A SPECIAL REPORT: MUSIC ALFRESCO

Park ‘n’ Listen

Free outdoor concerts are as much a part of summer as barbecues and beach trips. For 23 years, the Valley Cultural Center has provided live music at Warner Park on Sundays. Newer to the scene is the Skirball Cultural Center. It has Thursday evening concerts in its courtyard, starting July 16.

Tunes by Starlight

The 5,000-seat Starlight Bowl, tucked in the base of the Verdugo Mountains, above, held hard rock concerts until the early 1990s, when area residents complained to the Burbank City Council. Now, the venue has tamer fare, like Shirley Jones and the Burbank Civic Light Opera, who perform this weekend.

Burn, Baby, Burn

Santa Clarita draws 1,000 to 3,000 people to its Sunday concerts in local parks during July and August. The shows start at 5:30 p.m., although, when the sun is still beating down, it gets pretty hot, said Gail Ortiz, the city’s public information officer. “We try to pick parks with lots of shade trees.”

Nature’s Stage

Performing outdoors is a joy, said Ellen Geer, who has been acting and singing at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga nearly her whole life. “I think you hear and see things in a whole different way than in an indoor, controlled arena,” she said. “It feels more human to me.”