A wonderful archive of shows from the WRTI Wanamaker Organ Hour program is available HERE for your Internet listening pleasure! (You must open this post for the link to work.) The site is maintained by Julien Girard, a French aficionado now living in Quebec, with French-language names for the month of the original broadcast dates.
TAKE A TOUR! Admission to our monthly last-Saturday-of-the-month Organ Tours are available by securing admissions at our webstore Tour section. Advance notice is no longer required for groups of five or smaller. You may purchase your admissions clicking HERE and meet your tour guide Nik Sizgorich
at noon at the Eagle on the designated tour day you select.
After the noon concert is finished, Nik will then take admissions-holders on the tour.
Included is the Friends Museum, which features 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. Our Hall of Flags outside the Orchestral Chamber, pictured at left, includes historic banners and royal standards from the Rodman Wanamaker flag collection.
Several chambers are shown, and also offered is a backstage view of the Organ Case and the “Frosty Central” command center for the Light Show.
BONUS EXTRA: 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 along with the financial payment, 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 CELL PHONE SCREENS. TOURS ARE NOW SOLD ON A MONTH-SPECIFIC BASIS.
PLEASE SIMPLY IGNORE ANY LANGUAGE ON THE RECEIPT THAT SUGGESTS YOUR ORDER IS “PENDING” OR AWAITS A “CONFIRMATION NUMBER.” NO FURTHER ACTION IS NECESSARY.
In the event that circumstances result in a tour not taking place, the Friends’ liability is limited to refunding the ticket cost of that tour.
ALSO NOTE: There are no regular monthly tours in November or December because of the Christmas Light Show. Private tours may be arranged during these times, pending guide availability.
PRIVATE TOURS are available year-round by special appointment when guides are available, but tour-takers may incur a significant extra charge to cover the expenses of a private guide. (We are a small organization and do not have a tour-guide staff on site.) Cost per person is $22. 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.
We are sometimes able to arrange last-minute tours, but please try to give us as much advance notice as possible, but please not more than two months ahead except for very large groups, because our guides don’t like to commit that far in advance, particularly during the summer. Once arrangements are made, “tickets” are available at our webstore, by clicking HERE. No physical tickets are mailed—your credit card receipt is your ticket.
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.
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.
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!
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!
MACY’s INFORMATION DESK:
Discover the magic of Macy’s Center City Philadelphia, with highlights including the breathtaking Wanamaker Building, Wanamaker Grand Court Organ and Grand Court Eagle. Plus, learn how Macy’s has grown into America’s largest department store with 800+ locations and over 100 years of retailing history. Tours can be customized to focus on architecture, merchandising, marketing or fashion. All participants receive a Macy’s Visitor Savings Pass. Tours last approximately 45 minutes and must be scheduled in advance. For more information or to book a tour, contact Macy’s Center City Visitor Center at 215-241-9000 ext. 2408.
Folks who identify themselves as Wanamaker Organ tourists at the Visitors’ Center and come from a distance away are entitled to a Macy’s Savings Pass, so be sure to ask about that as well!
Incidentally, there is no sales tax on most clothing purchases in Pennsylvania! Jennie Funches (pictured) is your host.
Keep up with all the restoration news in the Friends’ newsletter The Stentor. Four issues come with your membership, and are packed with restoration and concert news with historical insights and letters from other members.
Please consider making a contribution here. A prospectus on the fund is available here.We are counting on this fund to create quality presentations for many years to come as we help secure the Wanamaker Organ’s place in musical life in the years ahead.
Hearing Philadelphia’s Wanamaker Organ is a life-changing experience. Our society is sponsored by people around the world who are helping protect the world’s largest playing pipe organ. We invite you to join the Friends and receive four issues of our 16-page newsletter and member-access to all Friends activities.
The Wanamaker Organ is undergoing a multi-year restoration. Divisions that have been patched together are getting a thorough restoration. Members help sustain this crucial work and our music, education and hospitality programs.
Members receive all the details on the restoration and Friends concerts, as well as news of private concerts, tours, and fund-raisers, in our acclaimed quarterly newsletter, The Stentor.
Macy’s and the Wanamaker Organ are located at the Wanamaker Building at 13th and Market Streets in Center City Philadelphia, PA, next to City Hall.
Macy’s is easily accessible by SEPTA (www.septa.org), PATCO www.ridepatco.org), and NJT (www.njtransit.com) bus and rail lines to Center City, Philadelphia.
This website was made possible by people just like you who love the Wanamaker Organ and want to share that joy. Please look through our website menus for answers to all common questions about making your visit to our Philadelphia wonder thoroughly enjoyable.
Please let WRTI know who much you enjoyed this feature! Special thanks to Peter Richard Conte and Joe Patti for making it possible.
Tickets are selling swiftly for our spectacular fall Stokowki Bach/Widor tribute by calling Symphony in C at 856-963-6683 or logging on to SymphonyinC.org HERE. Select your seats now 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.
(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.)