Carol Williams leaves Spreckels

Spreckels Outdoor Organ at 100 years

In summer 2001, I had just finished my doctorate at the Manhattan School of Music and was living in New York City when I read about an open position in San Diego as civic organist. I applied along with a hundred other organists. I love all kinds of music and just knew this was the job for me because that is just what the Spreckels Organ venue is about: music for all people of the world.

I was appointed Civic Organist and Artistic Director of the Spreckels Organ Society in October 2001. This venue demands a versatile music program every Sunday or the seats become empty. Little did I know that I was in for a roller-coaster ride of hard work. I soon found my footing as a self-appointed ambassador of the Spreckels Organ. As a concertizing organist, I encourage people to engage in the salubrious sounds of the pipe organ, and in doing so, hopefully gain a larger audience. We have always been blessed with appreciation and support from the people of San Diego and all those that visit from around the world.

As the seventh civic organist of San Diego, another position I hold is to work with the Spreckels Organ Society in producing their International Summer Organ Festival each year from June through September. Since this organ was given to San Diego under the condition that they cannot charge admission, the Spreckels Organ Society was formed to preserve, promote, and program this organ. The society has transformed this civic organ with their volunteer efforts, raising money for a new console, additional ranks, and the continued maintenance; the organ has become a world-class instrument.

With the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the organ, I wish to inform the reader of what has happened with the instrument and people who surround this venue.

When I began my tenure, I decided to have printed programs for every Sunday’s concert. The programs are always posted on the website the week before each performance, at www.spreckelsorgan.org. 

I truly believe that when this instrument was given by the Spreckels brothers, they intended to enrich the community—not just through organ concerts, but also by using the great organ to help others. On these lines, I decided a series of benefit concerts would be a worthy way to give back to the community.

With my love of animals, I started “Bark in Balboa Park,” and all the donations for that Sunday concert have gone to the Humane Society of San Diego. They always bring animals and boutique items and this has turned into a family event. In 2015 we will have our tenth anniversary of this event.

Every January 1—whatever day of the week it falls on—we do an extra 2 p.m. concert, and this event will benefit a worthy charity in the San Diego area.

This year, I will do my second 12-hour organ marathon to raise money for our wounded vets. All donations will go to CAF’s Operation Rebound—a fantastic organization in San Diego. 

We are now live streaming the Sunday and Monday concerts. This was a dream I had a while ago, and I must thank the Spreckels team for making this happen.

If you have never visited this venue, then may I suggest you add the place to your “bucket list?” San Diego is a beautiful city and Balboa Park is the heart of the environment.

I have made wonderful friends with my predecessors. Here are some thoughts from key people around the organ.

Dr. Carol Williams, melcot.com 

San Diego Civic Organist 

Artistic Director, Spreckels Organ Society 

A history of the venue and its people

The Spreckels Outdoor Organ and Pavilion was a most remarkable gift to the City of San Diego. It was a daring and courageous concept to think that a pipe organ could sound into the open air and that programs could be played throughout the year. That it is in outstanding use and condition for a full one hundred years is truly extraordinary. Seven Official Civic Organists (the correct title for the post) have served in all kinds of weather and performed all kinds of music, transcriptions, classical, and theatrical, and given to the general public the joy of a municipal organ. This writer has heard all seven of these musicians play and would like to express a few thoughts on each of these fine persons.

Humphrey John Stewart came to play as the 1915 Panama-California Exposition Organist, and then again in 1916 when the Exposition became International, and continued as the Official City Organist until his death on the 28th of December 1932. During the more than nine thousand concerts played almost daily by Dr. Stewart, he used colorful registrations and often concluded with a grand improvisation. The writer’s mother took her son to his programs! 

Royal Albert Brown had assisted Dr. Stewart and was appointed as the “Civic” organist in 1933. Except during the years of the Second World War, he played four times each week and all public holidays until his passing on October 28, 1954. 

Charles Rollin Shatto served from fall 1954 until late summer of 1957 and introduced many contemporary French organ composers. 

Douglas Ian Duncan had grown up hearing the park organ; when faced with its possible closure, he returned the programming to a lighter fare in the style of Mr. Brown. 

Jared Jacobsen became the Fifth Official Civic Organist in 1978 and is remembered for his brilliant playing and insightful historic comments. He served until 1984. 

Robert Plimpton became the sixth to serve the post, playing for well over sixteen years. His extensive musical background, having served in very important church positions, brought to Balboa Park a most extensive repertory. 

The seventh and current artist is Carol Anne Williams, the first woman to serve as a municipal organist. She has built on the past devotion of those who served before her and has carried the concerts to new heights.

The gift of John D. and Adolph B. Spreckels resounds loud and clear, in rain and cold, fair and warm days, giving its hometown a rich century of musical enjoyment and treasure. 

Douglas Ian Duncan 

Fourth Official Civic Organist

(1957–78, Retired)

Reflections on the Spreckels Organ, 1978–1984

My first encounter with the remarkable outdoor organ in the heart of Balboa Park was early in 1978. I had moved to San Diego eighteen months earlier, fresh out of graduate school, to serve an Episcopal parish in La Jolla that had just installed a new and very nice Austin organ; its curator, Lyle Blackinton, also took care of the 1915 Spreckels instrument. When it became apparent that the civic organist position might be opening up there, Lyle arranged for me to have some hands-on time.

I distinctly remember the hiss of sprinklers nourishing morning-sun-dappled grass as I parked my car behind the organ pavilion that first time (a sound that has welcomed me back every time in the ensuing thirty-six years). From the moment I sat at the Spreckels console, I felt at home there, and just a few months later, after an extensive audition process, I was named the Fifth Civic Organist of the City of San Diego, a post I was privileged to hold for the next seven years. It was my, and our city’s, great good fortune that my predecessor Douglas Ian Duncan had stubbornly refused to allow both the instrument and civic position to fade away during an especially stressful time in its history, enabling me to continue his stewardship and to continue building attendance and enthusiasm.

Shortly after I began my tenure two major arson fires were set within a month of each other, in the Aerospace Museum and the historic Old Globe Theatre, both near the Organ Pavilion. In the aftermath of these fires great interest began building to assess and then preserve the unique heritage of all of the buildings from the world’s fair for which the park was created in 1915. (Only the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the nearby Museum of Man were originally intended to be permanent; San Diego’s benign climate had assisted in preserving all of the rest.) A citizens’ group called The Committee of 100 stepped forward with the intention of preserving this heritage, and one of their first projects was the refurbishment of the Organ Pavilion, including the replacement of the existing organ console which, while not quite “at death’s door,” was nonetheless showing its age. The Austin firm was commissioned to build this replacement, which then served us ably until 2010. After much lively discussion, Lyle Blackinton and I seized the opportunity to make preparations on the 1980 console for some judicious tonal additions—not to alter the original grand sound of the instrument, but to enhance its tonal palette. These additions were eventually realized through the efforts of the Spreckels Organ Society, a grass-roots enthusiast group chartered in 1987 to support the original vision of the Spreckels brothers in ways unable to be accomplished by the City of San Diego.

