richard hills presents - rtosonline.org
TRANSCRIPT
March 2017 Volume 52, Number 6
Official Newsletter of The Rochester Theater Organ Society Inc.
Richard Hills Presents
Our March Concert
Richard Hills, FRCO is one of the very few musicians truly to have bridged and mastered the divide between the world of the classical organ and that of the theatre organ. Having com-menced classical organ studies under William Whitehead at Rochester Cathedral, he be-came Organ Scholar at Exeter College Oxford, studying with David Sanger. Further organ scholarships followed at Ports-mouth Cathedral, where he studied with Rosemary Field and at Westminster Abbey. Richard now pursues a free-lance career and is Organist at St Mary’s, Bourne Street, Lon-don. His career in the theatre organ world has been equally prestigious. He has numerous prizes and awards to his credit, both in the UK and in the USA, where he was named ‘Organist of the Year’ in 2010 by the ATOS. Richard has appeared many times on national and interna-tional TV and radio, including solo appearances on programs as diverse as Radio 3 Choral Evensong and Radio 2’s ‘Friday Night is Music Night’, and has several recording credits. His most recent solo
Pictured here are two of your Board members, Chris Van Stean and Greg Spring. Chris is Secretary and Greg is responsible for our library and archives. You will see Chris selling tickets at the door at each concert. Greg is at the library near the front left side Auditorium door. You can bor-row CDs of concerts and many other musical treats. Visit the library before a concert or dur-ing intermission to see another benefit of your membership. recording was made on the
magnificent dual-purpose Compton organ of Southamp-ton’s Guildhall. When not on the bench, Richard serves as Musical Advisor to the Cinema Organ Society and maintains a prac-tical interest in organ building. He has a particular interest in the music and playing of Quentin Maclean, legend-ary organist of the Trocadero Elephant & Castle in the 1930s.
Richard Hills Auditorium Theatre
885 E. Main St Sunday, March 19, 2017
2:30 PM (Doors open 45 min early)
A Salute to our volunteers and
staff
- by Paul Law
RTOS
RTOS Blower 2
Rochester Theater Organ Society (Founded 1964) PO Box 17114
Rochester, NY 14617 Concerts & Info: (585) 234-2295
http://www.rtosonline.org —————————
M�������� C���� Ken Veneron
48 N. State St. Nunda, NY 14517 (585) 468-1052
Membership (from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31) Full: $65.00
Associate: (50+ miles from Roch): $45.00 Student (age 18-24 with ID): $35.00
—————————— B����� E�����
Laura Finger 22 Blue Avocado Ln. Rochester, NY 14623
(585) 298-9786 [email protected]
—————————— O�� C������ Martin Ippolito PO Box 17438
Rochester, NY 14617 (585) 266-6337
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Tim Schramm (585) 339-8546
A Letter from your President
The Eastman Bunch X With Seamus Gethicker
What a February this has been! With the weather on a roller coaster ride we don’t know if it is winter or spring. One thing for sure is that we will continue to have wonderful music from our Wurlitzer: *We have secured an organ tuner. Long time member Jeff Vincent has volunteered to step up to this all-important task. Thank you Jeff.
*We have met our fundraising goal of $15,000. *We have booked excellent performers for the remainder of the 2016-2017 season. We will soon be given available dates from RBTL for the 2017-2018 season and Tim Schramm will begin the process of selecting artists. *Planning for the 2019 ATOS Convention in Rochester is well underway with busing and some venues being contracted - more to come in future issues of the Blower. The Eastman Bunch concert was one of the best ever. Thank you to the six very talented Eastman students, Prof. Porter, and the remarkable Seamus Gethicker. There is definitely a strong future for theater organ music! Be sure to attend the March 19th concert featuring the incredibly talented Richard Hills. You will not be disappointed. Paul A. Law [email protected] 585-755-4144
Visit the RTOS website frequently for the latest news and information. find us at: www.rtosonline.org
Continuing the tradition begun by ESM Alumnus and RTOS Honorary Member Jon Ortloff in 2006, the tenth anniversary edition of The Eastman Bunch brought six aspiring organists, again under the guidance of Prof. Bill Porter to RTOS on February 26th. Two of the group are pursuing their Doctoral degrees with the remaining four seeking Bachelor’s or Master’s credentials. This year’s ‘bunch’ performed the first half of the afternoon’s show with the second half played by Seamus Gethicker of Bath, Maine. Seamus will graduate from High School this spring. RTOS President Paul Law and Past Pres. Russ Shaner again presented commemorative certificates to all of the day’s performers.
