Organ Recital - Notable Venues and Recitals

Notable Venues and Recitals

The Wanamaker Organ is played twice daily, Monday through Saturday, free of charge, for patrons and those who visit Macy's Department Store in the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia. The Grand Court Organist is Peter Richard Conte and when he is touring, assistant organists perform to ensure the organ is played every day.

The Dane and Polly Bales Organ Recital Hall at the University of Kansas was specifically constructed for organ recitals.

The Harvard Organ Society holds regular organ recitals at the Adolphus Busch Hall.

The Temple Square Organ Recitals show off the organs in and around Temple Square including the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ (most often in the Tabernacle) others are the LDS Conference Center organ and the Salt Lake Assembly Hall organ (occasionally). During the summer: Mon. through Sat. Noon and 2pm. Sun. 2pm. Non-summer: Mon. through Sat. Noon and Sun at 2pm.

To show off its new concert organ, the Walt Disney Concert Hall held a series of organ recitals in 2004 and 2005. There is now a regular season of organ recitals at the venue featuring famous classical organists from around the world.

In Hollywood, California, the historic El Capitan Theater (also owned by the Disney company) showcases its Wurlitzer Organ regularly before its scheduled shows and movie showings. Organ recitals preceding Disney shows usually consist of Disney Favorites and Show Tunes, but well-known theater organ greats occasionally visit to do special shows at the theater, such as Bob Ralston of Lawrence Welk fame. Mr. Ralston also hosts organ recitals at his home in Granada Hills.

Also in California, the Orange County Theater Organ Society hosts frequent theater organ recitals at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, featuring its own original Wurlitzer pipe organ from 1930. As part of its season, some of these recital programs also include a silent film accompanied by the theater organ, to provide a complete experience the way it was originally intended. A long list of accomplished organists regularly frequent the Plummer, including Chris Elliot and the inimitable Bob Ralston.

While world-famous organist Frederick Swann was in residence at First Congregational Church in Los Angeles between 1998 and 2001, where he supervised the improvement of the organ to rival that of his former church, the Crystal Cathedral, to become the largest church organ in the world (with over 20,000 pipes), he instituted a music festival called "Organ Alive!" that featured organ recitals and concerts, collaborating with many renowned musicians to revive Los Angeles' organ music culture. The annual conference and organ series attracted people from all over the world to Los Angeles and continued in the years following Mr. Swann's retirement as principle organist of the church. Following the success of this recital series and the awareness that was revived in the city, two new significant pipe organs were commissioned in the city: that of the Disney Concert Hall and the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (one block from Disney Hall).

The Los Angeles OLA Cathedral also holds weekly organ recitals on Wednesdays at 12:45pm, following the noon mass. Follow the music link on the Cathedral's website for details on artists and programs.