The Mighty Organ

Anna Rakitina, conductor
Margaret Martin Kvamme, organ
Symphony San Jose

Program

Caroline Shaw - Entr’acte
Francis Poulenc - Organ Concerto
Camille Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”)

As the California Theatre celebrates its 100th anniversary, Symphony San Jose and Margaret Kvamme shine a spotlight on its Mighty Wurlitzer organ and honor the distinct role the theater plays in our community’s cultural landscape.

Like the organ itself, Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte moves effortlessly between centuries, echoing Baroque elegance, bending classical forms, and revealing unexpected sonorities.

Francis Poulenc’s Organ Concerto is solemn, playful, and gloriously theatrical. Performed by renowned organist Margaret Kvamme, the concerto showcases the organ’s extraordinary range, from hushed, prayer-like intimacy to bold, blazing grandeur.

From its hushed beginnings to its blazing, triumphant finale, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 uses the organ not as an accompaniment, but as a force of nature. With the mighty Wurlitzer unleashed in all its glory, the symphony’s final pages promise a sonic experience as monumental as the California Theatre itself.

Tickets and information from Symphony San Jose