The century-old Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park is taking the title as the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ with a special two-hour performance on Saturday night.
Long ranked as second, the organ has been expanded to 5,005 pipes, outranking the Heroes’ organ in Austria’s Kufstein Fortress with 4,948 pipes. The “Drive to 5000” campaign succeed in adding 280 pipes.
The celebratory concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, is free and open to the public. San Diego Civic Organist Carol Williams will premiere a new composition written for the occasion.
Williams will be joined by Civic Organist Emeritus Robert Plimpton, Russ Peck, Soprano Diane Alexander and actor Miles Anderson.
This organ was inaugurated on Dec. 31, 1914, when from his presidential desk, Woodrow Wilson touched a telegraph key that set off fireworks and lit the organ pavilion’s 1,644 incandescent bulbs launching the Panama-California International Exposition.
