International Friendship Concert Features Japanese, U.S. Bands at Organ Pavilion September 23
by Mark Gabrish Conlan • Copyright © 2023 by Mark Gabrish Conlan • All rights reserved Two days ago (Saturday, September 23) I went to the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park for what was billed as the “International Friendship Concert” featuring three bands: the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Band, the U.S. Navy Concert Band Southwest, and the Kearny Mesa Concert Band. The show was supposed to run from 1 to 3 p.m. but it actually started around 12:50 p.m. with three numbers by Russ Peck, local theatre organist and associate organ curator, including Duke Ellington’s “Solitude.” I didn’t recognize the two other pieces, though his second one sounded like a Scott Joplin rag. In fact, I was pretty much at sea the entire concert because instead of distributing printed programs, the organizers put up one of those damnable “QR codes” through which you were supposed to be able to download the program to your phone. I don’t do that sort of thing – I’d have to learn how and I’m not su...