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• Visit the RTOS Facebook
page ( Rochester Theatre Organ Society) and ‘Like’ us.
• Post the concert posters on your Facebook page.
Shopping on Amazon?
To direct your support to RTOS, Type: smile.amazon.com in your web browser and enter “Rochester Theater Organ Society” as your charity.
Pictured above, left to right - John Nothaft, Alex Gilson, Alex Jones, Oliver Brett, Jacob Taylor, Prod. Bill Porter. Missing - Ben Henderson. Inset photo - Seamus Gethicker. Photos by Ted McWharf
3 RTOS Blower 3
Just $1
Guardian ($500 or more) M/M Thomas Brewer
Norman Horton Patricia M. Gaglio Dr. Paul A. Law M/M James B. Rose Russell E. Shaner
M/M James D. Clifford
Presidents Circle ($250 - $499) Garth E. & Martha Brokaw Alyce V. Clark Robert E. & Howard C. Green Ruth Unziker Christine Van Stean
Benefactor ($100 - $249) Glen G. & Shirley Roat James & Sharon Rose M/M H. Daniel & Mary Schrerer M/M David R. & Rita P. Searle M/M Larry & Anne Smith Mark A. Smith Robert A. & Ruth M. Sommers Patricia Southcombe Gregory C. Spring John Stevens John L. Straway James & Ann Sutton Memory of Jane E. Veneron Tim J. & Ruth Wagner Lisa Wemett Mr. Roger Wood Harold R. Wright
Patron ($25 - $49) Bruce T. Benson M/M Edgar H. Borkhuis Charles E. Briggs Jim & Marian Burke Robert A. Carges Jr. Miriam M. Carney Carl L. Eligh Gerald J. & Joyce S. Hussong Jack l, & Virginia F. Kellogg Ruth Langkamp Mem. Richard Langkamp Jim & Joy Lethbridge Eduard Lynd John Miller Edward & Estelle O’Connell Darrell Peckham M/M Roy H. Renfer Dorothy A. Schulz Dorothy Y. Schulz Carolyn S. Selbig Donna Silverman M/M Kermit C. Slye Elizabeth W. Weber-Worden Morene Wright
Friend ($10 - $24) Bill & Sheila Draves William S. Galloway, Jr. George Specht
Sponsor ($50 - $99) Brad Bovenzi M/M Dale S. & Linda S. Butts Peter M. Depew Sue A. Draves Lawrence W. Feasel Richard & Kay Frenz Hans H. Gross Jr. E.M. Haag James F. Hayslip Roger & Bonnie Howlett Donald W. Jermyn Catherine A. Johnson John & Phyllis Krest Barbara G. Mestler Barbara A. & DuWayne F. Paulick Barry F. & Martha Y. Quinn Dale N. & Deidre A. Rathmel (Mem. Donation) Ms. Joan M Schumaker Mark F. Shork Robert & Ruth Sommers (Employer Match) Joseph J. Steinhoffer Rolland R. Thompson James & Roberta Thornbury Louis J. Volino Alan J. & Diane C. Whitcomb Philip H. Williams
Benefactor ($100 - $249) M/M John H. Auer Robert W. & Georgianna Becker R. M. Bomboy Mem. Of Lorraine Stetts Tom & Jan Brewer Gary W. & Lana J. Brumbaugh Bruce & Marilyn Burkey Frances L. Burns Barbara Christoff Ms. Maryann Cocozelli Margaret D. Compton George A. & Virginia D. Cooper M/M Mendal & Bertie Dick John Dunham Joanna S. Errico Faith Street Film Partners LLC Clara S. Firth M/M William S. Galloway, Jr. William Gravett Christopher L. Haag Mr. Gary D. Haines Robert H. Hunter Edgar L. & Kristen Jorolemon Ruth Y. Langkamp Mr. Ted McWharf, Jr. Mr. Ronald C. Moffatt Richard Neidich Phillip R. & Christine A. Pucher Loretta Ramstad Emily Reddy Harold J. Redmond M/M Richard L. Reeves
2016-17 Fund Raising Total surpasses goal
A heartfelt thank-you to all of our 2016-17 fund drive donors Last fall a campaign to raise funds to offset our rising annual deficit was launched, this year with the goal set at
$15,000.00. RTOS Treasurer Ken Veneron has reported that the total is $15,298.02 as of Feb.28th. We sincerely thank everyone for their generosity and commitment to the stability and future of RTOS.
