Friends of the Wanamaker Organ
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Toccata and Fugue in D Minor! Bach Masterworks! Widor's Third Symphony!
Tickets are selling swiftly for our spectacular fall Stokowski Bach/Widor tribute by calling Symphony in C at 856-963-6683 or logging on to SymphonyinC.org HERE. Select your seats now for this eagerly anticipated event, from an array of attractive prices for all pocketbooks! Please note that the more desirable seats are toward the rear of the hall, where sound from the Organ and from the orchestra projects directly to the listener.
Also featured September 28 is a free chamber tour following the noon concert, and a special talk on Stokowski and Widor by Widor scholar John Near, held in Greek Hall and also free. A limited supply of free food and refreshment will be offered for attendees!
(We are announcing the start time of the concert at 8, which allows patrons to reach their sections and select their seats in a casual manner, but the concert itself will start just a bit later as the store completes being emptied out of patrons and when quiet is assured. We are grateful to Macy's for allowing us to begin seating while the store is still open.)
WE
ARE VERY SORRY to report that our beloved Bill Bragg, the longtime Voice of Big
Tex at the Texas State Fair and the Voice of the Wanamaker Organ over
our kiosk and the weekly YesterdayUSA broadcast, passed away Friday June
28. More is at the Wanamaker Organ Friends and Fans Facebook Page and
searchable news sources such as the Dallas Morning News. A 2010 Bill Bragg interview with Ray Biswanger is HERE.
Our very deepest
condolences go to Bill's wife Kim, who is continuing the station and the
broadcasts. Cards and condolences may be sent to Kim Bragg at 2001
Plymouth Rock Dr. Richardson TX 75081 We know she would appreciate
hearing from all whose lives were touched by Bill and his broadcasts.
Congratulations to all who made Wanamaker Organ Day such a stellar success! See a quick film on the case restoration HERE! A short film on gilding is HERE!
Please note that while we post timely notices here and on our Facebook Page, the real goings on of the Friends and in-depth coverage of the restoration is found exclusively in our members-only newsletter. We seek to build an involved and committed membership which gives us the crucial funding necessary to continue our work.
We have many vital restoration projects in the pipeline, including the entire Solo division, together with a centennial celebration of the first Stokowski/Philadelphia Orchestra Wanamaker Organ concert Saturday September 28. Stilian Kirov conducts Symphony in C with Peter Richard Conte as soloist! Full details are in our newsletter!
Stokowski Centennial Tickets are on sale now at SymphonyinC.org and will be mailed. Staffers at Symphony in C will be delighted to help you pick the ideal seats. Call them weekdays at (856) 240-1503.
Thank you for your generous support of our important cause!
Stories in the Spring Issue:[] Major contract signed and work begins on Organ Case restoration
[] How paint chip studies are uncovering the original colors of our organ case
[] What 3 1/2 pounds of gold leaf will bring to our organ display pipes
[] How a major building strike threatened to cost John Wanamaker his shirt
[] What a swell engine has in common with a team of horses
[] How architect Daniel H. Burnham used a world's fair to leap to the top
[] Why a furniture company got the contract for our organ case
[] Why neoclassic architecture turned buildings into money-making machines
[] How the story of determining historic colors began at Williamsburg
[] Why John Wanamaker got a stern talking to by his lawyer
[] What the Organ Case looks like with all the display pipes removed
[] Why the Organ is the star of movies on the giant new lobby video screen [] What happens when the Great Primary stops working
[] How quick thinking brough six reeds from the Solo safely home
[] What brought the Cornell Glee Club to the Grand Court
[] How you can help with some very special projects!
Join (at our webstore) or renew now (at the top of the page) to get all the exciting details as this major restoration project unfolds!
Please watch this space for more concert-date announcements, which will be posted as soon as we receive them. Because our special concerts are dependent on Macy's sales schedule, precise dates are given to us generally about 10 weeks before certain concerts. All members receive timely announcements of our events and details in our quarterly newsletters!
Michael Lawrence's article on restoring Fleming pneumatics is available at this blog, which has fascinating observations on music and music making. Details are HERE!
Curt Mangel was honored for his saving of the chandeliers of Chicago's Uptown Theater, now undergoing a major restoration. Watch HERE!
Hear the Cornell Glee Club at Macy's Grand Court HERE!
Nick Meyers showed off the Cornet of our beautifully restored Original String Division. Highlights are HERE!
Enjoy a YouTube sneak preview of the new Wanamaker Office Building video wall, paying tribute to the Wanamaker Organ. Click HERE!
HEAR MENDELSSOHN'S WEDDING MARCH from a Grand Court Wedding Sept. 13. Watch HERE!
Wanamaker Organ Day videos are available HERE and HERE and HERE, thanks to Friends member Bill Theobald!
MONTHLY TOURS HAVE RESUMED! Admission to our monthly last-Saturday-of-the-month Organ Tours are available by appointment. Secure your admissions clicking HERE and meet your tour guide Nik Sizgorich 
at
noon at the Eagle on the day of each tour. After the noon concert is
finished, Nik will then take ticketholders on the tour.
Included
in the tour is the Friends Museum, which includes first editions from
the personal library of organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, all of
his own works, placed on deposit with the Friends. The actual Leopold
Stokowski 78 rpm record that inspired Virgil Fox to arrange "Come Sweet
Death" may be viewed, as may the medal Dr. Audsley received at the 1904
St. Louis World's Fair, and a silver tray given to his father in 1838.