So what is it like to play the Spreckels Organ? Playing a vast variety of organ literature while directly enjoying San Diego’s renowned year-round climate is fantastic. And the occasional frustration of presenting music with no traditional supporting acoustic is more than balanced by the daily opportunity to bring new listeners to the pipe organ. (Balboa Park is a vast public space in the center of a great metropolitan area; every time you fire up the organ, even in the wee hours of the morning, a hundred listeners will materialize out of the trees to cheer you on!) The core instrument from 1915 retains its original visceral thrill, with the oh-so-carefully-chosen later additions lending extra purr and growl, whimsy and fireworks as desired. After 99-plus years, the unique and historic Spreckels Outdoor Organ continues to be a favorite venue for all who encounter it.

Jared Jacobsen

Fifth Official Civic Organist (1978–84)

The formation of the Spreckels Organ Society

I began my relationship with the Spreckels organ in June 1984 when Civic Organist Jared Jacobsen resigned to take a church music position in the San Francisco Bay area. As an east coast classical organist, I admit to being not much interested in a 1915 outdoor orchestral organ designed to entertain Sunday audiences in a city park. But I reluctantly agreed to fill in as interim while the city sought a successor.

The civic organist was an independent contractor with a purchase order from the city for 52 Sunday concerts. I had barely begun when curator Lyle Blackinton mentioned that there was a tradition of not having Sunday concerts in February and using those on four Monday evenings in August. My second full month in the job found me playing eight totally different programs on four Sunday afternoons and four Monday evenings. The difference between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening was huge: Monday evening audiences were much more intentional; a greater dynamic range of the organ could be used in the cooler evening air, inviting more serious repertoire.

Jared Jacobsen had built a loyal following of organ fans who began asking why we couldn’t do “more.” The City of San Diego offers a special use permit to organizations to develop programming for the benefit of the public, using the city facilities without charge. It was obvious that such an organization was needed to expand the use of the Spreckels Organ. I phoned the people who expressed an interest in the organ and invited long-time friend Vivian Evenson to chair the effort. We met in February 1988, adopting the name Spreckels Organ Society, naming Vivian Evenson Founding President and the others Founding Trustees. We immediately wrote our bylaws and established ourselves as a non-profit charity with the IRS and the State of California. We were an official arm of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department. 

Our initial projects were to expand the number of summer Monday evening concerts, restore the February Sunday afternoon concerts, design publicity cards to be distributed in hotel tourist racks, work with the San Diego public schools to present a 45-minute concert every Friday to fifth-graders participating in a week-long Balboa Park program, establish a membership base, and actively recruit financial support. We defined our mission: “to preserve, program and promote the Spreckels Organ as a world-treasure for all people.”

In the beginning we barely paid more than the city’s budgeted $100 per concert. As support grew we were gradually able to pay better fees and enhance the position of Civic Organist/Artistic Director. Within a few years our International Summer Organ Festival became a major part of San Diego’s cultural life, attracting audiences of 2,000 or more each week. Performers and repertoire were chosen to represent the widest possible cultural diversity. We commissioned new music and collaborated with other performing arts groups. I am honored to have had a small part in fulfilling the vision of the donor John D. Spreckels, who gave this organ “for the free use and enjoyment…of the people of all the world.” I thank all who have worked to expand this vision.

Robert Plimpton

Sixth Official Civic Organist (1984–2000) 

From the Curator

The Spreckels Organ has played an important part in my life, as it was this instrument that captured my interest in the “King of Instruments” when I first heard it as an eleven-year-old in 1948. I began working as an apprentice to the previous curator Leonard Dowling in 1954 and took over the position in 1974. 

During these past sixty years I have had the privilege to hear all of the civic organists, except for the first, Humphrey Stuart. Each of these artists played an important part in the organ reaching its centennial year.

The City of San Diego also must be commended for its one hundred years of support for the position of Civic Organist and for the on-going maintenance of the organ and pavilion. Many municipalities have let famous instruments slip into disrepair and have ultimately been abandoned. 

The organ has also benefited from the generosity of local support groups such as The Committee of 100 and the Spreckels Organ Society who have partnered with the City to preserve and program this great instrument.

During my tenure as curator, it has been my goal to preserve the historic integrity of the original symphonic organ and also ensure that the subsequent additions made be done in a seamless manner that enhances this grand instrument. As the Spreckels Organ celebrates its centennial anniversary, it seems appropriate that after forty years as the curator of the organ that it is now time pass the position to my long-time associate, Dale Sorenson, who also shares a great passion for the instrument.

Lyle Blackinton

Curator, Spreckels Organ, 1974–2014

The Spreckels Organ Society comes of age in time for the Centennial Celebration.

The great Spreckels Organ and Pavilion have been at the heart of Balboa Park and San Diego, California, ever since brothers John D. and Adolph Spreckels gave the “citizens of San Diego and the world” this wonderful gift on December 31, 1914. The organ has been in almost continuous use since that time. Its programming and maintenance were entirely the responsibility of the City of San Diego until 1988, when the civic organist, Robert Plimpton, and a small group of enthusiastic supporters of the organ organized the Spreckels Organ Society (SOS), “to preserve, program and promote the Spreckels Organ.”

SOS started with a small, dedicated Board of Trustees, some basic bylaws, and a big vision. We wanted more and more people to hear the organ, appreciate its vast capacity to produce a broad range of sonic experiences, and educate our children on the joys of music in general and the sounds achievable through the unamplified workings of this fabulous instrument. Our first summer, in addition to the regular Sunday afternoon free concerts, we programmed four Monday evening free concerts—showcasing artists from outside San Diego, with national and international reputations.

Through the years since 1988, SOS has grown steadily, in membership, budget, and in outreach. The International Summer Organ Festival features at least ten separate concerts, and the very best organists from around the world take the stage under the warm skies of Balboa Park every summer and thrill our ever growing audiences. The Spreckels Organ itself has grown with the addition of new ranks and new percussion. Our beloved civic organist, Dr. Carol Williams, performs, composes, and supervises the programming. The Centennial Celebration Concert was a once-in-a-lifetime event recalling our rich history and celebrating a revitalized, expanded organ, soon to be the World’s Largest Outdoor Pipe Organ once again.

As the Spreckels Organ turns 100, the Spreckels Organ Society reaches a new level of maturity. Through steady support of our trustees, our patrons, our volunteers, and our generous audience members, SOS is able to hire a full-time Executive Director, who has the happy task, with an enthusiastic Board of Trustees, of guiding SOS into the second 100 years. As we like to say, “Together we made it happen.”

George Hardy 

President, Spreckels Organ Society

Cover photo: Representing the Spreckels Organ Society is George Hardy, president of the Spreckels Organ Society, and representing the City of San Diego is San Diego Civic Organist Carol Williams (photo credit: Robert E. Lang, Spreckels Organ Society).

Article arranged and compiled by Kerry Bell.

Balboa Park, San Diego, California

Douglas Ian Duncan served the Naval Training Center as well as Congregational, Lutheran, and Episcopal churches in the San Diego area. He directed the Lutheran Oratorio Society, the Episcopal Choral Society, and the music program at the San Miguel School. He studied at the University of Redlands and obtained his degree from California Western University. His principal instructors were Lillie M. High, Margaret W. Dow, Charles H. Marsh, and Dr. Walter Teutsch. All of his instruction and playing were in southern California. He now lives in retirement in the desert.

