The Commodores do a sound check before their evening performance at Bayside Summer Nights.
Adventures all over today, including walks in La Mesa and Logan Heights.
The best came near the end. I just happened to arrive at Embarcadero Marina Park South as the legendary Motown group Commodores began their sound check for this evening’s Bayside Summer Nights concert. It was like a free “concert” for myself and a few lucky others.
The Commodores have provided so many good moments and memories in my life. Their stirring music has such strong rhythm and heart. Soul, defined. When you listen, you smile, then you start singing too.
Night Shift. Lady (You Bring Me Up). Easy.
I heard bits and pieces of them all.
And in the near distance, sailboats and sunshine on San Diego Bay.
Yes, life is good.
Getting the chairs ready for an outdoor concert on San Diego Bay.A sailboat tacks. I could hear the sails flapping.The Commodores on stage produce their legendary magic.Sunshine and sails. Easy like Saturday afternoon.Life is good.
…
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!
Photograph in lobby of Symphony Towers shows the old downtown Fox Theatre, today’s surprising home of the San Diego Symphony.
Today I enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of Copley Symphony Hall, home of the San Diego Symphony. The tour was part of the big OPEN HOUSE 2017 event that is being staged this weekend by the San Diego Architectural Foundation. An amazing 47 buildings featuring diverse architectural styles are being showcased around downtown, from Bankers Hill to Barrio Logan.
Copley Symphony Hall was originally built as the Fox Theatre in 1929, an excellent example of the famous chain of Fox movie palaces. Highly ornate Gothic Revival touches can be seen in the preserved lobby and inside the opulent theatre itself. Should you stand outside on the city street today, all you’d see is a tall skyscraper: Symphony Towers. The modern 34-story skyscraper was built literally over and around the historic Fox Theatre in 1989!
Stepping into Copley Symphony Hall is like being suddenly transported back in time. Take a look at some photos and read the captions for more info!
Visitors check out historical photos of the Fox Theatre movie palace on a wall near the San Diego Symphony box office.Guide from the San Diego Symphony provides some background before a behind-the-scenes tour of Copley Symphony Hall.How the Fox Theatre appeared almost a century ago. A modern 34-story skyscraper, Symphony Towers, was built around it in 1989. The new building’s parking levels were constructed directly above the old theatre!The Fox Theatre was the most elegant place to enjoy culture in San Diego for decades. Countless concerts, shows and movies have been enjoyed here by many generations.Our tour group has entered the theatre’s main lobby. Movie executive William Fox developed a popular chain of theaters in the 1920s. They featured many styles of dazzling ornamentation. At one time this was a working fountain!I learned the central face above the old fountain represents William Fox himself. Fox was born in Hungary and his parents emigrated to America. He eventually created a vast entertainment empire.A look at one amazing corner of the lobby’s dramatic ceiling.The elegant main lobby of Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego.A bust at one end of the main lobby is of the beloved German composer Beethoven.We step through a door to see what few see. We will file down through the empty theatre and through another door that connects to backstage.Heading toward backstage. I believe those stairs lead up to the rear stage door on Eighth Avenue.Behind the scenes! All sorts of interesting equipment could be glimpsed in the darkness behind the stage.I believe I see a xylophone tucked in this closet-like space!Through that rather unimpressive door is the San Diego Symphony’s elegant stage! Beautiful music requires hard work done by those who toil unseen.This is part of a comfortable rest area behind the stage for San Diego Symphony musicians. Visiting entertainers also enjoy an opportunity for relaxation.We’ve left backstage and are heading up some stairs to Copley Symphony Hall’s upper level, whose entrance is on hilly Seventh Avenue.Some rather fancy decorative artwork can be seen above the doorway that leads to Aisle 5.The interior of the theatre was too dark for my old camera to capture many good photos. After listening to a brief organ concert, our tour group prepares to exit Copley Symphony Hall’s upper seating level.One of several smaller chandeliers in the spectacular ceiling.The huge, resplendent central chandelier and those around it can be lowered on cables. This is helpful when a thousand light bulbs need replacement! In the olden days, dancing girls performed for the audience from atop this chandelier!One last glimpse. Some fun detail near the ceiling of the historic Fox Theatre, now home to the world-class San Diego Symphony.