Other exhibits include documents signed by Rodman Wanamaker, and
memorabilia pertaining to Wanamaker Organist Keith Chapman and former
curators.
PRIVATE TOURS are
available year-round by appointment when guides are available, but may incur a
significant extra
charge to cover the expenses of securing a guide. (We are a small
organization and do not have a tour guide staff on site.) Cost per
person is $18 (you can use the Student Rate at our webstore to secure
admissions). The cost of securing a guide for a private tour depends on
what is negotiated with the guide, who is paid his or her fee in person
and usually travels into town for the sake of giving the tour. Please
try to give us as much advance notice as possible.
Also note that
taking a tour makes a participant eligible to get issues of The Stentor,
our quarterly newsletter.
If you take a tour and someone else submits their name with the
financial information, e-mail us with your own information as well. You
can E-mail us about tours and availability at
execdirec@wanamakerorgan.com. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL THOSE TAKING THE TOUR
ARE ORDINARILY EXPECTED TO PRINT AND BRING THEIR RECEIPT, OR BE
PREPARED TO SHOW IT ON THEIR CELLPHONE SCREENS
ALSO NOTE: There are no
regular monthly tours in November
or December because of the Christmas Light Show.
TWO SECTIONS of the Wanamaker totalling almost 10 percent of its sonic resources have undergone complete restoraton: The 24-rank Choir Division and the 18-rank Original String Division. Both of these sections in the Original Organ are filled with dozens of the softer voices. Included are four wonderful restored reeds that will add their magic---particularly in our after-hours concert when the Store is closed. 
Please note that our monthly organ tour requires tickets. Details are below.
Please also patronize our webstore, which helps support our musical mission. Immediate Direct Shipping on all Orders! Buying from us helps support the cause of the Wanamaker Organ!
Our membership renewal period is still in full swing. We rely on donations from people like yourself who understand the complexity of the Wanamaker Organ and all that is required to keep it playing to accomplish our mission. Increased giving makes us eligible for increased grant amounts. For early birds and those who want to join or renew online, please click on the Membership Renewal box at the top of the page.
We deplete ourselves of funds each year for the cause of the Wanamaker Organ. Please remember that all we do is directly dependent on the generosity and financial investment of our members.
The selection of Premium Gifts includes two Double Premiums found only online...Items M and N (which were available in previous years). Thank you all for your support as we enter our 25th year supporting the Reigning Monarch of All Instruments, with much important work ahead of us!
OUR LATEST DVD! Immediate Shipping! Ever 
wonder what it is like to sit down and play the Wanamaker Organ? Our exciting new DVD, The Wanamaker Organ: A Sonic Odyssey, is now available! Just click on the icon at left to secure your copy.
Peter Richard Conte and Yale organist Thomas Murray go through the Organ's formidable resources in a fascinating, fun, three hour film full of insights from two master musicians. A companion to our Curator's Tour DVD. Orders are being shipped immediately since stock has arrived. An enclosed booklet includes registration and playing insight from Conte, Keith Chapman, Virgil Fox, and more!
Read Peter Dobrin's marvelous tribute to the Wanamaker Organ in the Philadelphia Inquirer HERE. Writes Dobrin: Whatever your taste, this is music of the best sort -- music you didn't find, but that found you.
Many
first-time visitors ask about whether there is a charge for the daily
concerts, or if special preparations are needed. The answer is a simple no. The Wanamaker Organ
plays into the huge atrium of a grand department store, and the concerts
are a free part of the daily Macy's shopping experience. The regular
daily schedule is Here.
Archived streamcasts of the monthly WRTI-FM broadcast are available HERE, and include performances by many guest artists as well as our beloved Peter Richard Conte.
Please consider the Friends in your giving. Each year we start afresh, dependent on your generosity, having depleted the funds of the season before. Thank you for your consideration as we strive to grow our musical mission.
Take
a look at the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ film intended as an
orientation for store visitors. Linked here is the most recent edit. Macy's has also put it on their official website, accessible HERE.
To play the
video, simply click on the illustration at right.
MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE FRIENDS HERE! OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE
Peter Richard Conte and flugelhornist Andrew Ennis were interviewed by WRTI's Susan Lewis HERE.
An article on the Rodman Wanamaker flag collection by Karen Chernick of Hidden City is HERE.
The Wanamaker Organ streamcast continues
on YesterdayUSA.com in our weekly LIVE broadcasts from the Grand Court each Wednesday at 7 pm Eastern. Bill Bragg hosts!
YOUR PART
Regular
membership in the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ enables us to be
eligible for the special funding that allows this restoration work to go
forward. You can help support the restoration and all our programs and
get prompt news on our events by becoming a new Friend of the Wanamaker Organ.
For just $25, new members receive our acclaimed quarterly 16-page
newsletter, which is chock full of concert and restoration news and
historical memorabilia, information that is only available in printed
form.
You can Join the Friends by clicking here or on the membership icon at right. (Members may renew by clicking the Renewal Box at the top of this page.
Tourist information for Wanamaker Organ visitors, including hotel and restaurant ideas and money saving tips, is available by clicking the banner below. We look forward to seeing you!