It was December 24, 1925 when Mr. and Mrs. George D. Duncan,along with their daughter Dorothy, attended the annual Christmas Eve program atthe Spreckels Outdoor Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, San Diego. Mrs. Duncan wassoon to have a child and the small maternity hospital was only about a mileaway. Two days later, the Duncans celebrated the arrival of their second child,Douglas Ian. But I am way ahead of the story!

Could a pipe organ, sounding out into the open air in apark-like setting, be built? This is a question that entered the mind of agentleman named John D. Spreckels. He had a great fondness for music, had amusic room added to his mansion in Coronado (a city across the bay from SanDiego), and he spent many hours at the console of his three-manual Aeolianplayer organ. He consulted organ builders and organists about the additionalproblems that might be caused by climatic conditions  in tuning and on the working parts of the instrument. Hevisited often with his good friend, well-known organist Humphrey John Stewart.John D. held ownership in a beautiful private pleasure park, loved thearea's temperate climate that all San Diegans enjoyed, and he wanted toshare those things which he found joyous with others.

The birth of Balboa Park

The story as related to me, beginning in 1957 by Fred W.Reif (1889-1964), who spent his working life as a purchasing agent forone of the Spreckels- owned companies, and in retirement served the San DiegoHistorical Society, is as follows. About the beginning of the twentiethcentury, John D. and his brother Adolph B. began making investments in and nearSan Diego. Transportation was a key to developing their many ventures, and theSpreckels brothers acquired local and suburban railways. At the end of one oftheir streetcar lines was the pleasure park called "The Bluffs."John D. renamed the park "Mission Cliff Gardens" and made manyimprovements so as to increase the number of passengers on the San DiegoElectric Railway. There were magic lantern shows, soft refreshments,beautifully maintained gardens, a central pavilion for Sunday band concertsand, along the crest of the escarpment overlooking wide Mission Valley, werevistas extending from the Pacific Ocean to the distant mountains. In theforeground could be seen the ruins of the first of the twenty-one Californiamissions, San Diego de Alcala. It was at this location, so I was told, thatJohn D. thought about an outdoor-speaking pipe organ. Why, it might attractriders to the trolley line! That was about 1910, and San Diego had a populationof a little less than forty thousand.

A stock market panic in 1907 had left many folks uncertainabout investing in San Diego; however, the Spreckels brothers could onlybelieve in a dynamic future! San Diego had a great natural harbor, completionof the Panama Canal was set for 1915, and it would be the first port of call onthe western side of the United States. In 1909 a member of the Chamber ofCommerce came up with a great idea--celebrate the opening of the canal withan exposition! When the much larger Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco heardabout the harebrained idea from the little town down south, they announced thattheir city would have a fair and San Diego could forget their plans. John D.Spreckels, who had come from San Francisco a few years before, thought that SanDiego needed a boost and he subscribed $100,000 toward an exposition. Othersfollowed and soon the support and approval of the concept grew to one milliondollars! In 1910 the citizens passed bonds for park improvements. Finally,there was an agreement that both San Diego and San Francisco would hold fairsin 1915. The San Diego Exposition Company arranged to use some of the mostlyundeveloped City Park. CITY PARK!! What an awful name for the location of aFAIR--the name was changed to BALBOA PARK! The next two years saw theexposition company making many changes--in the location within the park,in the architecture of many of the exposition buildings, and in the selectionof the New York architectural firm of Bertram Goodhue. Many of his buildingdesigns were of the lavish Spanish Baroque.

An organ for Balboa Park

Again we have Mr. John D. Spreckels enter the picture! Forseveral years he and the officers of the electric railway had desired aright-of-way through City (now Balboa) Park to the growing residential areabeyond. He also wanted to give the fair an organ, and the officers of theexposition company wanted a fine pipe organ. Ah, behind the scenes there werenegotiations! It was announced that the Spreckels brothers would give the fairan organ (perhaps the same one that was planned for Mission Cliff Gardens) andthe rail line was extended into the park giving the fair an added easternentrance. The Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut was awarded the bidfor an instrument of four manuals, 46 ranks, and 3024 pipes costing  $33,500. The contract with Austin waswith the San Diego Electric Railway--the very same company that owned theGardens and wanted the park trackage!

Several sites were considered for the location of theexposition organ and  finally, whenBrazil decided not to exhibit, the pavilion was located at the south end of thefair's central mall--the Plaza de Panama. The pavilion design  was executed by the Los Angeles builderHarrison Albright, using steel and concrete. Albright had built a number ofstructures in the San Diego area, had designed and constructed the John D.Spreckels home in Coronado, and he must have worked very closely with the Austin Organ Company. Thepavilion building cost $66,500. His design of the main structure included ablower room in the basement, two offices and a rehearsal room on the main floorbehind the stage and, on the second level, a large chamber for the walk-inUniversal Air Chest with manual pipes above and pedal ranks on the sides andback. On each side of the chamber, Albright included a shop for the organ tunerand, at the other side, a tiny apartment for the building custodian. Above thepipe  chamber was a forward slopingceiling to aid in directing the sound out through a grilled aperture. A goldpipe grill was designed that hides all but fifteen of the speaking pipes. Alarge rolling steel door encloses the organ when it is not in public use. Themain building is more than seventy feet high.

Spreckels owned the morning newspaper, The San Diego Union,and reported in the March 17, 1914 edition that work had begun on the structureto house the organ. It was finished in seven months. The local citizens wereintrigued by all the work at the fair, and  the exposition company allowed the public to enter theconstruction site on  Sundays.Among those who came for a visit were Mr. and Mrs. Austin D. Thomas who hadrecently come to the United States from Wales. He had accepted the post asorganist and choirmaster of the newly built 1400-seat First Presbyterian Churchwith its three-manual thirty-rank Johnston organ. I enjoyed many visits withMr. Thomas and he related that methods used in constructing the pavilion werevery interesting. First, Albright erected two rather large rectangular concretetowers to support the large metal folding door. Then, he told me, after thedoor was in place atop the towers, the building was built up and over the bigdoor. At each side of the main building are quarter round peristyles withCorinthian-style columns that support an attractive balustrade above.Incorporated in the decorations affixed to the structure are places for lightglobes to outline the building at night. Harrison Albright was not a trainedarchitect, and all of his hotels, office buildings and houses have a castsameness. The Organ Pavilion is no exception!

The San Diego Union reported on October 20, 1914 that theAustin organ had arrived. The installers must have been busy because, as Mr.Thomas related, nine ranks did not sound at the first hearing of theinstrument. The appointment of the Official Exposition Organist was made byJohn D. Spreckels, Dr. Humphrey John Stewart, along with an organ tuner and abuilding custodian, a Mr. Douglass. The custodial duties included more thanjust keeping the building and grounds clean. He had to crank open and thenclose the big ten-ton folding door by hand! Perhaps I should interject a storyabout the door.  For about eighteenyears, Mr. Douglass cranked the heavy door open for each concert and, after theprogram, lowered it holding back the force of the weight with a hand brake. Itwas a lot of work and he was not getting any younger! One day he went to seethe director of Balboa Park and he said something like this, "I am tiredof opening and closing that big heavy door and I want you to install anelectric motor to operate it." The following day Mr. Douglass appeared atthe director's office and he repeated his words. On the third day, the parkdirector thought Mr. Douglass was serious! There would be no organ concert ifthe door did not open. City workmen found a Ford Model A back axle, attached anelectric motor to the end of the shaft, and presto, the cheap drive worked forthe next thirty years!