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
The San Diego Opera has performances scheduled for April and May 2016: Madama Butterfly and Great Scott.
Yesterday evening I attended a recital by Ferruccio Furlanetto at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego. The concert was a collaboration between the San Diego Opera and the San Diego Symphony.
Simply: it was a powerful and deeply moving experience. The combination of a full symphony orchestra and one of the world’s great opera stars stirred my soul and mind in a way that very, very few things can–not unlike the world’s greatest literature or poetry.
Both the quiet moments and the thunder seemed the very elements of human life, but exquisitely condensed, made poignant. During the diverse program, Ferruccio’s voice rose through the hall with sadness, memory and yearning. It was a performance that lifted me as I listened, and as I watched.
And I didn’t understand most of the words that he sang!
A voice that can express high passion with minute subtlety is a rare thing, indeed. Ferruccio was brilliant, and now I want to experience more of the opera.
It was a shame that I saw very few youthful faces in the audience. I suppose the opera is a medium that relies largely on reverence to tradition. But the opera could easily speak to modern, younger audiences. Much of human experience is universal. We all have those same feelings that are expressed in the opera: the same passions and tensions that result from human interaction. I challenge writers and composers to renew the opera and make it less stuffy, less repetitive, less beholden to the past. Our present world is full of great issues and movements. Make these part of a living art, one that moves boldly and experimentally forward into the future.
Because art is ultimately about life. Our lives.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can enjoy more Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Do you like to read short pieces of thought-provoking fiction? Please click Short Stories by Richard.
This friendly music instructor would teach lots of kids how to play the piano at Hands On Community Day at the San Diego Symphony!
Today I enjoyed a beautiful hour at the San Diego Symphony. I arrived at noon to listen to a free public concert, which was just the first part of the five hour Hands On Community Day event. Later on, after I left for my walk, there were additional performances, and kids were taught how to play the piano by world-class musicians!
The San Diego Symphony is celebrating the piano during an ongoing Upright and Grand festival, which continues through February 8. If you haven’t been to a concert at Copley Symphony Hall, I assure you it’s a magical, wonderful experience!
Please enjoy a few photos and read the captions for explanations…
The San Diego Symphony’s Upright and Grand festival is a month-long event that celebrates the piano.Fantastic mural in lobby of Symphony Towers depicts an orchestra, including a pianist.Some bicyclists stopped by to play the public upright piano in the lobby of Symphony Towers near the box office.A vintage photo in the lobby shows the Fox Theatre, built in 1929, now Copley Symphony Hall. A modern skyscraper called Symphony Towers was built over and around the old theatre in 1989.Inside the elegant, historic Copley Symphony Hall. I arrived early to the Hands On Community Day, so there are few people in this photo.One table had samples of a piano key’s inner workings. Later on I saw lots of families and kids examining these with interest.A representative for the San Diego International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs had a table outside the concert hall.Six grand pianos were set up on the stage. I enjoyed the first hour of the event, which featured The Carnival of the Animals by composer Camille Saint-Saens, with poems by Ogden Nash.Looking up inside the concert hall. A friendly usher told me there’s a winding staircase in the huge chandelier! Girls used to toss rose petals onto the audience, once upon a time long ago.People are arriving for the big San Diego Symphony free event, part of their Upright and Grand festival!After the first hour’s concert is over, the audience applauds narrator Dave Scott and amazing pianists Jessie Chang and Bryan Verhoye!
Three magic benches are visible in this photo. Can you spot them?
I discovered three magic benches during my walk through Balboa Park this afternoon! All three are situated in front of the Old Globe Theatre, one of San Diego’s great cultural treasures.
How do I know these benches are magic? It’s very easy to see! Just examine the following photos, and read the captions!
The first bench is dedicated to that magical playwright Shakespeare! As you might recall, the Bard is associated with the original Globe Theatre, which was in London.The iconic face of William Shakespeare on the side of a fantastic public bench in Balboa Park’s Old Globe Courtyard. Sit here and be inspired!A jolly character from the Shakespeare comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor.A famous scene from Hamlet. Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy…The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego is where you want to see Shakespeare’s famous plays, including the tragedy Julius Caesar.Here’s the second magic bench. Looks ordinary? Don’t be deceived! Sit or lie here, and you might mysteriously be transported far away!And finally, the magic piano bench. Anybody can sit here and play music through January, courtesy of the San Diego Symphony’s PLAY ME: Pianos In Public Spaces event!
