Tag: musicians

Family Discovery Day at Spreckels Organ Pavilion!

An awesome musical event was enjoyed today at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park!

Family Discovery Day brought together seven outstanding local college bands, a pair of organizations that promote musical education, and a table full of instruments that the public was invited to play!

The bands participating in the epic three hour concert included: the Southwestern College Concert Band; the California State University San Marcos Concert Band; Point Loma Nazarene University; the San Diego State University Symphonic Band; the Cuyamaca College Concert Band; the University of San Diego Concert Band; and the Grossmont College Concert Band. Some of the pieces were conducted by students!

San Diego Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramirez, when not introducing these excellent student bands, also performed beautifully on the famous Spreckels Organ.

I stayed for about an hour and was impressed by the fine musicianship. Complicated pieces were played with ease and precision. I really enjoyed SDSU’s fantastic, haunting Angels in the Architecture, by Frank Ticheli.

SDSU also provided the musical instruments that could be tried by curious kids to one side of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

That’s Raul Prieto Ramirez on the left. Not only is he a world class organist, he’s a super cool guy! He’s working to expand the reach of the incredible Spreckels Organ and one of San Diego’s most amazing concert venues.

Music Discovery is a two year program of the San Diego Youth Symphony for young children, with classes at Liberty Station or Balboa Park.

Music produces smiles!

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

The Rady Shell gets ready for a new season!

It’s now April. The days are getting warmer. The sky has turned a deeper blue. The San Diego Symphony is preparing their outdoor venue The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park for a new season!

The Shell’s red seats were being taken out of storage today in preparation for upcoming concerts. The very first concert, in a couple weeks, will be Lang Lang by the Bay. A couple days later, Peter Frampton will take the stage. And about a week later, Willie Nelson! Yes, lots of musical superstars will be swinging by San Diego in 2024. See the full schedule by clicking here!

I remember the very first concert held in 2021 back when The Shell was brand new. If you want to see photos of the historic opening concert of The Rady Shell, click here!

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Shimms indie rockers perform on the Embarcadero!

Three residents of Little Italy were rocking San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon!

The band Shimms had set up their instruments by San Diego Bay, just south of the Grape Street Pier, and were performing indie rock for an audience that had gathered on the boardwalk.

I lingered for a short while and listened to some darn good music.

You never know what you might encounter during a walk along San Diego’s waterfront. Street musicians, jugglers, dancers, bubble makers, a person costumed like Chewbacca, a dead-ringer for Maverick in Top Gun, a guy with flame-throwing bagpipes–it can be quite surprising!

You might also encounter some talented musicians!

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Concert Series kicks off at San Diego Library!

The 2024 Winter/Spring Concert Series kicked off today at the San Diego Central Library. Sue Palmer and her Motel Swing Orchestra entertained a packed house inside the library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium.

The audience really dug the jazzy selections, including music by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and great pieces written by San Diego’s “Queen of Boogie Woogie” Sue Palmer. A few audience members felt inclined to dance during the upbeat performance!

Sue Palmer is an inductee into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame. Her top notch Motel Swing Orchestra includes piano, saxophone, guitar, drums, trombone and bass. Each musician wowed the crowd, receiving spontaneous applause. The strong vocals were provided by Jazz and Blues singer Liz Ajuzie.

More concerts are scheduled in the months ahead. Several make use of the Central Library’s Steinway piano and will feature some of San Diego’s top pianists!

Believe it or not, this marks the 68th season of free concerts at the San Diego Central Library.

To see what’s coming up, check out my next photo, or visit the library’s web page here.

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Celebrating the 109th birthday of the Spreckels Organ!

A special concert today in Balboa Park celebrated the 109th birthday of the Spreckels Organ!

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez performed a crowd pleasing assortment of music, and received another standing ovation. Our city is fortunate to have a charismatic, world-class organist increasing the popularity of the Spreckels Organ, the largest outdoor musical instrument in the world!

During the free concert, audience members were invited to file through the organ building to watch and hear the incredible pipe organ in action. I myself entered as Raul began a medley from The Sound of Music. I wanted to take another look at historical photographs that line the walls of the building’s central hallway.

