San Diego Concerts

California's 2nd largest city and most popular place for outdoor living in the summer months makes it a very popular spot for arts & entertainment offerings. Below is just a small sampling of summer concerts in parks ranging from the grand Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park to Point Loma, Mission Beach, North Park and undoubtedly some places we've overlooked or missed in our annual outdoor summer concerts report. If you've never been to San Diego, summer is definitely a great time to go and enjoy these free shows!

Spreckels Organ Pavilion Twilight Concerts

June-September, Tuesday, Wednesdays & Thursdays

Balboa Park Spreckels Pavilion
1549 El Prado
San Diego, CA
Free, balboapark.org | spreckelsorgan.org

2024 Concerts

6:30-7:30 p.m.

March 10, 2024 Opera 4Kids
The Enchanted Tail, with Victoria Robertson & Bernardo Bermúdez (Opera 4Kids)

March 31, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate - Bach´s Birthday
Artistic Director and SD Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramirez performs a tribute to J.S.Bach

April 14, 2024 Family Discovery Day
Band Day at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, from 11am to 3pm. Enjoy seven bands, SDSU instrument petting zoo, SOS Trivia, a Raffle and other family fun activities, with Raul Prieto Ramirez as MC and organists

May 12, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate - Mother´s Day
Featuring soprano Anna Belaya with music written by female composers and Roses Give-away

May 19, 2024 Little Big Guests
The Scripps Ranch High School Orchestra performs Saint-Saëns´ Finale from Symphony No.3
Russell Shedd, Conductor

May 26, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate - Memorial Day
Selections from Mozart’s Requiem with the Bishop’s Singers directed by Christine Micu

June 2, 2024 Young Organists Scholarship Awards Concert I
In partnership with SD Chapter of the AGO

June 9, 2024 Young Organists Scholarship Awards Concert II
In partnership with SD Chapter of the AGO

June 30, 2024 Little Big Guests - National Youth Choral Festival
Organized by the San Diego Children Choir

July 7, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate – Independence Day Weekend Concert!
Featuring all time favorite patriotic tunes

September 15, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate – The Beatles!
Featuring lead singer Lauren Leigh, drummer Richard Tbone Larson and the Village Community Chorale conducted by Juan Acosta

September 22, 2024 Family Discovery Day – Trumpet Day
Featuring Jonah Levy. Starts at 1:30pm with Meet&Greet Jonah Levy and try a trumpet!

October 27, 2024 Little Big Guests - SD Youth Symphony Halloween Concert
Orchestras from SD Youth Symphony perform with Raul Prieto Ramirez at the organ

November 3, 2024 Opera 4Kids
Message in a Bottle, with Victoria Robertson & Bernardo Bermúdez (Opera 4Kids)

November 10, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate – Veterans Day Sousa Palooza!
Artistic Director and SD Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramirez performs a tribute to USA War Veterans

November 17, 2024 Family Discovery Day – Strings Day
Featuring violinist Hanah Stuart. Viola and Celist TBD
Starts at 1:30pm with Meet&Greet the artists and try the instruments!

November 24, 2024 Family Discovery Day – Dance Day
Featuring San Diego Ballet with selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker
Starts at 1:30pm with Meet&Greet the artists

December 15, 2024 Sunday to Celebrate – Carols Sing Along!
Featuring lead singer Lauren Leigh and the Audience participation on-stage with Raul Prieto Ramirez

Some seating is available or you can also bring your own chairs and kick back to hear the music. For more than 40 years, Twilight's live music under the stars has been delighting visitors. Experience Twilight in the Park Concerts on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-7:30pm, June 21-August 24.
 

San Diego International Summer Organ Festival

June-September, Mondays

Balboa Park Spreckels Pavilion
1549 El Prado
San Diego, CA
Free, facebook.com/SpreckelsOrgan"
spreckelsorgan.org

2024 Concerts

7:30 p.m.

