Ostin and his late wife, Evelyn Ostin.
A History of Musical Performances at UCLA
UCLA has long been a venue for diverse musical performances, attracting renowned artists and showcasing a wide range of genres.
Early Performances: In the 1930s, Duke Ellington played a campus concert at Royce Hall after two UCLA students made an audacious request: Would he play a campus concert for free? The forerunner of the Center for the Art of Performance launched its first subscription season at Royce Hall in 1937, headlined by famed African American contralto Marian Anderson. Early UCLA fraternities began a spirited tradition of serenading sorority sisters; William Ackerman ’24, tennis coach at UCLA, organizes a “sing-off” among 11 groups.
Mid-Century Performances: Ella Fitzgerald played Royce in a performance packed with tunes by her favorite composers: Thelonious Monk, Benny Goodman and George Gershwin.
Rock and Pop Era: Bob Dylan pegged all ticket prices for his December 6 Royce gig at one dollar. He returned to UCLA for two nights in May 1998, this time to perform at Pauley Pavilion with Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison. By the time he finishes his tour with a December 6 gig at Royce, he is a rock ’n’ roll star. Neil Young’s breakthrough album, Harvest, is enhanced by the first live version of “The Needle and the Damage Done,” an ode to lost friends, which the singer-songwriter records at Royce on January 30. Linda Ronstadt was a supporting act when the Eagles played Royce on December 2.
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Later Performances: The Alarm made history when its May gig from the base of Janss Steps was filmed by MTV and broadcast live to Europe via an experimental NASA satellite. Rapper Jay-Z sold out the 13,800 seats of Pauley in minutes, even before the word had leaked that he would be joined on stage by Rihanna. On May 3, the UCLA Bruin Marching Band opened for the Rolling Stones at the Staples Center, performing a brassy rendition of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” before 19,000 screaming fans. Tarzana-born rapper Doja Cat celebrated the release of her first album at Royce.
Notable Figures Associated with UCLA
UCLA has been shaped by numerous individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields:
William Coit Ackerman: A tennis coach at UCLA from 1920 to 1950, Ackerman led his teams to numerous Pacific Coast Conference titles and an NCAA championship.
Arthur Ashe: A UCLA alumnus, Ashe was a tennis champion and activist, known for his achievements on and off the court.
Llewellyn M.K. Boelter: Boelter organized and led UCLA’s College of Engineering from 1944 until his retirement in 1965.
Paul D. Boyer: A professor in UCLA’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 1963, Boyer is also the founding director of the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute.
Tom Bradley: Bradley became Los Angeles’ first African-American mayor, holding office for 20 years.
Ralph Bunche: A UCLA alumnus, Bunche was a diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner, known for his work in the United Nations.
Lily Bess Campbell: Campbell taught at UCLA from 1922 to 1950, leaving her mark on the academic world through her work in Renaissance and Shakespearean literature.
William Andrews Clark Jr.: Clark named the library for his father, William Andrews Clark Sr., who founded a mining empire in Montana.
James A. Collins: Collins graduated from UCLA in 1950 and opened his first restaurant, “Hamburger Handout.” Today, his company includes hundreds of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Sizzler restaurants.
Clark and Barbara June (B.J.) Cornell: Constructed in 1995, Cornell Hall is named after Clark and Barbara June (B.J.) Cornell, who funded this new addition to UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Mitchel D. Covel: Covel joined the clinical faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine in 1960.
Marion Davies: Davies was an actress of the early 20th century. She donated $1.9 million in 1952 for the construction of the children’s center that bears her name.
Paul A. Dodd: Dodd came to UCLA in 1928 as a labor economist.
Clarence Addison Dykstra: Dykstra became provost and vice president of UCLA in October 1944.
Louis Factor: Factor began his career as a teenager, working in his family’s Hollywood plant.
Grace Maxwell Fernald: Fernald established the center in 1921 originally as a research and training center for the study, diagnosis and treatment of learning disorders in children.
Francis E. Fowler Jr.: In 1992, what had been known as the Museum and Laboratories of Ethnic Arts and Technology was renamed the Fowler Museum of Cultural History - after the family of collector and inventor Francis E. Fowler Jr.
Shepherd Ivory Franz: At UCLA from 1924 to 1933, Shepherd Ivory Franz served as professor and as the first chairman of the UCLA Department of Psychology.
Leslie Gonda: Gonda escaped from the Komárom forced-labor camp in Hungary. His wife, Susan, survived Auschwitz.
Charles Grove Haines: He served on UCLA’s political science faculty from 1925 until his death in 1948.
Earle Raymond Hedrick: Hedrick served as vice president and provost of UCLA from 1937 to 1942. Prior to his administrative position, he taught mathematics for 13 years.
Mira Hershey: Hershey was a wealthy philanthropist whose support made the building of the first campus dormitory possible.
Glorya Kaufman: Philanthropist and dance lover Glorya Kaufman is a generous patron of the arts.
William G. Kerckhoff: Kerckhoff found success in the lumber industry and then turned his attention toward the development of hydroelectric power, bringing electricity to Southern and Central California.
Edgar Lee Kinsey: Kinsey taught at UCLA from 1928 until his death in 1961.
Vern Oliver Knudsen: Knudsen served as professor, department chair, dean of graduate studies, vice chancellor and, eventually, chancellor of UCLA. As an academic, Knudsen studied physics and specialized in acoustics.
Lester Korn: Korn was a founder of Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest executive recruiting firm, and served as its CEO for more than 20 years.
Morton La Kretz: La Kretz founded Crossroads Management, which manages industrial, commercial and residential properties throughout the Los Angeles Basin.
James E. Lu Valle: Lu Valle was a student-athlete in the highest sense. He held a Regents’ Scholarship, a job in the chemistry lab and won a bronze medal as a track runner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Kenneth Macgowan: Macgowan taught at UCLA from 1946 until his retirement in 1956 and served as the first chairman of the UCLA Theater Arts Department.
William Melnitz: Melnitz earned his degrees in Germanic languages at UCLA and joined the faculty soon after.
Ernest Carroll Moore: Moore was director of the Southern Branch of the University of California (prior to the formal founding of UCLA) in 1919. Through the efforts of Moore and Regent Edward A. Dickson, UCLA came into being.
Peter Morton: Morton owns the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and, with partner Isaac Tigrett, started the Hard Rock Café chain of restaurants.
Franklin D. Murphy: Murphy became UCLA’s chancellor in 1960. During his eight-year tenure, the College of Applied Arts transitioned into the College of Fine Arts, and the schools of library science and architecture and urban planning were established.
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