(You can see behind-the-scenes photos I took of the Spreckels Organ nine years ago by clicking here.)

The Spreckels Organ made its debut on January 1, 1915, at the opening of the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. The organ was donated by the Spreckels brothers to the people of San Diego and the people of all the world. They stipulated that all concerts must be free.

Free concerts can be enjoyed 109 years later every Sunday at 2 pm!

Crowd listens to Spreckels Organ 109th birthday concert during the holiday season.

The San Diego Union newspaper, Friday Morning, January 1, 1915. John D. Spreckels Gives to San Diego America’s First Out-Of-Door Organ.

Mr. Edward Crome, Spreckels Organ Installer, 1914.

Mr. Harrison Albright, Architect, Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

Dr. Humphrey J. Stewart, City Organist, 1915-1932.

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion Under Construction – 1914. The only surviving picture.

A 1915 Concert. Note the hooded console and umbrellas.

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

USC Trojan Marching Band excites San Diego!

Two hours before the start of the 2023 Holiday Bowl football game, the USC Trojan Marching Band performed in Gaslamp Square.

An excited crowd gathered to listen to horns, drums, and the rattle, crash, boom hurrah of familiar fight songs, as smiling band members swayed in unison, danced, and gave each other and people watching high fives!

The Trojan mascot mounted the ladder, raised his bright sword in the San Diego sunshine and all those rooting for the University of Southern California cheered!

After their extended, very exciting performance, the band marched with a rattle and boom toward Petco Park, scene of this year’s big Holiday Bowl!

…

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Symphony brass, a World Premiere, and the Spreckels Organ!

When San Diego Symphony musicians team up with San Diego Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramírez, you know extraordinary music will follow. When the concert includes a World Premiere by noted composer Texu Kim, it’s an experience you won’t soon forget!

This evening, in San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park, a Brass and Organ Stereophonic Stravaganza was enjoyed by a huge crowd at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

Fine music flowed from the brass instruments of eight San Diego Symphony musicians. Their notes were often accompanied by the mighty Spreckels Organ, world’s largest outdoor musical instrument. A stream of emotions was summoned almost magically, as excellent music will do. It all resulted in a prolonged final standing ovation.

The World Premiere of the piece Mir by Texu Kim was surprising, innovative and a whole lot of fun. I heard audience members gasp when the piece concluded. Learn more about the featured guest composer Texu Kim here.

If you haven’t been to any of this year’s 35th Annual San Diego International Organ Festival free concerts, you should go! There are three more scheduled in Balboa Park. Next Monday the organist is from the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris! The following Monday is Silent Movie Night–a crowd favorite every year!

Interested? Check out the schedule for the remaining concerts here.

…

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 Twitter!

House of Ukraine band to rock Ocean Beach!

The band u3zubmusic will be opening for legendary Ukrainian band SKRYABIN tomorrow, August 15, in Ocean Beach at Winstons Beach Club. What is the band u3zubmusic? A rockin’ group of musicians representing the House of Ukraine in Balboa Park!

I was walking near Balboa Park’s International Cottages this evening when I heard the band rehearsing out on the lawn. I listened for a bit and got some smiles for my camera.

If you want to hear music that is filled with Ukrainian spirit, you might check out the concert. Read more about it and purchase tickets here!

…

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 Twitter!

Mariachi Victoria de San Diego wows crowd!

Today I enjoyed a performance of the Fern Street Circus at Teralta Park in City Heights. Before the circus acts began, however, the gathered crowd was wowed by the young musicians of Mariachi Victoria de San Diego!

The young students on stage were poised and amazing, their music blending perfectly with that of the adults. One young man with a microphone was a true showman with a great future in entertainment ahead!

The audience sat enraptured throughout, and offered great applause when the concert concluded!

…

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 Twitter!

Life touches life in Balboa Park.

Two very different lives.

A young man was passing through Balboa Park. He saw an older gentleman playing a bluesy song and decided to sketch him.

Two generations. Two separate lives, suddenly touching.

That’s part of the magic of Balboa Park.

The musician, who is exceptionally talented, is Saint James Harris Wood. He’s also an author.

…

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 Twitter!