Americana Organ Concert at The Legion of Honor

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Gallery 10

View extraordinary art as you listen to a free organ concert at 4 pm every Saturday that the Legion of Honor museum is open. Join us for a concert by our principal organist Jonathan Dimmock.

Lineup

• Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
• Dudley Buck: Variations on the Star-Spangled Banner
• Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
• Aaron Copland: Bill the Kid Suite (arrangement by Jonathan Dimmock)
• David Hegarty: Appalachian Suite
• John Philip Sousa: Liberty Bell March

Art

• Albert Bierstadt: California Spring
• Grant Woord: Dinner for Threshers

About the Organist

Principal Organist Jonathan Dimmock is well known internationally as a recitalist, accompanist, ensemble musician, nonprofit founder, and writer. A graduate of Oberlin and Yale, he was the first American to hold the prestigious position of Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey. He has also served three American cathedrals: St. John the Divine in New York, St. Mark’s in Minneapolis, and Grace in San Francisco. Currently, Jonathan lives in San Francisco where he is the organist for the San Francisco Symphony, director of music at Congregation Sherith Israel, director of music at St. Stephen’s Church in Belvedere, recording artist, accompanist, and concert artist. He is cofounder of the highly acclaimed American Bach Soloists, founding director of Artists’ Vocal Ensemble, and founder and president of the Resonance Project that uses music in international conflict resolution. He is one of the few organists in the world to tour on six continents.

About the Spreckels Organ

The Legion of Honor’s magnificent pipe organ was built in 1924 by the Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company of Boston and is one of the few indoor/outdoor organs ever made. It was given to the museum for its opening in 1924 by John D. Spreckels in honor of his brother Adolph who cofounded the museum with his wife Alma de Bretteville Spreckels. The instrument represents the peak of Ernest M. Skinner’s (1866–1960) philosophical approach to organ music. Classically, organ builders seek to emphasize the clarity necessary for counterpoint (separate voices moving in conjunction with each other, typical of the music of Bach). Skinner, however, championed the romantic ideal, reproduction of the rich, full sound of an entire orchestra, capturing its bold symphonic layering of strings, horns, reeds, and even percussion. The sound is meant to resonate in a nondirectional manner, creating a musical quality that seems to float, saturating the space with its presence.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.