1915--The Panama-California Exposition

The dedication of the organ and pavilion took place on NewYear's Eve 1914 at nine o'clock before the formal opening of thePanama-California Exposition at midnight. Many thousands were in attendance andfilled the open area reaching up the mall. Perhaps the words of H. Austin Adamsin his book, The Man, John D. Spreckels,best describe that wonderful evening:

The occasion was one never to be forgotten. As John D. roseto offer his gift to the people of San Diego, he was so moved by the ovation hereceived that his voice was choked by tears. At last, when another and louderoutburst of applause died down, he said simply to the president of the ParkCommission, John F. Forward, Jr., "I beg you to accept this gift onbehalf of the people of the city of San Diego." On either side of himwere seated high government officials, the governors of many states, foreigndiplomats, and scores of others prominent in the business and social world. Butas he stood there trying to control his emotion sufficiently to read the formaldeed of gift, he looked not around him but out over the enormous sea of facesturned up to him in gratitude and honor--the faces of the"undistinguished many" for whose benefit he had conceived and carriedout this noble thing. He managed, somehow, to read the deed. Few caught thesequence of the words, so broken was his utterance; but through the breaks allcaught a glimpse--their first in many cases--of the real John D.

Mr. Forward elegantly responded and was followed by theHonorable Samuel M. Shortridge of San Francisco who gave an overly long floridspeech. Ah! At last, the more than ten thousand people in attendance could hearthe Austin Outdoor Pipe Organ. The program follows:

Part One - Organ Solos - Dr. Humphrey John Stewart - Organist

1) Processional March (Music Drama Montezuma), Stewart

2) Fantasia on Christmas Melodies (Written for Opening),Stewart

3) Overture ("Guillaume Tell"), Gioacchino [sic]Antonio Rossini

Part Two - The fifty-piece San Diego Popular Orchestra underthe direction of Chesley Mills and the People's Chorus of 250 voicesdirected by Willibald Lehmann

1) Pomp and Circumstance (Orchestra), Edward Elgar

2) The Heavens Are Telling (The Creation), Franz JosephHaydn (Chorus and Orchestra)

3) Overture (Orchestra), Jacques Offenbach

4) The Marvelous Work (The Creation), Haydn

Finale - Orchestra, Chorus and the Spreckels Outdoor Organ

5) Unfold ye Portals (The Redemption), Charles Gounod

Of the first year of the Panama-California Exposition, itcan be said that the outdoor speaking pipe organ was the main attraction. Inhis Balboa Park Research, Richard W. Amero said, "During its briefexistence of one year, the Spreckels organ has sent forth melody more timesprobably than any other organ in America in a like period. Only seven times inthe 365 days of the year has Dr. Stewart been forced to abandon his dailyrecitals because of weather conditions. Eight numbers were played at eachrecital making a total of 2,864 selections played during the year of1915." Among the guest organists who came to play that first year wereClarence Dickinson and William C. Carl of New York; Roland Diggle and ErnestDouglas from Los Angeles; and from Auckland, New Zealand, Harold Gregson. Whenthe great contralto, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, would join HumphreyStewart at the pavilion, it was reported that 20,000 would pack the area. Herstrong voice would soar above the organ (there was no amplification in thosedays) and the crowd would roar with enthusiastic approval. The little town ofSan Diego put on quite a show in 1915 and the exposition came to a closeshowing a profit.

So popular was the fair in San Diego that it ran for asecond full year, this  time as thePanama-California Interntional Exposition. San Francisco had been selected in1915 as the site for an international event--now it was San Diego'sturn! Exhibits were brought from the big city up north, and while theattendance was not as great as that of 1915, the International Exposition of1916 was a success. Dr. Stewart played 1,768 selections and concerts werecanceled eighteen times. Among the guest artists in 1916 were John Doane ofChicago (later to retire in San Diego); Uda Waldrop from San Francisco (laterplaying the Spreckels Organ at the Palace of the Legion of Honor); and Royal A.Brown (who became Dr. Stewart's assistant.)

When the second exposition closed on New Year's Eve1916, it was again the famed contralto Madame Schumann-Heink, who at the strokeof midnight sang "Auld Lang Syne." As her voice was heard, theoutline lighting of the pavilion and the lights of the fair buildings wereextinguished, the grounds fell to near darkness, Madame Schumann-Heink led achorus in the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" while bombsexploded, flags of nations were unfurled, and atop the pavilion building apyrotechnic display in glowing colors read "World Peace 1917."

The year 1917 saw Mr. Austin D. Thomas play for two weekswhile Humphrey Stewart went on holiday in San Francisco. In 1918, Royal AlbertBrown became the assistant organist and played one concert each week. The year 1919 saw a total of 2,270selections by 385 composers performed.

Humphrey John Stewart

Perhaps now is a good time to tell about the first threemusicians who served as resident organists at Balboa Park. The Spreckels familyhad long known and admired Humphrey John Stewart. Born in London on May 22,1856, he served as a choir boy and studied organ in his youth, and later playedat Holy Trinity, Tulse Hill, London. It was in the United Kingdom that hebecame known as a composer and as a fine recitalist. At the age of thirty, hecame to San Francisco and played at three churches: The Advent, Trinity, andFirst Unitarian. While in the Bay Area, he wrote compositions for orchestra,choir, and organ, and served as the conductor of the Handel and Haydn ChoralSociety. He also wrote two of his three music dramas which were given at theBohemian Grove in the California Redwoods. In 1901, he became the OfficialOrganist at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, where he performedrecitals on the large four-manual Emmonds Howard Organ (a Westfield,Massachusetts builder) in the 180-foot-high domed Temple of Music. At the closeof the fair, he accepted the post as organist and choirmaster of TrinityChurch, Boston, staying two years before returning to San Francisco to play forthe next seven years at St. Dominic's Church. In going to San Diego atthe end of 1914, he set a much higher standard for organ music, a standard notknown before. In the late spring of 1917, Humphrey Stewart played a Prelude andFugue by Mendelssohn, a Guilmant Sonata, three of the larger Preludes andFugues of Bach, original works by then-living composers in Europe and theUnited States, and transcriptions of classical orchestral compositions. Stewartwas noted for his ability to hold his audience in rapture with his resourcefulimprovisations! After serving as Exposition Organist for two years, thenplaying another sixteen full years as the Official City Organist, Dr. Stewartpassed away on December 28, 1932. The best words to describe him were publishedin the January 2, 1933 issue of The San Diego Union:

COMPOSER PAYS STEWART TRIBUTE

The Union yesterday received the following letter from EdwinHenry Lemare, famous organist and composer, former municipal organist at SanFrancisco and Portland (Maine), who now resides in Hollywood.

"Editor The San Diego Union: I am indeed grieved tohear of the passing of my dear friend and confrere, Humphrey J. Stewart. Fewknew him as I did and no one enjoyed a closer friendship. As a noted concertorganist, he never failed to uphold the great traditions of his art.

"The people of San Diego were indeed fortunate inhaving that public spirited citizen, the late John D. Spreckels, present theorgan and later subsidize Dr. Stewart's services for so many years. Thesetwo men were always the closest of friends and Dr. Stewart never ceased tomourn the loss of his admiring patron.

