Tag: musicians

Organ-ism rehearses December Nights rock concert!

Who was that in Balboa Park today, rehearsing their upcoming December Nights rock concert? It was Organ-ism, the Organ Pavilion Rock Band!

People wandering through the park settled onto the pavilion’s benches to enjoy the awesome practice session. How does the Spreckels Organ sound when accompanied by drums and electric guitar? It rocks!

Funny how the huge Christmas tree on the stage was simultaneously being tested, opening and shutting for no apparent reason. The tree will be more central to other traditional December Nights performances.

The free rock concert will be held on Friday, December 5th at 4:00 p.m. in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The music? Classic rock favorites!

If you enjoy holiday music, you’ll want to take a seat in the pavilion on Saturday, December 6th at 2:40 pm. That’s when San Diego Civic Organist, Raul Prieto Ramírez, will perform holiday and all-time favorites.

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San Diego Civic Youth Ballet performs The Nutcracker!

The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker on December 10 to 21, 2025. The public was able to experience a free preview of the show this afternoon at the Sunday organ concert in Balboa Park!

The audience was amazed at the poise and grace exhibited by the young ballet dancers as they glided across the hard concrete stage. The dancers earned a huge ovation! If the selected dances in this preview are any indication, The Nutcracker will be sensational!

It was great hearing San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez providing much of the accompanying music. A world-class musician brought Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday classic to life.

As always, the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet’s holiday performances will take place in the Casa del Prado Theater in Balboa Park. Find out more and purchase tickets by clicking here.

We also learned that 2025 is the 80th Anniversary Season of the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet!

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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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House of Germany’s festive lawn program!

Enjoy a few festive photographs that I took in Balboa Park today.

The House of Germany was having their lawn program at the International Cottages when I walked through the park, so I paused, grabbed a bratwurst on a roll with sauerkraut, ketchup and mustard, and sat down to listen. (At about two thirty the beer was already sold out!)

I’m not sure who these musicians were, but I saw on the House of Germany’s flyer pertaining to the program that four different groups would provide entertainment.

Before resuming my afternoon walk, I ventured into the House of Germany cottage and viewed interesting educational displays.

The summer lawn program season is approaching its end. Check out the HPR International Cottages website here to see fun events that remain!

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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.

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Mexican Independence Day celebrated at Old Globe!

Here’s a collection of photographs for you to enjoy. I took them in Balboa Park today. Mexican Independence Day was celebrated in the Old Globe’s outdoor Copley Plaza!

I lingered for a little over an hour, listening to rousing mariachi music and watching joyful, colorful baile folklórico dancing.

A good crowd at tables around the outdoor stage enjoyed free Mexican candies and played Mexican lotería too! Many families enjoyed the festivities!

Anyone wandering about could also check out artists at their table. I recognized Maricruz Alvarado! You can see some of her beautiful work here and here!

What entertainment did I enjoy at this great Mexican Independence Day Celebration? Música Del Barrio with their pre-show music, Mariachi Continental SD, DanzArts folklórico dance, and the Radican Ensamble choir. There would be even more groups after I left to resume my Balboa Park walk.

The cultural celebration was produced by the Old Globe’s AXIS performing arts public engagement program. Learn more about AXIS 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.

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Chicago rocks Rady Shell in San Diego!

The legendary rock band Chicago performed before a sell-out crowd this evening in San Diego. Even after 58 years of touring, the guys can still bring it!

As the sun set, the Rady Shell filled up with fans. Hundreds more would listen to the concert from benches at the edge of San Diego Bay and the Marriott Marina. Boats anchored in the bay were there for the music, too, and dozens of people in lawn chairs on the Embarcadero Marina Park South pier had some great free seats.

Hit would followed hit all evening long–everything from Questions 67 & 68, to Make Me Smile, to Searchin’ So Long, to Old Days, to Does Anyone Know What Time It Is, to If You Leave Me Now, to Look Away . . .

The timeless jams and ballads were as great as ever. Three original band members–Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, and James Pankow–were unstoppable. It appears they’ve found the fountain of youth.

I hadn’t been to a Chicago concert since Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff departed as lead vocalists, so I wasn’t sure how I’d like the “new guy” Neil Donell. Oh wow! He actually sounds a whole lot like Peter Cetera!

It seems there is no stopping Chicago. America’s Band they call themselves. There’s no denying Chicago is a national treasure.

