The Music Center
Legal name: Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 952217011
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, US
- Phone
- (213) 972-7211
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Performing Arts Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $69,837,829
- Expenses
- $77,558,871
- Assets
- $138,384,802
- Liabilities
- $40,347,244
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
62 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RACHEL S MOORE (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- RACHEL S MOORE (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $1,495,382 total reported compensation
- HOWARD SHERMAN (EXECUTIVE VP, COO): $471,502 total reported compensation
- SUSAN AVILA (SR. VP DEVELOPMENT): $388,931 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Music Center is a performing arts organization that presents and produces a wide range of performances and free community programs in Los Angeles County.
What it reported doing in 2024
Center operations: the music center ("tmc") maintains and operates the facilities on behalf of los angeles county. The facilities include: walt disney concert hall, dorothy chandler pavilion, ahmanson theatre, mark taper forum, jerry moss plaza, and gloria molina grand park ("park"). Tmc is home to four renowned resident companies: center theatre group, los angeles master chorale, los angeles opera company, and los angeles philharmonic association. Tmc provides facility maintenance, security, guest services, production, and scheduling and events management. In the current fiscal year, nearly 750,000 guests attended over 540 ticketed performances in tmc's venues.tmc also manages and operates los angeles county's 12-acre park. The park features multiuse lawns, stages, and open spaces available for both leisure and civic gatherings. The park typically has more than 1 million guests visit annually to enjoy its many ammenities. The park has become the central gathering place in los angeles for major holiday celebrations including july 4th and new year's eve.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 82% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 99
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.3%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 98%; rating input score 98; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -11.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.78; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 96.3% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 48 of 49 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $67.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 62 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.3M reported
- Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.