"Although an Englishman (!) Dr. Stewart had anunbounded sense of humor and few could equal him in conversation, or hisability at repartee.

"It was at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, ofwhich he was an old and  honoredmember, that I first met Dr. Stewart, and the many happy days spent together inthe Bohemian Grove never will be forgotten. Everyone there loved him, nor couldit be otherwise, as his kind and affectionate nature magnetized all who methim.

"His passing is an irreparable loss, not alone to theBohemian Club, but to all centers of the past activities. Dear old Humphrey! Weshall never cease to love and revere your memory.

"May his good soul rest in peace.

Edwin H. Lemare"

May I again interject a story? Royal A. Brown once told methat Humphrey Stewart had a hand in selecting the stop list for the SpreckelsOutdoor Organ. I have for years pondered this statement!   Lemare designed the organ at St.Margaret's, Westminster, London which was built by J. W. Walker and Sons.As the two instruments had similar specifications (St. Margaret's wasthree manuals, the Park four), was it John and Basil Austin or could it havebeen a Lemare and Stewart combination that determined the needs and stops foran open air organ?

Royal Brown

The San Diego City Council appointed HumphreyStewart's assistant, Royal Albert Brown, as the Official Civic Organist.Born in Texas in 1890, Mr. Brown came to San Diego when he was in his earlytwenties. He played piano with the small chamber orchestra in the  Crown Room of Hotel del Coronado. Thenhe turned to the organ and played at the Plaza Theater and at Rudders Grill,both of which were on the central plaza of downtown San Diego. The Grill was amost interesting restaurant. It was located in the basement of The UnionBuilding, had a grand piano and a pipe organ, served fine cuisine, and oneentered by way of an outdoor stair built into the sidewalk. At the head of thestair a sign read, "Roy Brown at the Console." My piano teacherloved to dine at Rudders. When Dr. Stewart came to San Diego, Royal Brownstudied with him before becoming his assistant at Balboa Park. Then, in 1927,he took time off and went to study in Paris with Marcel Dupré. Heattained both Fellowship  andChoirmaster certificates from the American Guild of Organists. The city fathersagreed to pay for three concerts each week, and Mr. Brown was asked to play anadditional weekly program and on holidays throughout the year without  remuneration. The concerts were set forWednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 pm. In 1935-1936 BalboaPark was again the site of a world's fair--the California PacificInternational Exposition. In 1915-16 the organ was the key attraction;twenty years later the Spreckels Organ had a competitor! In a canyon southwestof the pavilion about one half mile, the Ford Motor Company built a symphonybowl and at the center of the seating area was a platform for the newest inmusical sound--a Model A Hammond. Royal Brown never called it anorgan--he referred to it as "a unique instrument." When thefair closed and the Hammond was gone from the Ford Bowl, the pavilion returnedto the usual schedule for the next almost four and quarter years. Then again,an interruption. The Navy occupied Balboa Park and the general public did notreturn until the summer of 1948. Mr. Brown was brought back and the organ washeard only on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. During the summer, the Saturdayconcerts were moved to Monday evenings at 8:15. The organ tuner at that timewas Mr. Leonard L. Dowling, who loved showmanship and theatre organs. Heexpertly put together lavish color lighting. The hues would change as theprogram progressed. Mr. Dowling helped make those evenings at Balboa Park veryspecial!

Royal Brown, like his predecessor,  worked to improve standards of organ music in the area. Inthe 1930s, he brought Albert Riemenschneider from Baldwin-Wallace College,Berea, Ohio, who gave lectures, played, and helped  organists mark music in fingering and phrasing of Bach. Thestudents sat at small tables grouped around the park organ console. What awonderful outdoor classroom experience it must have been! A new-three manualAustin organ was installed at St. Joseph's Church in the last year of Dr.Stewart's life, and Mr. Brown succeeded him there also. Later he went toplay at the Union Congregational Church in La Jolla. Royal Brown composed andarranged many pieces for organ, and none, to the best of my knowledge, haveever been published. Each year he would perform his "Balboa ParkSuite," musical expressions of buildings and the grounds near the organpavilion. Another well remembered work was his "PedalÉtude," a tour de force that, had it been published, would be onconcert programs today! His repertoire was extensive, he played all of thelarger works of Bach, the fourteen "Stations of the Cross" byDupré, the "Ad nos" by Liszt, and the "Sonata on the94th Psalm" by Reubke.

Perhaps I can share with you two stories about Royal Brown.It was a raw December day, a Saturday in 1951, and I was the organist andchoirmaster of Grace Lutheran Church which is located on the north side ofBalboa Park. The building was not heated, I was weary of practicing in thecold, and I went out for a bite to eat. As I warmed in the small cafe, I beganto wonder, "How does Royal Brown manage to play on a day as cold asthis?" Off I went to the 2:30 program at the park! The few listenersheard a faultlessly played concert, and I sat through the hour and wondered whyI had the nerve to complain about the cold. I drove him home that afternoon,and as we drew up in front of his house he handed me an envelope. Inside was ahand-written holiday card in red and green ink with original music set to thewords "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Thesecond story was told me by a park gardener. Mr. Brown liked to arrive at thepark on the streetcar. As he walked from the station toward the pavilion, hewould wander through the Rose Garden, pause, look furtively about, casuallylight a cigar, and then snip off a rosebud. Thus, the second resident organistalways had a fresh rose boutonniere for his concert! The gardeners watched inamusement, the stems were always properly cut, they liked Mr. Brown, and theynever said a word to the park officers. And those cigars, they smoked up mycars on the way  to AGO meetings.He was the right person to fill the post of Official Civic Organist at exactlythe right time. Royal Albert Brown died on October 28, 1954.

Charles Shatto

Charles Rollin Shatto was born in Iowa in 1908 and wasbrought to the San Diego area as a young child. His father accepted thepastorate of the Congregational Church in National City (a city adjacent to SanDiego). The church structure, built in the 1880s, was an ornate woodenVictorian building and, at the back of the choir loft, was a one-manual trackerorgan with an attractively painted pipe façade. This organ fascinatedyoung Charles and he studied piano with a local piano teacher. The ChineseCongregational Church needed an organist and young Charles helped out byplaying their foot-pumped reed organ. As he grew, he studied organ with Mr.Brown and Dr. Stewart and made two trips to Paris to take instruction in organand composition. Mr. Shatto took the position as the senior organist of FirstMethodist Church of San Diego playing the then-new 29-rank, three-manual HenryPilcher organ. He served the church for many years until one tragic day when hewas in a vehicular accident. The car caught on fire, his wife was killed, andhe escaped with two badly burned hands. Painfully, he recovered, took a lesserpost at the Park Boulevard Methodist Church, arranged for a better pipe organto be installed, and remained until 1957. In the autumn of 1957 he accepted theposition as organist at the French-speaking Parish of Notre Dame des Victories,San Francisco. He served the church for twenty-five years, had the smallfour-manual Murray Harris organ restored to its original specification, andenjoyed his tenure where contemporary French compositions could be played withappreciation. Mr. Shatto was a noted sight reader, played complex music withease, and wrote thirty-nine works for organ. Among his writings are two musicalsketches, "Cabrillo Bridge" and "Sunrise from the CaliforniaTower"--both Balboa Park landmarks. His "Poem" waspublished in 1964 in the California Organist Collection.

