Sunday Organ Concert Treats
Visitors to Balboa Park in San Diego are treated each Sunday at 2 p.m. to an organ concert on the Spreckels Organ, the largest outdoor organ in the world.
The civic treasure entertains the public throughout the year. Concerts by Dr. Carol Williams, San Diego civic organist, and guest artists are presented free of charge.
The concert on Oct. 4, will feature Williams, the first female civic organist to be appointed in the United States. British by birth and now a U.S. citizen, her concert schedule has taken her all over the world from Westminster Abbey in London to concerts halls in the Far East. Her future concerts include Riverside Church in New York City and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for the 2010 National American Guild of Organists Convention.
On Oct. 11, the guest organist will be Wayne Seppala, who began playing at the age of 6. By the time he was just 9 years old, he had performed on the Don McNeil radio program in Chicago, and since then he has performed many theater and sacred concerts throughout the country.
A music graduate of San Diego State University, Seppala composed, arranged and performed the music for the stage productions of Sherlock Holmes, Beau Stratagem, and The Count of Monte Cristo while attending the university. He has also been organist/choirmaster at Miramar Naval Air Station Chapel.
On Oct. 18 and 25, Williams will perform.
On Nov. 1, she will be joined by the top-rated musicians in Navy Band Southwest.
Williams will be featured in the concernts on Nov. 8, 15 and 22. On Nov. 29, at she will perform with the three Spreckels Organ Society Scholarship winners. Each year the Spreckels Organ Society awards three scholarships to outstanding organ students.
All Sunday organ concerts begin at 2 p.m. Admission and parking are free, music-loving children and pets are welcome, and many concertgoers enjoy picnic lunches in Balboa Park before the concerts.
For more information about the Spreckels Organ Society, visit sosorgan.com or the Spreckels Organ Society Facebook fan page.
The Spreckels Organ and Pavilion were a gift from John D. and Adolf Spreckels of the Spreckels sugar family. The pavilion and organ were dedicated and first played on New Year’s Eve 1914.