About the SDO
THE SCOTT DUNN ORCHESTRA, formed by conductor, arranger, and pianist Scott Dunn, celebrates film music, its creators and the rich heritage of music from Hollywood and Broadway. Scott Dunn has a remarkable career as a conductor, pianist and orchestrator. He is the Associate Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a noted advocate for American contemporary and film music.
Filling a void in LA’s cultural scene, the newly formed Scott Dunn Orchestra (SDO) is borne from Dunn’s passion for film music, which can be traced back to his friends and mentors, Leonard Rosenman and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett. In partnership with The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the SDO, comprised of the world's greatest studio musicians, celebrates Hollywood’s great music legacy and presents concerts dedicated exclusively to film music as first-rate concert fare.
SDO presented four sold out concerts at The Wallis in 2025 and 2026. A centenary celebration of the music of Henry Mancini in May 2025 played to a packed house and included music by Mancini not yet heard on the concert stage. The Hollywood Modernists program reviewed music by Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Leonard Rosenman and others who introduced jazz and modernism to the art of film scoring. In January, with music by David Shire, Michel LeGrand, Jerry Goldsmith and Nino Rota, SDO celebrated the iconic 1970s scores from such films as Saturday Night Fever, The Sting and The Godfather. Most recently, From Hell to Hollywood revisited music by such composers as Dmitri Tiomkin, Miklos Rozsa, Bronislaw Kaper and Max Steiner in a programme celebrating the 1930’s and 40’s composers who fled war torn Europe.
Up next, the 1980s, including the historic works of John Williams followed by a concert of music by the legendary British film composers.
Read about us in the LA Times here.
