"It is rare in one's career to have the perfect job along with the perfect staff and collaborators, and the past 15 years have been just that for me."

Mauceri has led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 1991, when it was revived. In its previous incarnation, from 1945 to 1947, the orchestra was known as the Hollywood Bowl Symphony, and was founded by Leopold Stokowski.

Mauceri was famously resistant to pops programs, according to the Times, saying in a speech in 1990 that "pops concerts are the worst idea in the world. It's like putting a leech on a corpse."

His concerts with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra have included music by such film composers as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, and Nino Rota, and such American composers as Leonard Bernstein (who was his mentor) and John Williams.

The orchestra's summer 2006 season will include a series of farewell events.