Wanamaker Organ 100th Anniversary

June 22, 2011, was the 100th anniversary of this instrument. It was first heard on June 22, 1911, amid
much pageantry timed to coincide with exact moment of the crowning of King George V in England.
A major event spanning several days celebrated the centenary, facilitated by Macy's, the owner of
the store and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ.

During the period between the demise of the Wanamaker store and the acquisition by Macy's, there were
owners who failed to appreciate what they had, and the instrument nearly was lost. It had reached a
point where only about 25% of it was operating. Of course, given there are over twenty-eight thousand
pipes on a six manual console, 25% is still larger than most church organs, so it was played with
many listeners not realizing how much was missing. An amazing number of organ builders who make their
living building and tuning instruments have donated time to bring this instrument up to its true
capability. The organ in the Grand Court is on the National Historic Register and valued at $71 million.

Macy's appears to appreciate what they have, and they did a bang-up job on this centenary event with special
banners and window displays, as well as the immense detail that must go into having public concerts after hours
in a functioning department store. This actually harkens back to the early days of the instrument when on
one occasion, Charles Corboin played with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra - to an
SRO audience of 15,000!

Being unsure of what restrictions might apply to photography, Ye Olde Photographer brought only his
compact point&shoot digital, which he now regrets. He could have gone whole hog with his DSLR or other
gear. He hopes he has been able to extract enough, in spite of slow shutter speeds and sluggish focus, to
convey some sense of the day.

We began with a concert of pieces played by four different organists associated with the store, Peter Richard Conte,
the Grand Court Organist, plus Rudolph Lucente, Michael Stairs and Colin Howland. A short excerpt was played
by Conte with Jeremy Filsell on piano, a preview of the evening concert, and we were introduced to Peter Krasinski
who would accompany a silent film later. This whole hour and a half was carried live on WRTI, the Temple University
Public Radio station with Jill Pasternak doing MC duties.

The film mentioned was played in the Greek Room, a remarkable meeting space on the 4th floor. Indicative of Macy's
commitment to these events, just within the past year, a Wurlitzer 2-manual 8 rank theater organ has been
installed in this room. The instrument came from the Smithsonian in exchange for a historically sensitive
restoration by the Friends group. The film was D. W. Griffith's Way Down East starring Lillian Gish.
Peter Krasinski did an astounding accompaniment, improvising away for two hours with music that brought
out the emotions seen on screen. The ultimate was during a scene of a New England barn dance with a fiddler
sawing away, Mr. Krasinski picked up a violin and bow resting on top of the Wurlitzer console and played some
fiddle tunes, accompanying himself on the organ pedals! It was quite a virtuosic and fun event.

After the 11:30 to 1:00 concert, there were tours of the orchestral division chambers on the second floor and the
console. Following the silent movie, there was a tour of the string division chambers on the fourth floor - and
that's only part of the instrument!

There was a major concert from 5:00 to 6:00 with Peter Richard Conte and Rudolph Lucente playing joined by the
Philadelphia Brass and percussion and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Festival Chorus with a variey of music.
The final event of the day was a concert at 8:30 pm, after store closing, with Peter Richard Conte playing
his transcription of Richard Strauss' Suite from the Rosenkavalier, followed by pianist Jeremy Filsell playing
Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto with the orchestral parts played as transcribed by Mr. Conte. It was a
spectacular concert!