Tech Innovator Makes Key Investment in the LA Phil of Tomorrow

In 2015, Centennial Campaign Chair and former LA Phil Board Chair David C. Bohnett made a once-in-a-lifetime gift of $20,000,000 that would become one of the cornerstone commitments of the campaign. 

“My advice to those considering a gift to support the LA Phil’s Centennial is that it’s not important at what level one gives. What’s important is that one gives at any level. The benefits for the donor, and the recipient, are matched in value and inspiration.”Half of Mr. Bohnett’s gift has been allocated to create the David C. Bohnett Presidential Fund for Discovery and Innovation.

“The Centennial Campaign is about finding ways of tapping into the interest among people in the community. Because of my interest in technology, I’m really big on empowering people to connect to the Internet to have a sense of participation.”

“My goal in creating the Presidential Fund for Discovery and Innovation was to help the LA Phil become a model orchestra for the 21st century, implementing innovative programming and audience development initiatives with an eye toward social responsibility. I want to broaden the access, broaden the programming, broaden the awareness, and broaden the diversity. That’s the bridge between social justice and the arts for me.”

With the other half of his gift, Mr. Bohnett took the rare step of endowing a management role at an American orchestra, naming the David C. Bohnett Presidential Chair. 

“As an investor in new and start-up technology businesses, I believe that the team — all the team — is of prime importance. This belief is plainly reflected in my endowing the LA Phil’s CEO position. I was inspired by [former President & CEO] Deborah Borda’s leadership to fund this endowment in perpetuity, so no matter what challenges the LA Phil may face in some distant future, one thing will be certain: it will always have the resources to recruit and pay a first-rate chief executive.”