While in San Francisco in September 1976, I went to hearCharles Shatto play on the newly restored organ at his church. After theservice, he graciously extended an invitation to have lunch. Fine! We climbedinto his car and off we roared down narrow city streets, up and down hills,missing parked vehicles by inches, and arrived at a fine restaurant onFisherman's Wharf. He climbed out of the car in fine spirits. I arrivedfeeling as if I were leaving the world's best roller coaster! The lunchand conversation were most enjoyable and the ride back to the church was mostmemorable!!! I later learned that he was famous for his driving--very,very famous. Charles Rollin Shatto died on New Year's Day 1983.

And so, this narration comes full circle. The yet to be bornchild, whose parents attended that Christmas Eve program in 1925, grew toadulthood hearing the great music played by Stewart, Brown, and Shatto. InSeptember of 1957 Douglas Ian Duncan took his place at the console of Mr.Spreckels' generous bequest to the people of San Diego as the fourth inthe line of civic organists. During his more than twenty-year tenure he hadplayed 1,249 public recitals when he retired on February 5, 1978.

Postscript

Douglas Ian Duncanserved the Naval Training Center as well as Congregational, Lutheran, andEpiscopal churches in the San Diego area. He directed the Lutheran OratorioSociety, the Episcopal Choral Society, and the music program at the San MiguelSchool. He studied at the University of Redlands and obtained his degree fromCalifornia Western University. His principal instructors were Lillie M. High,Margaret W. Dow, Charles H. Marsh, and Dr. Walter Teutsch. All of hisinstruction and playing were in southern California. He now lives in retirementin the desert.

Jared Jacobsenbecame the Fifth Official Civic Organist in 1978 and served through 1984. Hewas born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, came to San Diego first to be the organistand choirmaster of St. James-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, and later served St.Leander's Roman Catholic Church, San Leandro, California. He holds agraduate degree from the University of Arizona, and is now the organist andteaches music at The Bishop's School, La Jolla, California. He has fordecades spent his summers on the staff of the Chautauqua Institute insouthwestern New York state.

Robert Plimpton cameto Balboa Park in 1985 and played for more than sixteen and a half years. Onhis retirement, the City of San Diego granted him the title of Official CivicOrganist Emeritus. Born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, he graduated from EasternCollege, St. David's, and studied with Robert Elmore, Anton Heiller andMarie-Claire Alain. He came to San Diego to be the organist at the FirstPresbyterian Church and now serves San Diego's First United MethodistChurch.

The present organist at Balboa Park is the world-renownedconcert artist, Carol Williams. Born inthe United Kingdom, trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, she cameto the United States to extend her education. She has an Artist Diploma fromfrom Yale University, and her DMA was earned from the Manhattan School ofMusic. Her studies have been with David Sanger, Daniel Roth, Thomas Murray, andMcNeil Robinson. Dr. Williams has performed all over the world includingNotre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Westminster Abbey in London, and RiversideChurch in New York City.

In 2005 the Spreckels Organ will be celebrating 90 years; onSaturday January 1 at midday, a five-hour concert was presented to celebratethis wonderful Austin organ and historic venue. Throughout the year many eventsare planned; information can be found at <www.sosorgan.com&gt;.

The author wrote the above article in honor of the ninetiethyear of performance at the world's largest outdoor organ. The above wordsbrought as much enjoyment for him as did playing in the open air for twentyyears, six months and

Joyce Johnson Robinson is associate editor of THE DIAPASON.

Back in 1915, for the Panama-California Exposition, John D. Spreckels dedicated an organ pavilion in Balboa Park to “the peoples of all the world.” The post of Civic Organist of San Diego was first held by British-born Dr. Humphrey John Stewart (one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists), who served from 1917-1932. Stewart’s latest successor is Dr. Carol Williams, also British-born--and the first woman to be appointed to the post. Trained both in the UK and the USA--at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Yale University, and the Manhattan School of Music--Carol’s career today is anchored by her Civic Organist activities, but not limited by them. She has concertized throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, and continues her musical travels when possible. She has recorded a video and twelve CDs (details are available from her website, www.melcot.com). Carol Williams is represented in the USA by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, and in the UK by PVA Management.

Carol traveled to Illinois in March, and we had the opportunity to meet with her as she was preparing for a concert at Chicago’s St. Vincent de Paul Church, home of a 1901 Lyon-Healy organ that is undergoing restoration.

JR: Carol, I’m curious about your theatre organ background--you said you grew up playing theatre organ. Did you start with piano lessons?

CW:  Yes, that’s right. I started piano at age 5; I read music before I could read. There were electronic organs in the family, Hammonds, Lowreys--my aunt had a Hammond--and it just naturally progressed from having a Hammond, then to hearing a theatre organ.  I started theatre organ playing when I was about 13 or 14, and all the way through I continued a very strict piano training. I didn’t start classical organ until I was 17. But it was a natural progression.

JR: By the time you started classical organ, were you playing in theatres?

CW: I was doing concerts, yes, playing some theatre organs. But there were very few theatre organs left in their original surroundings; some had been moved into concert halls in England. I guess I started playing late since I didn’t sing in a boys choir, because I was a girl! The natural progression for the cathedral organist was you sang in the choir and then you naturally moved over--this didn’t happen to me, I just moved over. I heard Carlo Curley at the Alexandra Palace, and that was a turning point, because I thought, “this is really exciting!”

JR: Was it what he played, or how he played it, or the instrument?

CW: Everything! The Father Willis there was not working and there were electronic organs on stage and there were, I think, three or four organists. He was chauffered in, in a white Cadillac, I remember that. And Virgil Fox was there--he didn’t play; he stood out--that’s the closest I got to him. I was seventeen; I just clicked--”that’s my instrument!” I really do see myself as a concert organist. I enjoy playing light music, and it all feeds me, in the sense of keeping me alive. But I don’t see myself as a theatre organist. I enjoy playing it, and you have to be able to play light music in the park; you can’t just play a straight Buxtehude-Bach program--it would just go down like a lead balloon.

JR: I’ve been fascinated by your programming choices and liking them, because I’ve seen how audiences react to a varied program.

CW:  A lot of people find it hard to go into a church--I mean, they don’t see it as a concert venue. That’s why the park is great, because there are no “sacred” connotations, so you can play whatever you like. You can’t always do that in a church--you’ve got to show some respect. But you’ve got to get them in there, you’ve got to get them to stay, and you’ve got to get them to go again. So, you must play what they want to hear.

JR: Did you actually have theatre organ training? It’s definitely a different style of playing and registration. And did you learn how to create theatre arrangements, with the little fill-ins after a bit of melody?

CW: A lot of theatre organ arrangements are done from piano score and piano conductor score. I had two theatre organ teachers. Vic Hammett, who was a really fine artist, had so many innovative ideas, and my second teacher  was Eric Spruce, who was organist at the Empire Leicester Square in London--a very famous venue. They both knew what was entailed for playing theatre organ programs. That was alongside my classical organ training, so they were both feeding each other. It’s musicianship--you listen to orchestral scores, and then sometimes you might take a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical and you carve out your own ideas. You just let the music flow through you. But the training really helps. You work a lot from piano scores and novelty numbers--Zez Confrey . . .

JR: Kitten on the Keys!

