{"id":316584,"date":"2022-11-07T10:59:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/?p=316584"},"modified":"2022-11-04T11:06:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T18:06:13","slug":"balboa-park-home-to-the-worlds-largest-outdoor-pipe-organ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/balboa-park-home-to-the-worlds-largest-outdoor-pipe-organ\/","title":{"rendered":"Balboa Park: Home to the world\u2019s largest outdoor pipe organ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fender guitars, Steinway pianos, and Suzuki harmonicas are iconic instruments. Locally, there is world-renowned instrument of a more rare make in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.<\/p>\n

With more than 4,500 pipes and thousands of parts that move in sync to create a unique sound, the Spreckels Organ is considered to be the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world.<\/p>\n

Built in 1915 by the Austin Organ Co., it was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and given to the city by brothers John D. and Adolph Spreckels.<\/p>\n

Since then, people have been able to visit the pavilion to listen to the famous Spreckels Organ for free. This was stipulated by the 1915 Deed of Gift whereby the brothers gave the organ and Pavilion to the city of San Diego.<\/p>\n

The facility hosts an International Organ Festival on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. during the summer and the Twilight in the Park Concert Series on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the summer at 6:15 p.m.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Pavilion is the site of numerous concerts, graduations, weddings, and special events throughout the year. Every Sunday, free, public organ concerts by the civic organist or guest artists are presented at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a lot of people don’t realize is that the instrument is the pavilion itself,\u201d said Ra\u00fal Prieto Ram\u00edrez, artistic director and San Diego Civic organist. \u201cIt\u2019s massive like a three-story building with many moving parts. It\u2019s the console that is what is wheeled out onto the stage during the performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ram\u00edrez typically plays the organ for one hour and 10 minutes on Sundays when the crowd becomes immersed in its unique sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany cannot afford to go to a symphony, but they can come to Balboa Park and listen to the same quality experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Music for all<\/b><\/p>\n

At one point these types of organs could be found in many big cities like New York, as well as in Austria, and the United Kingdom, Ram\u00edrez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was to make music for everyone,\u201d Ram\u00edrez said. \u201cWhat makes San Diego unique is that it is outdoors. I like to call it \u2018open air,\u2019 as the organ is in the pavilion that starts in the basement and people don\u2019t see it. It goes several stories and some of its pipes are 32 feet long \u2026 so long that some had to be bent so they don\u2019t break.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organ has over 4500 pipes and is designed to replicate an orchestra.<\/p>\n

Early On<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Organ
Crowds explore the freshly-opened Spreckels Organ Pavilion in 1916. (Photo courtesy San Diego History Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the San Diego History Center, \u201cPhilanthropist<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0John D. Spreckels<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0commissioned the organ’s manufacture. A\u00a0commemorative plaque<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0on the right side of the\u00a0console<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0states: \u2018John D. Spreckels<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00a0has generously given the organ in this temple for the pleasure of those who, like himself, are lovers of music AD MCMXXIV.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Adolph Spreckels was dying of syphilis and John donated it in his honor. He died before it was completed in 1925. The indoor\/outdoor Skinner organ cost more than $100,000 at the time.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s organist<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Organ
World famous Spanish musician Raul Prieto Ramirez is the current organist of the pavilion. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for Ram\u00edrez, he is the first Spanish organist in current times to establish himself among the elite of the international pipe organ scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned about the organ by listening to the radio when I was a kid in my village in Spain and reading a dictionary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t come face to face with an actual organ until he was 16, \u201cwhich was very late.\u201d<\/p>\n

At age 27, as the first Organist of Spain\u2019s National Concert Hall in Madrid, Ram\u00edrez increased attendance by a multiple of 30 and critics hailed him as one of the most exciting talents in the music scene.<\/p>\n

He travels globally to perform, lecture and jury competitions in Europe and the US. Premieres of his works have been recorded and broadcast in Spain.<\/p>\n

Care of the organ<\/b><\/p>\n

As for the care of the massive organ, the\u00a0city of San Diego maintains the instrument and the civic organist position with the support of the\u00a0Spreckels Organ Society.<\/p>\n

The society also provides\u00a0educational programs\u00a0for children, a\u00a0loaner program\u00a0to donate practice instruments for students provides\u00a0scholarships, and presents the largest\u00a0International Summer Organ Festival\u00a0in the USA, in addition to\u00a0special evening concerts,\u00a0open doors,\u00a0tours, and\u00a0fundraisers.<\/p>\n

The Spreckels Organ Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1988 to\u00a0preserve,\u00a0program, and\u00a0promote\u00a0the Spreckels Organ \u201cas\u00a0a world treasure for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pavilion recently presented a special Halloween event\/concert and will be offering holiday concerts in the next few months.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fender guitars, Steinway pianos, and Suzuki harmonicas are iconic instruments. Locally, there is world-renowned instrument of a more rare make in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. With more than 4,500 pipes and thousands of parts that move in sync to create a unique sound, the Spreckels Organ is considered to be the largest […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":939,"featured_media":316590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"With more than 4,500 pipes and thousands of parts that move in sync to create a unique sound, the Spreckels Organ is considered to be the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11550,11555],"tags":[13074,14479,14481,14480,14482],"class_list":["post-316584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news","tag-history","tag-organ-pavilion","tag-pipe-organ","tag-raul-prieto-ramirez","tag-spreckel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/939"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}