The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park was jammed with families as you can see from the following photographs. The community event was an early March preview of the 2025 Conrad Prebys 5th Anniversary Summer Season at this most amazing San Diego bayfront venue. If you’ve never had a chance to attend a concert at the Rady Shell, you are truly missing out.
When I came by, San Diego band Cassie B was up on the stage covering favorite songs from different decades and singing original compositions, too. I heard the music of Queen, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift… Many in the audience were dancing, swaying, singing along!
During the big event other performers would include San Diego Symphony musicians and local band The Farmers. It was the perfect afternoon for an outdoor picnic!
Anyway, I was totally impressed by another San Diego Symphony production, as I always am. I couldn’t believe the massive crowd!
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Have you ever listened to music from Madagascar? I can’t say that I have.
A live performance by BeMaeva, an independent band rooted in the soul-stirring rhythms of Madagascar, is coming to San Diego on March 14th, 2025. This sounds like a great event at a very cool venue that is located a little east of downtown: The Soap Factory!
(I once visited the Soap Factory during an architectural open house event. See that blog post here.)
You can get tickets for BeMaeva LIVE in San Diego and learn more about the concert at this webpage.
The description includes: Led by the dynamic duo of Dina Maeva, a powerhouse Baltimore-born vocalist with Malagasy heritage now based in San Diego, and Rade Bema, a multi-instrumental maestro from New York, BeMaeva brings an unforgettable fusion of world music, storytelling, and cultural celebration.
More than a concert—this is a cultural journey you don’t want to miss!
Awesome!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The famous Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park celebrated its “birthday” today with a special anniversary concert. The organ debuted in 1915 on New Year’s Day for the Panama-California Exposition. Officially the world’s largest outdoor musical instrument, the Spreckels Organ has provided free weekly concerts in San Diego for–can you believe it–the last 110 years!
San Diego Civic Organist extraordinaire Raúl Prieto Ramírez is in Spain visiting his family for the holidays, so concert-goers today enjoyed music performed by well-known organist Russ Peck–another San Diego favorite! It’s the New Year, so he chose several traditional pieces by Johann Strauss Jr., including Wine, Women, and Song and, of course, The Blue Danube.
During the special concert, the public was invited to enter the organ building and see (and really hear!) the King of Instruments with its over 5000 pipes in action. Experiencing the organ this way is typically a once-every-year opportunity.
I didn’t venture inside the organ building this time–I’ve posted photographs in the past. You can see the photos I shared 10 years ago by clicking here.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
How can children develop a love for opera? By watching and listening to a fun performance by Opera4Kids!
Even I, a so-called adult, enjoyed a happy opera staged for children at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion today. It was part of the usual two o’clock organ concert in San Diego’s Balboa Park.
Opera4Kids presented The Bear and the Pear Tree, a simple story sung by two professional opera singers, Victoria Robertson and Bernardo Bermudez. Both have sung with the San Diego Opera.
Kids sat on the stage, swaying and clapping, laughing and shouting encouragement to the sweet pear tree and the hungry bear. The bear wanted a pear. Should he flatter the pear tree? Would the story end with a happily ever after?
Yes, it was a child’s fairy tale, but the singing was strong and very beautiful.
Funny how a simple thing can make one feel uplifted.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A fantastic event kicked off Fleet Week San Diego this evening. At the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, members of Navy Band Southwest joined members of Marine Band San Diego for a spectacular Military & Veteran Appreciation Concert!
The music was rousing, patriotic, and even jazzy at times. But the highlight of the concert occurred before a single instrument was played. A group of Vietnam Veterans were called to the front of the audience in order to be recognized and honored.
Each hero shook the hand of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and received a special cap and Vietnam Veteran Commemorative Pin. Then all who’d been recognized formed a line for photographs.
I took my own photos from a distant bench. You can see the appreciation and the smiles.
If you’d like to learn more about San Diego Fleet Week, which in 2024 runs until November 11, click here! There are free activities available to the public, including tours of Navy and Coast Guard ships!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
This afternoon, the San Diego Youth Symphony took to the stage at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion, to perform their traditional Halloween concert. And many of the young musicians were in costume!
I noticed cows, Harry Potter, the Riddler, a Super Mario mushroom . . . and two adult conductors who were quite evil-looking!
Spooky pieces played during the fun concert included Valse Diabolique, The Boogie Man Blues, Themes from Harry Potter, Waltz of the Wicked, and Curse of the Rosin Eating Zombies From Outer Space! Yes, that last one is a thing. I’m not kidding!
I took photos of a few fun costumes before and during the concert…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The Day of Music was held today at the San Diego Symphony’s newly renovated Jacobs Music Center. Artists and musicians from communities in San Diego and Tijuana gathered for the free cultural event!
Out in the Box Office Lobby, live performances would take place throughout the day. I listened for a minute or two, but I was anxious to see the inside of greatly redesigned Copley Symphony Hall–now called Jacobs Music Center. (I frequently walk past Symphony Towers, and have observed construction workers coming and going for years it seems now!)