To learn more about the ten public pianos that have been placed around San Diego, check out my previous blog post!
To experience magic in wonderful Balboa Park, head over to the courtyard in front of the world famous Old Globe Theatre!The Old Globe has another great lineup for 2016. World-class entertainment in amazing Balboa Park!
Gentleman who saw this fun piano in the middle of Horton Plaza sat down and started playing. The San Diego Symphony is spreading music around the city!
Ten pianos have been placed around San Diego for the public to play! Any ordinary person passing by can just sit down and perform music to their heart’s content!
This very cool and unique “event” is being put on by the San Diego Symphony. Their PLAY ME: Pianos In Public Spaces installation is part of this month’s Upright and Grand Piano Festival, and will continue through February 8.
Feeling inspired? Feeling musical? Feeling like a maestro? Would you like to play some wonderful piano selections for your admiring fans? Then head on over to one of the ten public locations! They are: the Symphony Towers lobby, the Quartyard, the downtown Central Library, Horton Plaza, The Headquarters, the Coronado Ferry Landing, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (downtown location), Liberty Station, Balboa Park (by the Old Globe Theatre) and the California Center for the Arts Escondido!
The San Diego Symphony’s PLAY ME: Pianos In Public Spaces program has placed ten pianos around the city for ordinary people to enjoy!A colorfully painted piano in the lobby of Symphony Towers in downtown San Diego. I swung by here in the very early morning when few people were around.A cool guy plays this public piano at the Central Public Library in downtown San Diego. He heard about this very unique event and came on down to tickle the ivories.One of ten pianos placed around San Diego for the public to enjoy. Many library patrons coming through the front door were treated to unexpected music!This piano has a big cyclops eye. It sits outside in the Quartyard in San Diego’s East Village.Few people were about the Quartyard on Saturday morning. It’s a cool eating and event venue that’s fairly new in this hip neighborhood.Amazing talent takes a seat in Horton Plaza. This gentleman was walking through the shopping mall and saw the piano. He sounded like a professional musician!This fellow enjoyed playing another public piano, which has been placed at The Headquarters, near Seaport Village.All ten pianos have unique artwork, painted by various local organizations. The instruments were tuned by experts at the San Diego Symphony–and they sound amazing!Kids twirl to piano music in the wide courtyard of The Headquarters, which is located in San Diego’s old police headquarters.Finally, I saw this piano in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s downtown location, which is next to the Santa Fe Depot.Sign says that we are proud to present this piano painted by Combat Arts as part of the San Diego Symphony’s Upright and Grand Piano Festival’s city-wide installation. We invite you to play!Piano in public for any random passerby to enjoy. Veterans who painted this instrument are part of an art-based museum program to help combat troops recover from PTSD.
…
Please join me for more cool sights on Facebook and Twitter!
Do you like to read original, thought-provoking fiction? Visit my Short Stories by Richard writing blog!
Santa and a happy kid enjoy a special Deck the Halls neighborhood block party in downtown San Diego!
I was walking home from the Fifth Avenue trolley station this evening when I stumbled upon downtown San Diego’s fun Deck the Halls holiday block party! I’d forgotten it was taking place today!
Lots of folks were out among bright Christmas lights, greeting one another, tasting food served up by various local eateries, and listening to holiday music provided by the San Diego Symphony. The special event, I learned, was put together by Clean and Safe, which is a service of the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
It appeared to me that everyone was having a great time!
It’s the Deck the Halls Brass Quintet performing holiday music! Good times were had by local residents and businesses on one block of B Street in San Diego’s financial district.A number of nearby restaurants were serving up yummy treats for all comers. Christmas lights lit up the night!These smiling folks told me the event was put together by Clean and Safe, a service of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. Thank you guys!
When descending Cortez Hill, I often walk south down 8th Avenue past the big colorful banner on the Copley Symphony Hall building. I enjoy the huge, energetic image of Jahja Ling conducting the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
The above photograph was taken from the City College gymnasium on Park Boulevard. It’s a perfect spot to snap pics of downtown skyscrapers looking west.
Different San Diego Symphony banner on west side of building.
Cool San Diego Sights! 