Spreckels Organ  San Diego International Summer Organ Festival Monday Nights at 7:30pm No Admission Charge For Attendance

June 17, 2024, 7:30pm Jeff Thayer & Raul Prieto Ramirez San Diego Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Jeff Thayer and San Diego Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramirez unite their talents for the perfect opening night of the 36th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival

June 24, 2024,  7:30PM InSpirations Ensemble André Moisan, clarinets and saxophones; Frédéric Alarie, bass; Jean-Willy Kunz, organ; Hélène Lemay, trombone; Michel Berthiaume, drums. Founded in 2015 by the renowned clarinetist and conductor André Moisan, the InSpirations Ensemble presents original music featuring unique sounds and interpretations combining classical, jazz, world music and contemporary musical techniques

July 1, 2024, 7:30pm PATRIOTIC SALUTE with Jelani Eddington Jelani Eddington presents an Independence Day Theater Organ Concert featuring the American Songbook. Jelani Eddington is well-known as one of the best theater organists in the world with numerous CD recordings and publications

July 8, 2024, 7:30pm Bryan Anderson First Prize Winner of the International Longwood Gardens Organ Competition, Bryan Anderson enjoys a versatile career as an organist, church musician, teacher, and musical collaborator. The Diapason (magazine), which named Bryan to its 20 under 30 Class of 2017, described him as “brilliant, yet quiet and unassuming.” Classical Voice of North Carolina described his playing as “simply first class.” Across various disciplines and specialties, Bryan’s reputation as an exceptional musician is well-established

July 15, 2024, 7:30pm Clara Gerdes Following her San Diego Organ Pavilion debut in 2022 performing for Silent Movie Night, Clara Gerdes returns as a soloist. Clara Gerdes recently graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Alan Morrison, receiving diplomas in Early Music and Improvisation. She received first prizes in the Albert Schweitzer, AGO-Quimby Mid-Atlantic Regional and UNCSA School of the Arts organ competitions; was the recipient of the 2020 Baker Prize in Organ Performance and the 2021 Julia Sherman Award for Excellence in Organ Playing from Yale; and received the first annual Pogorzelski-Yankee scholarship from the American Guild of Organists

July 22, 2024, 7:30pm Jaebon Hwang  

July 29, 2024, 7:30pm Jan Kraybill GRAMMY-nominated artist Jan Kraybill is a concert organist, pianist, and harpsichordist; a dynamic speaker, educator, church musician, and consultant; and an enthusiastic cheerleader for the power of music to change lives for the better. In addition to maintaining a very active concert schedule, Dr. Kraybill is organ conservator at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. “Organist Jan Kraybill is a local treasure whose previous recordings have garnered acclaim from critics around the world. "The Orchestral Organ is a stunner CD...The Orchestral Organ will knock the socks off any music lover, even those who claim they don’t like organ music.” (The Kansas City Star)

August 5, 2024, 7:30pm Greg Zelek Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ, where he regularly performs and oversees all of the MSO's organ programming. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship. In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists, a feature which selects the most successful young artists in the field

August 12, 2024, 7:30pm David Ball with Trevor Nuckols, horn; Lauren McCaul and Alyce Reynaud, sopranos and Dr. Emma Whitten, organ Juilliard-trained organist David Ball serves as Cathedral Organist and Head of Music Ministry at Christ Cathedral in the Diocese of Orange, California (formerly the Crystal Cathedral). David is a recognized and well-lauded young performer—The New York Times declared his appearance in Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival “a rousing performance,” and as a winner of the AGO/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists, David performed as a Rising Star at the 2016 National AGO Convention in Houston. David was named one of The Diapason’s 2017 Class of 20 under 30, a peer-selected group of young people at the forefront of the organ field

August 19, 2024, 7:30pm Organ & Orchestra Concertos Rául Prieto Ramírez, organ Michael Gerdes, conductor The Organ Pavilion Chamber Orchestra Raúl Prieto Ramírez will perform organ concertos by George Friederic Handel, Joseph Haydn, and American Composer Horatio Parker with The Organ Pavilion Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michael Gerdes. A very rare opportunity to hear an orchestra with the open-air Spreckels Organ