After craning my head this way and that to take in the renovated stage, seating and other features of the historic venue, I settled down to enjoy a very fine hour-long performance by the 1st Marine Division Band out of Camp Pendleton. San Diego Symphony President and Chief Executive Officer Martha Gilmer, in her introduction, stated that the group is one of the finest military bands in the United States.
The 1st Marine Division Band played a variety of symphonic pieces, including Let Freedom Ring by Ryan Nowlin, Colonial Song by Percy Grainger, and an amazing, very energetic Slava! by Leonard Bernstein.
San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare came on stage to conduct a simply exquisite Concertino for Flute by Cecile Chaminade, with Ana Paola Rincones masterful on flute.
Of course, there had to be Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa. A rousing performance received a standing ovation!
According to the program, many performing groups would follow, including the San Diego Children’s Choir and the Voices of Our City Choir.
As you can see from my photographs, the interior of the Jacobs Music Center is more magical than ever. The completed renovation also included measures taken to greatly improve the listening experience–the very softest of notes can be discerned with crystal clarity.
On the sidewalk outside Symphony Towers, performers from Animal Cracker Conspiracy welcome arriving guests.The Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra creates beautiful music inside the Box Office Lobby.A smile greets me at the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra table!The Coronado School of the Arts has a theatrical performance of The Addams Family coming up! I learned Lurch is one of the characters!Joey’s Wings performs, in an effort to fight childhood cancer. (See my previous blog post.)Actors from Project [BLANK] perform in one corner of the San Diego Symphony concessions area. You provide the subject matter and they act it out!Here I am walking into the breathtaking Jacobs Music Center.Gazing to one side. Long ago, the San Diego Symphony’s home was a luxurious FOX Theatre movie palace. The skyscraper Symphony Towers was built above and around it!The 1st Marine Division Band takes the stage.All stand for the Star Spangled Banner.An outstanding musical performance by our local Marines.Looking up toward the balcony seating when the performance ends. The Jacobs Music Center is like a splendid palace.I’m now on the upper level looking down between performances. The general lighting has turned from blue to purple.Another look toward the ceiling. Wow.Our Youth, the next segment of the day’s program, is about to begin. It’s a free community Day of Music inside the spectacular Jacobs Music Center!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The San Diego Symphony is making history today! Their redesigned, greatly renovated Copley Symphony Hall debuts this evening as the Jacobs Music Center! A big gala Opening Night Celebration will mark the exciting transformation!
If, like me, you are a more ordinary San Diego resident, tomorrow is our day! Beginning at 11 am, the San Diego Symphony will welcome the public to a free event inside the new Jacobs Music Center!
The Day of Music will welcome talented artists and arts organizations from across the vibrant San Diego-Tijuana region as we celebrate the opening of the Jacobs Music Center. If you’d like to see a list of the many artists and musicians that will participate, click here.
Performers include 1st Marine Division Band, Animal Cracker Conspiracy, Ballet Folklórico Jalisciense, Coronado School of the Arts’ Musical Theatre and Drama Conservatory, Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra – Giocoso Quartet, and many more!
Bring the family to this very special community day. There will also be food and other activities!
This is your chance to freely step into the new Jacobs Music Center and see the breathtaking transformation of a historic San Diego venue. I’ll be there tomorrow. I plan to take photographs! I’m excited!
(Seven years ago I enjoyed a behind-the-scenes architectural tour of old Copley Symphony Hall. If you’d like to see those photos, click here.)
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Would you like to own a genuine historical artifact from Balboa Park that dates back to just before 1915, when the park debuted for the Panama-California Exposition? You can!
The original light bulb sockets have all been replaced on the façade of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion building and colonnades. If you’ve been to a concert after dark, you know the beautiful lights that add magic to the night.
The Spreckels Organ Pavilion was one of only four structures in Balboa Park meant to remain permanently after the 1915 exposition. Well, these decorative sockets and their hidden wiring deteriorated after a century of use and constant exposure to outdoor elements.
I learned today that for a twenty dollar donation, one socket (with light bulb) will be yours! Simply attend a two o’clock free Sunday organ concert and look for them on tables as you enter the pavilion.
Get them while they last and own a genuine piece of San Diego history! And you’ll help support the Spreckels Organ Society, too!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Music lovers gathered at Waterfront Park on San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon for a special event. They had come to listen to the second concert of San Diego’s newest arts and music series, Blanket Sounds!
As concert time neared, blankets, beach chairs and umbrellas multiplied by the stage, and the growing audience anticipated performances by DJ Mr. Hek and San Diego’s World Punk Band QUEL BORDEL!
Everyone was welcome at this multicultural and multigenerational community gathering. Kids ran and played on the grass. Families enjoyed picnics.
I lingered for a bit, enjoyed the mellow Sunday afternoon atmosphere, and took these photos. There are two more free Blanket Sounds concerts to go this summer. Find out more here!
The County Administration Building rises under a blue San Diego sky.Members of QUEL BORDEL! warm up before the concert begins.Tall ship Star of India on San Diego Bay makes a scenic background.Rock-like sculpture is an art installation by artist Trevor Amery.The other side of Trevor Amery’s fascinating sculpture.Jake Skolnick of local San Diego band QUEL BORDEL! gives a thumbs up!Kids could color at an activity table.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 