Simon Gledhill at the console of the Great Theatre Pipe Organ of the Arlington.
On Saturday, 20 September 2003, Simon Gledhill wowed the Santa Barbara audience with one of the best and most exciting concerts we have ever had at the Arlington. His full registrations and rich modern harmonies demonstrated his musicianship and imagination as well as showing off the Robert-Morton organ to its best advantage. His arrangements kept the audience enthralled. His use of dynamics, ranging from the thundering full organ to the whisper of strings to the piquant Tibia-Kinura-Clarinet combinations, demonstrated his emotional reaction to the music as well as his understanding of ear-relief allowing the ear to rest after a loud passage.
Simon's console riser was a bouncy, rousing rendition of Put On A Happy Face which set the mood for the rest of the concert. Caribbean Dance followed. Next, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and a medley of Rodgers and Hart tunes (You Took Advantage of Me, Have You Met Miss Jones?, My Romance, and The Lady Is A Tramp). Followed by a British piece by Wood, Sketch of a Dandy. We were brought to intermission by a medley of songs by John Lennen and Paul McCartney (Norwegian Wood, She Loves Me, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby, and Yesterday).
The second half of the concert opened with the King Kong March which was used in the movie "King Kong" as background music where people are walking into a theatre to view the giant ape. Next was the wartime song A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square. A medley of Harold Arlen songs followed: I Got The World On A String, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, Come Rain Or Come Shine, Stormy Weather, and Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead. The English mood music piece Melody On The Move followed by The Barber Of Seville concluded the concert.
Simon had many old friends in the audience
from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego as well as local lovers of
theatre pipe organ music. Simon spent considerable time after the
concert autographing his CDs and talking with people in the lobby.
This concert was truly great! (Write-up by George Ferrand).
Roger Inkpen (Newton Pipe Organ Services) and Simon Gledhill after the concert.
David Garrison and Simon Gledhill. David is eagerly learning to play theatre pipe organ and is quite accomplished. Simon gave David many hints and tips.
Dinner with Simon Gledhill
On Friday evening, 19 September 2003, Simon
met with 16 organ enthuiasts and friends for dinner at the Moby Dick restaurant.
The food and service were good and we all had a great time chatting with
each other and Simon.
