Upcoming Events

Sat. October 31 - Family Festival Day in Balboa Park, along the

Prado 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with plenty of kids’ activities. It’s free!

Sat. October 31 - Silent Movie Night at 7 p.m. with Phantom of

the Opera accompanied by Christian Elliott on the Spreckels Or-

gan. No admission charge.

Sunday, November 1—Family Festival Day at Spreckels Organ,

1:30 - 3:30 p.m. No admission charge.

Sunday, November 8—Celebrating Kate Sessions and Centennial

History at the weekly concert, 2 to 3 p.m. No admission charge.

December Nights—Friday Dec. 4 through Sunday Dec. 6

Sunday, December 13—Holiday Fundraising Gala at the Admiral

Kidd Club (see flyer inside for details).

Friday, Jan. 1, 2015 - New Years Day Concert, 2-3 p.m. No ad-

mission charge.

Saturday, Apr. 23, 2016—Dedication Concert: completing the

Drive to 5000 Pipes and reclaiming “world’s largest” title for out-

door pipe organs! No admission charge.

Coming Soon: More than 5000 Pipes!

Curator Emeritus Lyle Blackinton plans

the new pipe ranks that have been fund-

ed by the Drive to 5000 Pipes.

Ph

oto

: B

ob

La

ng

Fall 2015

In this issue…

Halloween—Page 2 Summer Photo

Montage —Pg 3

Holiday Gala Insert

The 28th Summer Organ Festival

was one triumph after another for the

world-class artists performing on the

Spreckels stage. History sounded the

keynote for San Diego’s Civic Organist

Emeritus Robert Plimpton, playing on

opening night with former Civic Organ-

ist Jared Jacobsen in a concert including

the world premiere of Balboa Bolero by

Joe Utterback.

Carol Williams had a star turn, play-

ing many of her own compositions

(including a new work, Divine Song) for

an audience augmented by more than

300 visiting organists attending the West

Region Convention of the American

Guild of Organists.

July heralded the patriotic sounds of

Christian Elliott; Aaron David Miller

presenting his own premiere work, Fan-

fare for a New Century; “rising star”

appearances by Thomas Mellan and the

American Theatre Organ Society’s Dan

Minervini as well as Soprano Christen

Blair Horne and flutist Carlos Aguilar;

and the virtuoso organ performance of

Isabelle Demers.

A surprisingly wet July did not

dampen any of the Monday concerts,

although the Patrons of the Prado

“Masterpiece” party in the Pavilion on July

18 was very nearly rained out.

The heat of August was another chal-

lenge for Pavilion audiences, but Monday

nights were cool enough so that the musi-

cianship of Olivier Latry, Gordon Turk,

Paul Jacobs, and Donald MacKenzie could

be appreciated comfortably.

Kudos to Gordon Turk for another orig-

inal work that he premiered: Tuba Balboa.

On Finale night, Carol Williams and

her percussionist-husband Kerry Bell were

joined by Clark Sterling, Lisa Vroman, and

Michael Dailey in a breathtaking 100-year

sweep of Broadway musical history, com-

plete with sing-alongs.

On June 29, the final pipe in the Drive

to 5000 was sold to Harry Tennebaum, one

of scores of contributors to the campaign

that has raised $223,000 since late 2012.

Centennial magic continues in the Park

with the Art of Music exhibition at the San

Diego Museum of Art, and more.

On September 24, Carol Williams

played for the opening ceremony of the

World Adaptive Surfing Championship

and welcomed Mayor Kevin Faulconer to

the Pavilion stage.

Musical

Magic

for the

Centennial

100 yEars youNg !

Vivian Evenson

Dec. 4, 1919 to Oct 6, 2015 Founder, Spreckels Organ Society

President 1988-2003

Thank you, Vivian, for making our world a more

harmonious one!

Editor's Note: News of Vivian Evenson's passing

came after the StopTab was prepared. George,

Carol, and other friends will share their memories

of Vivian in the next edition.

Dear Friends,

I hope you have had a super Summer

— we certainly did here in San Diego.

What a marvelous line-up of artists we

had and such terrific performances by all.

If you are aware of my YouTube se-

ries "On The Bench with Dr. Carol," you

can see some of the latest interviews we

did with the artists.

Autumn is here and we are praying for

rain! Hopefully not on Halloween Night

when Chris Elliott will accompany Phantom of the Opera at the

organ pavilion. If you like spooky, then this is for you! Chris Elliott

is a marvelous movie accompanist and this will certainly be a treat.

I have some traveling this Autumn and a major Europe trip next

Spring where I will play at Notre-Dame and St. Sulpice in Paris

plus concerts being planned in the UK.

I love traveling and playing new organs! Meeting new people

and experiencing new places. Ah, the joys of being a musician.

Maybe you might come to one of these concerts - check my website

for details: www.melcot.com

Bye for now—Best Wishes,

Dr. Carol

Dear Fellow Members of the

Spreckels Organ Society,

How time flies! As I write this letter,

we are relishing the many highlights of our

just-completed Centennial International

Summer Organ Festival, and looking for-

ward to the final three months of our great

Centennial Celebration Year. It seems like

just yesterday that the Spreckels Organ

Society was beginning to plan for this im-

portant year's celebrations.