CW: Beautiful stuff! James P. Johnson, Scott Joplin, they’re all quite delightful. They work well on a classical program, too. I love playing them!

JR: You play it very well. Some people just can’t make it work and you do.

CW: I like jazz. I think it should be like a soufflé, very light--and the pedal should be more 8-footish than 16 foot, so it really is more light, like a double bass plucking away. It shouldn’t be heavy. If you play Lefébure-Wély, this approach really helps, because that music is very flamboyant--it shouldn’t be stiff and stodgy.

JR: There are people who look down their nose at Lefébure-Wély.

CW: But he was an eminent musician. He was organist at Saint-Sulpice and he was one of Cavaillé-Coll’s key players. There is a funeral march by him, his opus 122, it’s some lovely music--not all oom-pah, oom-pah.

JR: You had so much training in England, then you came to the United States and you earned a DMA here. Why did you feel the need for training in America after such a good solid grounding in the UK?

CW: Well, I came to the States in ‘94, and I did a series of concerts. I really liked it out here. I went back and I happened across a CD of Thomas Murray--The Transcriber’s Art--and I just fell in love with that. You can never learn enough. I remember one teacher saying to me, “you should always remain a student,” always willing to learn. It just seemed right to come out here and do an artist’s diploma with Tom Murray, so I did. And I felt I really should do that DMA--you know, it’s worth having. I admire McNeil Robinson greatly; he’s a tremendous teacher. I enjoyed the scholarly aspect behind it; I did my thesis on 19th-century concert organs in England. The DMA at Manhattan School of Music is fairly performance based, which is me. I didn’t want to spend my time with textbooks and not play the organ. I wanted to play. So it worked out well. And for remaining in this country, I think a DMA really probably does help.

JR: Do you hope to teach some day, or just keep playing? 

CW: I think keep playing. It’s hard for me to take on a series of students because I’m traveling a fair amount and it’s not fair. At this stage I just want to play.

JR: But you did have one church job when you were in New York.

CW: Yes, I was an assistant organist at Garden City Cathedral, and that was good fun; I enjoyed the work. But doing that job, I realized that’s not what I want to do, because I didn’t want to immerse myself in conducting a choir, playing anthems--it just wasn’t me. But it fed me musically. While doing study at Yale, I was organist at Yale University Chapel; that was a good position. But from doing something, you learn something: that you don’t want to do it (if you follow me!).

JR: You seem to have a lot of fun with the Spreckels Pavilion concerts, including dressing up for them. You’ve got your Mexican dress for Cinco de Mayo, and if it’s a sunny day you have sunglasses--have you had to make any wardrobe investments just for that job?

 CW: Yes. A lot of warm stuff! (chuckles)

JR: Really? San Diego is warm!

CW: The building faces north, and it is so cold there this time of year. Actually they’ve just had a heat wave there this week. Yesterday it was in the 90s; this time of year, from October-November-December-January-February, and especially now, February-March, it’s the worst season. So the audience is in the sunshine, but you’re in the cold. And the organ is outside, the console is on the platform, and it kicks up a wind. It is the coldest place I have ever played! I remember Robert Plimpton saying to me, “You’re going to be cold.” I know English cathedrals--how could anything be as cold as an English cathedral? Well, he was absolutely right! I have a lot of silk things, underwear and stuff, layers--I wear a hat and warm coat. What I did start doing is going to the gym a lot, so I work out and that has helped me enormously--just keeping fit. Getting fit, I should say!

JR: What type of exercise do you do?

CW: Pilates and just general workouts--Pilates is really good for an organist, because of the neck--sitting at the organ, especially practicing under a lot of pressure, your neck is vulnerable. I’ve had serious neck problems, actually, and Pilates just strengthens your whole core. It makes you strong, and is well worth it.

JR: How about your shoes? I’ve also noticed that you don’t wear the standard organ shoes like a lot of us do. You’ve found shoes you can manage in?

CW: Yes. I think it’s personal. These are ballet shoes--and the sole is suede, so I can feel the pedals. And I have the heel made up so it’s not too flat. People have criticized them, but they work for me. Everybody’s feet are different. I have a very high arch, so I can’t wear a lot of flat shoes. But these work perfectly for me; other shoes don’t. I find them too solid. I wouldn’t feel supple--I want to feel like a dancer when I play--to feel that your feet are as nimble as your hands. If they’re solid, then it just doesn’t work. But I get a lot of shoes--different colors, too.

JR: Since you’ve had formal training in the UK and here, is the approach to playing any different? Would you say that there are different “schools” between the two countries?

CW: Yes. We have bigger acoustics in England. A lot of the cathedrals have tremendous resonance. A lot of the buildings over here do not have big resonance. One can play faster in dry acoustics; you go back home to England, or France, and you can’t do the same thing.  You play at St. Sulpice, you’ve got to really listen to that organ or it’s like having an argument with somebody and the organ would win. You’ve really got to listen to the instrument.

Each country, each acoustic, the voicing of each organ will bring out a different interpretation; you’ve got to be flexible.

JR: You clearly thrive on travel. Do you have an approach when you come to a new place and you have to learn the organ fast, because you’ve only got so many hours before that concert starts?

CW: It initially starts with them sending you a specification, getting that through the management. That gives you some idea of what you’re dealing with.  But it’s only something on paper. It’s nice to have two days if it’s possible--it should be possible, yet in England, many places, at cathedrals, they’d just give you a couple of hours. And it’s not fair; you barely get through a program, registering; it’s no way for musicians to work. You need that time to register, you need that time to savor the sounds, keep playing it through, always changing sounds--you know, change your balances. It takes a long time! I don’t like to work with my back against the wall because I don’t think I give my best.  I’d like to have two days if I could with an instrument.

JR: And the specification is just the starting point; you don’t know what the organ really sounds like or how responsive it is.

CW: Some of the big organs in this country with a big acoustic may have an action that is very light, and this can be a problem. Playing somewhere like St. Sulpice, the action is heavy but this can be very helpful with a large acoustic as this then allows the music to really make sense in the building.

JR: Are you saying that a heavier action works like a brake?

CW: It helps you. It makes you then appreciate what you’re dealing with: a big, big animal, a big friend. You’ve got to listen to it breathe; and you can’t do that at breakneck speed. Like the organ here: it’s got a big acoustic, the action is nice, but it’s light. You’ve got to switch off and put your ears in the building and listen to it as you play.

JR: About your Spreckels position--when you heard about it, what was it that made you think, “you know, I’d like to apply for that”?

CW: (chuckling) I saw it in The Diapason.

JR: Really!

CW: I did, yes. I remember reading it in The Diapason and I thought, “now that is an interesting position and that’s a position I know I could do,” because it was performance all the time. I always had in the back of my mind if there’s ever any job I wanted, it would be to be a civic organist--Lemare and people like that; his autobiography is fascinating, and the programs he played. I knew that would be me. So I applied. They had many applications--I understand about 100 applications--they narrowed it down to five, and the five were invited to give a Sunday afternoon concert. And I did; I did my best show, I thought. I loved the atmosphere because the audiences there are the general public, because it’s right in the middle of the park, it’s not far from the zoo, and there’s a museum of art, there’s all the big museums there. It’s a beautiful environment--there are about a thousand people there every Sunday afternoon. And I played a concert and I just clicked with the venue, I thought. Because you’re not limited as to what you can play, you can play what you want, within reason, on a big 73-rank Austin organ. And the organ itself is very versatile; it’s basically a good concert organ--plays the main repertoire incredibly well, and transcriptions. But it’s also got a tibia rank, so it plays theatre organ music well, and if you use the orchestral reeds and the couplers and the strings, you can get a good Wurlitzer sound from it. So it’s very versatile and it suits me, because I like to play all types of music. The organ and I, we’re a good marriage, I think.

