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A theatre organ is a distinct type of pipe organ originally developed to provide music and sound effects to accompany silent films during the first 3 decades of the 20th century.
The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, is the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world. The Wanamaker Organ is located within a spacious 7-story Grand Court at Macy's Center City and played twice a day Monday through Saturday. The organ is featured at several special concerts held throughout the year, including events featuring the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Festival Chorus and Brass Ensemble.
George Wright was an American musician, possibly the most famous virtuoso of the theatre organ of the modern era.
Frederick L. Swann is an American church and concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor, and former president of the American Guild of Organists. Music critic Tim Smith called Swann "one of the country's most distinguished organists". He is Organist Emeritus of the Crystal Cathedral and the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
Carol Anne Williams D.M.A., ARAM, FRCO, FTCL, ARCM is a British-born international concert organist and composer, now living in America. She served from October 2001 and resigned her post in October 2016 as Civic Organist for the city of San Diego, California, performing regularly at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. She was concurrently serving as the Artistic Director of the Spreckels Organ Society; producing the largest organ festival in North America since 2001. Formerly the Artist in Residence at St. Paul's Cathedral San Diego;. Awarded the title of San Diego Civic Organist Emerita, Carol now resides in Lynchburg Virginia and is the concert organist and instructor of organ at Randolph College. She is the host of TourBus, a pipe organ documentary series, as well as her YouTube series On The Bench with Dr. Carol.
Pietro Alessandro Yon was an Italian-born organist and composer who made his career in the United States.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ is a pipe organ located in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with the nearby Conference Center organ, it is typically used to accompany The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and is also featured in daily noon recitals. It is one of the largest organs in the world. Schoenstein & Co. President and tonal director Jack Bethards describes it as an "American classic organ" and "probably one of the most perfect organs ever built."
Felix Hell is a German organist.
Taylor Cameron Carpenter is an American organist. In 2009, he became the first organist to ever be nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo album, Revolutionary. He designed and commissioned the International Touring Organ (ITO), a one-of-a-kind, customized, “full-scale portable organ sonically tailorable to any acoustic environment”, which took ten years and cost $2 million to build. Since its premiere in March 2014, he no longer has to learn a new instrument for every performance which he characterized as maddening, and he now tours worldwide to venues that have never had an organ. The story of the ITO is the subject of the 2015 documentary "The Sound of My Life".
The Hazel Wright Organ is an American pipe organ located in Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. It is one of the world's largest pipe organs. As of 2019, it has 293 ranks and 17,106 pipes, fully playable from two 5-manual consoles.
Christopher Houlihan is an American concert organist noted for his clarity, flexibility of rhythm, and technical achievement. His Vierne 2012 tour in which he performed Louis Vierne's complete organ symphonies in six cities across North America was met with high critical acclaim.
Walt Strony is an American recording, consulting and performing organist and organ teacher, both on the theatre organ and traditional pipe organ, ranging from pizza parlors to churches and theatres to symphony orchestras.
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational hymn-singing and play liturgical music.
Martin Ellis is an American church, concert and theatre organist. He is currently the organist for Rose City Park Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon. He was Principal Organist and Assistant Music Director at North United Methodist Church, and Senior Staff Pianist/Organist, Staff Arranger and Orchestrator for the Indianapolis Children's Choir and Youth Chorale in Indianapolis, Indiana until August, 2014. He works with Gresham High School's Theatre Arts Department as their resident piano accompanist.
Charles Marie Courboin (1884–1973) was a Belgian–American organ virtuoso who enjoyed popularity during the 1920s. During this time he was engaged by department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker to oversee the second enlargement of the Wanamaker Organ. He added the huge string and orchestral sections bringing it to 461 ranks and 28,482 pipes. He also served as Director of Music for St. Patrick Cathedral, New York City from 1943 until his retirement in 1968.
Alexander Russell (1880–1953) was an American composer, organist and the first Frick Professor of Music for Princeton University. He is most remembered today as the long time organ impresario for the Wanamaker Department Stores.
The Castro Organ Devotees Association (CODA) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the tradition of live organ music in San Francisco's Castro Theatre. The theater is a popular San Francisco movie palace, built in the 1920s, which gained Historic Landmark status in 1976. The original Robert Morton organ was removed in the 1950s. The present organ, widely regarded as one of the finest theatre organs assembled, was assembled in the late 1970s using components from other organs, including its console, which was originally built in 1925 for the State Theatre in Detroit, Michigan to accompany silent pictures. The current console and organ were built by the Taylor family starting in 1979, and it has been owned and maintained by them since, but in 2014 they moved taking the console and one fourth of the pipework.
Diane Meredith Belcher is an American concert organist, teacher, and church musician. She has given a large number of solo recitals throughout the United States and abroad, is a teacher, and serves as Music Director at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, and Lecturer in Music Theory & Organ at Dartmouth College, both in Hanover, New Hampshire. Her concert career is managed by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.
David Howard Hegarty is an American organist and composer. He has served as organist at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco since 1978.