Yes, I got goosebumps. I’m sure many in the audience did, too!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Parade of Flags celebrates 90 years in Balboa Park!

Balboa Park’s International Cottages are celebrating their 90th anniversary this weekend! They were established in 1935 for the California Pacific International Exposition.

The festivities kicked off today with the House of Pacific Relations International Cottage Parade of Flags!

Members of all the different Houses paraded through Balboa Park, to finally assemble at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Many participants wore traditional dress, representative of their nation.

Shame on me. I didn’t realize the parade was today. I was fortunate to catch the tail end of the colorful parade, as some of the nations filed proudly into the organ pavilion.

If you’re curious, that’s the House of Scotland Pipe Band with their drums and bagpipes under the huge United States flag. They were joined by young members of the Helix High School Highlanders band!

After the parade, there would be the National Anthem, speeches and cultural entertainment on the organ pavilion stage, then on the lawn at the International Cottages. (I’ll share those photos in my next blog post.)

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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.

Feel free to share!

Concert celebrates The Beatles’ visit to San Diego!

Do you love The Beatles? Would you like to go a free concert that celebrates the 60th anniversary of The Beatles making their one and only appearance in San Diego?

On September 1, 2025 (Labor Day) at 7:30 pm, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s Classic Rock Band will be playing a huge selection of favorite hits by The Beatles. Have you ever heard classic rock played with drums, guitars and a gigantic outdoor pipe organ? Here’s your chance!

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez will be joined by the Pavilion Rock Band Members to create a very cool and memorable experience. I caught a bit of the band’s rehearsal this afternoon.

The concert is part of the 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival. You can see the concert schedule here. (Next Monday evening is Not-So-Silent Movie Night!)

To learn more about the upcoming The Beatles 60th San Diego Anniversary concert, click 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.

Feel free to share!

Following your dreams in Ocean Beach.

I spotted this mural during my recent Sunset Cliffs walk. It’s painted on the side of Trinidad Motors in Ocean Beach.

Figures carrying musical instruments appears to stride across the beach toward the blue ocean.

The artwork is attributed to Jeff Yeomans Studio, based on a photo by Gerhard Lipold, painted with the assistance of Victor and Lynn Freeman.

Words in a corner of the mural state: We believe true happiness is found in celebrating our diversity, perseverance and following your dreams.

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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.

Feel free to share!

Lightning, thunder, and a Spreckels return!

Were you one of the lucky few who experienced the organ concert of a lifetime four years ago? That was the night internationally renowned organist Ahreum Han played the Spreckels Organ with thunder booming and lightning flashing in the sky everywhere!

Well, you have the opportunity to hear Ahream Han again. And I suggest you don’t miss another sure-to-be amazing concert!

The 37rd San Diego International Organ Festival continues this evening, July 28, 2025 at 7:30 pm in Balboa Park.

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion will experience much better weather, but the thunder and lightning coming from the fingertips of one exceptional organist, native of Seoul, South Korea, will certainly dazzle. Ahream Han promises fireworks, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Scott Joplin.

My energy might be a bit drained from Comic-Con, but I’ll certainly be there.

Lovers of the finest music in the world–don’t miss this!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Preparing for San Diego’s amazing International Organ Festival!

The 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival 2025 is just two days away!

Beginning next Monday, and continuing into September, some of the world’s finest organists will be performing in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion!

Today, as I walked through Balboa Park, I caught the first outstanding organist, Joshua Stafford, as he rehearsed at the Spreckels Organ. Joshua is the Jacobsen Chair for the Organist of Chautauqua Institution, in New York. You might recall that our own beloved Jared Jacobsen served as San Diego Civic Organist from 1978 to 1984.

Joshua will be playing Bohemian Rhapsody, Carmen Fantasy and other all-time favorites! Yes, on the world’s largest outdoor instrument!

If you’ve never been to one of the free San Diego International Summer Organ Festival concerts, you’re missing out on something special. Not only is the music always first rate, but the late evening atmosphere, particularly when the organ pavilion’s many lights come on, is magical. How can it not be? It’s Balboa Park!

Click here to see the full lineup of performers during the 2025 summer festival. Bring your dinner or a snack if you’d like, then settle on one of the pavilion’s benches (or your lawn chair), and live it up!

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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.

Feel free to share!