JR: Do you remember what you played on your audition concert that sealed the deal for you?

CW: Well, I didn’t know for a while afterwards--not knowing is worse than anything! I played from Marchand right through to the Beatles, I remember. I just went the whole spectrum: Widor; Reger; as I said, the Beatles; Bach; a varied program.

The people there, they want to hear all types of music. The concerts are free; the organ was given by John D. Spreckels. And part of the deed was that the concerts have to be free. And I think it’s the hardest audience to play to, because  you get a lot of people who wander by, sit down, and the only way you can keep them there is if you play things that they want to hear, and in a way that they find exciting. If somebody’s paid 30 or 40 dollars for a concert, they’re going to sit right to the end. But if it’s free, they’ll go to another museum. So it’s hard. You’ve really got to connect with them--tell them about the organ, tell them about the music. You mustn’t be stuffy, play things that maybe two people might want to hear. With maybe 1000 people, you’ve got to try and connect with those thousand people. For the Monday night festival concerts we average 2500 people, and then on opening and closing nights we get about 4000. I shared a concert with Joshua Rifkin--I did the first half, he did the second half. He did beautiful ragtime; oh, it was fabulous! And then we did some duets at the end. We had 4000 people! It really was magic.

JR: Did you do Joplin duets with Rifkin?

CW: Yes. Maple Leaf Rag.

JR: You’ve recorded that already on your own.

CW: Yes--I love ragtime!

JR: Duets with Rifkin! He started the whole ragtime revival.

CW: Yes, he did. We owe the revival to him. He has exquisite playing, and it suits the tasteful construction of the music; they work well together. And he’s a great man, too; he’s a lot of fun.

JR: You’ve already talked about one occupational hazard at Spreckels, and that’s the cold. What about in summer? Does it get impossibly hot?

CW: It does get hot. We sometimes have the hot weather from the desert, and that’s what really fueled the fire in October. And it’s a dry, hot wind; it’s unbearable. As soon as you raise that big door on the organ, you suffer; so does everybody. It seems to suck out something from the atmosphere and the tuning unfortunately goes; there’s nothing you can do about that. But the Monday night festival concerts, because they’re at night, don’t have that problem so much. Sometimes you get an atmosphere problem, with moisture in the air, during late August and it can be very damp at night. That’s a problem; the keys get wet and the bench is wet; these are things you have to deal with.

Last year I shared a concert with Hector Olivera. He brought the Roland Atelier. We did the Guilmant First Symphony--he did the orchestra, and I did the solo organ. It was fabulous, absolutely fabulous. As we got to the second page of the Guilmant, I saw the biggest bug on the pedals! And I looked down and thought, “oh, no!” I didn’t have much to do that page, and I jumped off the bench. Lyle Blackinton, the organ curator, removed the bug; Hector looked at me, dazed, like “we haven’t finished, we’ve only just started,” and I jumped back on. The bug was crawling away--it was huge! I was terrified. We have these bug problems and I tell women not to use hair spray or anything like that. There are certain things that you cannot do!

JR: Does the Spreckels program have an endowment that funds the concerts?

CW: My position is two separate positions, actually. I’m the civic organist for the city, and then separately I’m the artistic director for the Spreckels Organ Society. And they put on the summer festival. They work on funding and donations and that’s a lot of work. From that we can put on concerts and pay artists to come and play. But it’s a lot of work because we can’t charge for programs, so it has to be done with donation. Next year is the 90th year with the instrument--she started life December 31st, 1914, so next season, the official 90th birthday, will be a very special year. For the opening concert we’re going to have the three civic organists--Jared Jacobsen, Robert Plimpton, and myself--they’ll call us the Three Tenors of the organ world!

This year’s an international festival; we have organists coming from Poland, Australia, France, Germany, and they’re going to be playing some music from their own countries. So that’s the flavor for this year. Next year will be very much linked with the celebration of the organ. So programs must have a connection with the instrument and the city. I have to say, it is a lot of work planning a festival.

This year, closing night, we are doing a Lloyd Webber Spectacular--including  artists in costumes. I’m playing the accompaniments to Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. After a very serious festival and after a lot of serious organ music, I think it’s good that you have something that’s completely different, and this will bring in a different audience. Otherwise, you keep attracting the same audience, the same organ enthusiasts. So I’m always looking for something different each year that’s going to have a different appeal. I am also going to play some of Lloyd Webber’s father’s music--his father, W.S. Lloyd Webber, was an eminent musician.

JR: The Spreckels website shows pictures that look especially delightful, from programs where you were accompanying young people playing other instruments. That looked like so much fun!

CW: It was good. The concert was with children--”Music with children 2003”--and it’s getting young people involved, and not just organists. I’ve got a singer who’s actually going to be with me opening night--eleven years old and he has a voice that’s just amazing. His name is Daniel Myers.

JR: Is it a boychoir voice?

CW: He’s a boy soprano, but his voice hasn’t broken yet. It’s got power behind it. The director of the San Diego Children’s Choir, Dr. Garry Froese, recommended this youngster--said he wanted to sing Granada. I thought, singing Granada? But I couldn’t believe it when I heard him. Goodness me, the power behind it! So he’s going to be with me opening night.

We do something for children that’s important. That’s for the people of San Diego, that the instrument is used for really good things. I don’t mind if kids play violin, or sing, or whatever--they get a chance to play for a thousand people. And they love it!

JR: When you’re in San Diego, you’re playing at the pavilion. Do you do your practicing there, or how do you manage? Do you have an instrument of some sort at home?

CW:  I have a Rodgers at home. But I actually like going into the park early in the mornings to do practice, because it’s so quiet. I like working with the organ when there’s nobody around, telephones not around. I turn my cell phone off--I know I shouldn’t do that, but I just like to be left alone sometimes. Just get into the music. And there’s a piano in the pavilion, and the building’s very quiet. It’s very peaceful, so I can really get into my work. I make sure that I do so much practicing, then I will put on the computer and sort out the e-mails. I’m really disciplined about that. You can get so stuck into paperwork and e-mails and that; practice comes first for me! If people get in the way of my practicing, I can be very difficult. I mean, I’ve got to practice--that’s what I’m supposed to do! If you get in the way of that, then you’re not going to be performing so well. So that’s definitely first on the list every day.

JR: How much do you practice?

CW: At least three hours a day. I’m happy when I can do five, or when I’m traveling and working with new instruments, it can be up to eight hours a day. It’s a different type of work, getting used to a new organ.

JR: Let me ask you one last question. Where do you go from here?

CW: I love being busy, I love traveling, I love playing. The San Diego position I very much enjoy because you’re getting through to new people all the time. People come there specifically to hear that organ; people come from all over the world to hear it. It’s really refreshing to hear that. Just doing more and more recording; I love French organ music, I want to do some more recording of French organ music. Just keep busy--I’ve hardly started!

JR: Thank you so much.