August 26, 2024, 7:30pm THE NOT-SO-SILENT MOVIE NIGHT Organist David Marsh will take on one of the most popular concerts of the Festival, the Not-So-Silent Movie Night featuring 1928 Buster Keaton´s Steamboat Bill Jr. accompanied by the Spreckels Organ (which features real sound effects like Firefighter Truck and Police Car Horn, Train Whistle, and Bird Tweets among others)

September 2, 2024, 7:30pm THE DOORS TRIBUTE The Organ Pavilion Classic Rock Band Where is the only venue featuring the great hits of Classic Rock by Pink-Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin or Heart performed by a seven-member Rock Band with an authentic pipe organ? Only in San Diego! The Organization is the exclusive Rock Band of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion with six of the best Rock musicians in the region and the San Diego Civic Organist

Point Loma Summer Concerts

Free Summer Concerts.

Point Loma Park
1049 Catalina Boulevard
San Diego, CA
Free, pointlomasummerconcerts.org

2024 Concerts

5 p.m.

July 12, 2024 Fleetwood MAX

July 19, 2024 Big Time Operator

July 26, 2024 DSB: Journey Tribute Band

August 2, 2024 Billy Nation

August 9, 2024 The Pine Mountain LogsPacific Beach Mission Bay Concerts

Beaches July - August, Sundays
Free
Pacific Beach Concerts on the Green
Kate Sessions Park
5115 Soledad Rd
San Diego, CA 92109
Free, pbtowncouncil.org  

2024 Concerts  

4-6:30 p.m.

 July 21, 2024 Pacific Records Showcase

July 28, 2024 That Beatles Band

August 4, 2024 Gilligan's Island

August 11, 2024 The Monsteras

August 18, 2024 Platinum Beat

The concerts on the green is fun for the whole family. Bring your chairs, blankets and some food to enjoy a nice summer evening listening to live music. A big Thank You to the PB Community Foundation for putting this event together.

 

MISSION HILLS

Concerts in the Park Fridays June-July, 6-8 p.m.
Pioneer Park
1521 Washington Pl
San Diego, CA 92101
missionhillstowncouncil.org

2024 Concerts

6 p.m. unless otherwise noted

July 4, 2024, 12-2:30 p.m. The Little Don Band (4th of July - Thursday concert with special time)

July 12, 2024 Geezer

July 19, 2024 The Verge

July 26, 2024 Gilligan's Band - Pending funding

August 2, 2024 The Beatle Cover Band - Pending funding

The MHTC and the Summer Concerts relies 100% on sponsorship and financial donations by local residents, businesses and organizations. Production costs are over $5,500 per concert. We need your help in raising the funds necessary to make the concerts happen so please contribute.

EL CAJON

Prescott Promenade
near the corner of Main St and Magnolia
El Cajon, CA
El Cajon Dinner and a Concert entertainment includes rock, western, Rockabilly, country, Caribbean and Spanish flamenco. Bring a chair/blanket, food and drinks. A fun, family-friendly way to start each weekend.

SANTEE

Santee Summer Concert Series June-August
550 Park Center Drive
Santee, CA 92071
ci.santee.ca.us

Smoking is not permitted in the park, No glass containers or barbecues, No alcoholic beverages, Dogs must be on a leash, Children must be supervised by an adult, No climbing trees or fences, No bikes, skateboards, or skates, No ball games or rough play
Food Service at the Park. Picnics are encouraged. Bring your own seating, blankets, and warm clothing.

Free Bach@Noon Concerts

Point Loma Bach@Noon concerts presented by Bach Collegium San Diego in its 15th anniversary season.

All Souls' Episcopal Church
1475 Catalina Blvd.
Point Loma (San Diego)
Free, public invited. 
bachcollegiumsd.org

Held in the winter months.

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.

Adams Avenue Street Fair

September -October
Free, adamsavenuebusiness.com

North Park Music Fest

May

$tickets, northparkmainstreet.com