Welcome to the New York Theatre Organ Society
The New York Theatre Organ Society is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization furthering the appreciation, preservation and use of the Theatre Pipe Organs of yesteryear. NYTOS serves New York City and its five boroughs as well as Long Island and Lower NY State. NYTOS owns and maintains 4 organs in their region and maintains 3 organs such as the Brooklyn Paramount (LIU) Wurlitzer.
Mark Your Calendars!
Sunday, December 8 at 3:00 p.m
Christmas Spectacular at FDR High School in Hyde Park featuring the Gus Pratt Allen digital theatre organ. Watch for details.
Saturday, July 27
Open console on our 2/10 Mighty Wurlitzer at the Bardavon Theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY, from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30.
From there, we will move a bit farther north to FDR High School in Hyde Park where open console will continue on the Gus Pratt, Allen 324Q SP digital theatre organ in the school auditorium from 12 noon until 1:30 p.m.
Watch for details in the next "Horseshoe" newsletter.
Saturday, June 1, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
Lafayette Theatre in Suffern
Open console followed by Jeff Barker play-in for the Big Screen Classics Orson Welles film, The Stranger at 11:30. Details in the May-June Horseshoe.
Saturday, May 11, from 10:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
Middletown Paramount Theatre
Open console and mini-concert. Watch for details in the May-June Horseshoe.
Saturday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Chaminade High School - Mineola, NY
340 Jackson Ave, Mineola, NY 11501
Bernie Anderson, Jr. will accompany the
1927 Academy Award winning Best Picture, "Wings."
General admission is $12;
NYTOS and Queens and Nassau AGO members and seniors $10; students $5.
Wings is a 1927 silent film about two World War I fighter pilot friends, both involved with the same beauty, produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman and released by Paramount Pictures. Wings was the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only true silent films to do so (The Artist being filmed with a synchronized score, some sound effects, and one scene with spoken dialogue). Wings stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Gary Cooper appears in a role which helped launch his career in Hollywood and also marked the beginning of his affair with Clara Bow.
The film, a war picture, was rewritten to accommodate Clara Bow, as she was Paramount's biggest star, but wasn't happy about her part: "(Wings is)..a man's picture and I'm just the whipped cream on top of the pie". The film went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture at the first annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award ceremony in 1929.
Sunday - February 17, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
American Guild of Organists - Presidents’ Day Conference
Transcriptions Alive!
presented in partnership with The Riverside Church,
Chistopher Johnson, Director of Music
and PipeDreams, J. Michael Barone, host
MONDAY February 18th 2013
Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive at 122nd Street
Host: Christopher Johnson
9-10 am Breakfast catered by Balthazar Bakery
10:15 – 11:15 am
J. Michael Barone
Transcriptions: Good and Evil
11:30 – 12:30 pm
Peter Richard Conte
The Transcriber’s Art
12:30 - Lunch on your own
2-3 pm
Jonathan Ambrosino
Topic to be announced
break
4 pm
Gala Recital: Thomas Trotter, NYC AGO International Performer of the Year
Click here to read about the Roosevelt High School
Theatre Organ program
at the American Theatre Organ Society website
Latest News!
VAN DER MOLENS DONATE WHEATON FOX TO NYTOS!!
for Brooklyn Loew's Kings Theatre Restoration Project
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Click play or double click video screen to watch through YouTube
Click on the YouTube link to watch all videos
What's a Theatre Organ?
A Theatre Pipe Organ differs from a traditional church or classical organ in that its special sound effects and orchestral voices were designed specifically to accompany silent movies of the 1920's.
During the heyday of silent movies, most theatres of any size boasted a theatre pipe organ. The pipes were located in chambers high up in the front of the theatre, usually found on either side of the stage and covered with decorative screens. An immense blower produced the massive amounts of air required to cause the many pipes to "speak," and it was this large quantity of moving air that made listening to the booming theatre pipe organ in a large cavernous theatre an experience unmatched by
even the most sophisticated speaker systems of today. As movies changed to "talkies" in 1929, the organs soon became unnecessary. Many were lost to fire, flood, vandalism, and neglect. Just a very few today remain in their original homes-The Brooklyn Paramount Wurlitzer is one of those, and as such, has genuine historical significance. For the past 43 years, it has been lovingly maintained by members of the New York Theatre Organ Society.
Join New York Theatre Organ Society!
*Help to preserve Theatre Pipe Organs of yesteryear!
*Stay abreast of upcoming Theatre Pipe Organ concerts & Silent Movies.
*Participate in organ crawls, socials, picnics, tours and other events.
*Receive "The Horseshoe" - a bi-monthly newsletter.
*Get discounted admission to theatre pipe organ concerts and events.
*You're invited to join New York Theatre Organ Society. A regular membership is just $20 per year. You will receive membership card, the latest NYTOS Horseshoe newsletter, and immediately begin enjoying all the benefits of membership! Click here to Join