The Centennial International Summer Organ Festival was

designed and funded to be a very special festival -- and boy, did

Carol and the Program Committee deliver! From Opening Night

with Bob Plimpton and Jared Jacobsen to Closing Night with

Carol Williams and her Broadway friends, the crowds were huge,

the applause was tectonic, and the financial support was unprece-

dented. Although it was a lot of work for the many volunteers

who made these concerts possible, there wasn't a Monday even-

ing this summer that wasn't greeted with excitement and good

energy. Special thanks must be given to a few faithful volunteers

who really went the extra mile this year: Tom Warschauer, Den-

nis Fox, Roy Attridge, Len Fillomeo, Gary Allard, Matt Erick-

son. Our audio team — Jordan White, Steve Hall, and Jack El-

liott — was fantastic this year, and they were all volunteers!

And, of course there were many who volunteered in the Gift

Shop, the Membership Table, and the Greeting Stations. Thank

you to you all!

The final three months of this year will be taken up by sup-

porting our weekly Sunday concerts (with many special events

along the way), producing the Halloween Concert on October 31,

and promoting our big fundraiser on December 13. Can you

think of a better way to support the Spreckels Organ Society and

say "adios" to our Centennial Celebration year than joining us for

a celebratory dinner at the Admiral Kidd Club and watching the

Parade of Lights on San Diego Bay? Please plan to attend.

When I had the honor of being elected President of the

Spreckels Organ Society, I had some basic goals in mind: update

the Bylaws, diversify the Board, ensure compliance with legal

requirements, plan and stage a successful Centennial Celebration,

stabilize our endowment funds, upgrade the part-time Executive

Administrator position to one full-time Executive Director, and

to complete the Drive to 5000. With everyone pulling together,

these goals have been met! On January 1, 2016, therefore, I will

pass the gavel to the next President of the Spreckels Organ Soci-

ety. Words can't express how grateful I am for having the chance

to lead this wonderful organization at this important time. Thank

you.

Remember, together we made it happen!

George Hardy, President

Page 2 StopTab Fall 2015

Centennial International Summer Organ Festival—2015

Here are just a few of the photos by Bob Lang and Mike Cox that evoke the spirit of this exuberant

summer season. From top left: Notre Dame Cathedral’s Olivier Latry receives a melody on which to

improvise; Michael Dailey, Lisa Vroman, Clark Sterling, and Carol Williams hit a high note at the

finale show. Below: George Hardy and Carol Williams greet the audience; Membership team (male

division) Chester Yamaga, Dave Nesvig, and Bill Galante sport period costumes; musical-themed

cupcakes tempt would-be members; Tim Harlow and Megan Ehle are ready with tempting items at

the snack bar.

Peter & Arlene Way: 2015 Volunteers of the Year

At the annual Membership Meeting on August 17, Peter and

Arlene Way were recognized as Volun-

teers of the Year for 2015. This hus-

band and wife dynamic duo have

played almost every role in the Socie-

ty’s volunteer repertoire… from Presi-

dent (Arlene) to snack crew (Peter) to

doorkeep (Arlene) to investment advi-

sor (Peter). Thanks for showing us how

to do any job with style and grace!

Page 3 StopTab Fall 2015

StopTab: A Quarterly published by the

SPRECKELS ORGAN SOCIETY 1549 El Prado, Suite 10, San Diego CA 92101-1661

(619) 702-8138 / SOSorgan@gmail.com / SpreckelsOrgan.org

Board of Trustees Officers

Chair of the Board - Vivian Evenson

President - George Hardy

Vice President - Randy Ward

Treasurer - Clifford McMillan

Secretary - Jean Samuels

Trustees

Edward Barr Jack Lasher

Mitch Beauchamp Max Nanis

Andrea Card David Nesvig

Len Filomeo Dang Nguyen

Dennis Fox Marion Persons

Richard Griswold Lynn Reaser

Charles Gunther Paulette Rodgers-Leahy

Pamela Hartwell Spencer Scott

Ralph Hughes Barbara Truglio

Jared Jacobsen Tony Uribe

Sean Jones Tony Valencia

Thomas Warschauer

Ex-Officio Trustees

Lyle Blackinton—Curator Emeritus

Ross Porter—Executive Director & StopTab Editor

Dale Sorenson—Curator

Dr. Carol Williams—Artistic Director & San Diego Civic Organist

Oct 31– 7 p.m.

Silent Movie Night

Organist Christian Elliot.t returns on

Halloween to offer the accompaniment

to Lon Chaney’s silent classic Phantom

of the Opera, starting at 7 p.m. Popcorn,

coffee, soft drinks and goodies will be

on sale. No admission charge.

More great photos online at

www.SpreckelsOrgan.org.

Summer Celebrations

At left, Carol Williams shows her performance space at the San Diego

Fair with the Rodgers Organ console and a backdrop of the Pavilion. She

played every day for a month! Above, George Hardy and Michael Tassiel-

lo hold aloft the banner congratulating runners in the America’s Finest

City (AFC) Half Marathon on August 16. Their finish was close to the

Pavilion, and Russ Peck played the organ during the morning as the run-

ners completed their course.