Have you noticed the donation boxes in the lobby at recent RTOS concerts?
We hope you will find this an easy and painless way to help RTOS keep the music playing. If each concert attendee drops a $1 bill into a box at each concert it will cover, for example, the yearly cost of printing the Blower and Concert Programs.
A total of $361.00 was collected at the February concert. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed.
Rochester Theater Organ Society P.O. Box 17114 Rochester, NY 14617-0114
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS
Riviera Theatre & Organ Preservation Society (RTOPS) Clark Wilson + silent film Wednesday, April 5th, 7:30 PM—$10.00
(3/15 Wurlitzer) 67 Webster St, N Tonawanda, NY Box Office: (716) 692-2413. Info: http://www.rivieratheatre.org/
Empire State Theatre & Musical Instrument Museum (ESTMIM) (3/11 Wurlitzer) 581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse (315) 687-3580
Info: http://www.empiretheatre.org/index.htm
Kingston Theatre Organ Society (KTOS) Clark Wilson/The Freshman-silent Fri., April 7th, 7:30 PM ($25 Cn, $20)
Mark Herman Fri., May. 5th, 7:30 PM ($25 Cn, $20 Cn Sr.) Kingston Korean Church 89 Kirkpatrick St., Kingston, ON, CA
Info: (3/28 Kimball) Info/ticketing: http://ktos.ca/
Toronto Theatre Organ Society (TTOS) Clark Wilson/Beyond the Rocks-silent Mon, April 10th, 8:00 PM ($25 Cn) Kimbourne Park United Church, 200 Wolverleigh Blvd, Toronto ON, CA.
Tickets: (416) 492-6262 email: [email protected] Info/ticketing: http://theatreorgans.com/toronto/
Binghamton Theatre Organ Society (BTOS) Jim Ford / Peter Pan (1924-silent) Sun., March 12, 2:00 PM - $20
David Gray/Frank Gabriel Campos (trumpet) Sat., April 22, 7:30 PM - $20 236 Washington St, Binghamton, NY. Box Office (716) 692-2413.
Info/ticketing: http://www.binghamtontos.org/
RTOS EVENTS Auditorium Theatre, 885 E. Main St.
All artists and dates subject to change Richard Hills Mar 19 2:30PM Scott Foppiano May 28 2:30PM Mark Herman Jun 18 2:30PM
Note: Artists and dates are subject to change
Check the RTOS website often for latest infor-mation on 2017 dates and artists.
Rochester Museum & Science Center Eisenhart Auditorium, East Ave. & Goodman St.
Open Console Sundays from 11:00 AM to 4 PM
March 26, April 23, May 21
“Open Console” is when members are given a time slot to play one of the Society’s theater pipe organs. Come to play, or enjoy the music.
Paul Law, President Ted McWharf, Vice-President Christine Van Stean, Secretary Ken Veneron, Treasurer Bob Bower, Director David Higgs, Director John Lukes, Director Rick McCutchan, Director Tim Schramm, Director, Programs Greg Spring, Director Russ Shaner, Past-President
RTOS and ATOS By Russ Shaner
Following the announcement that RTOS is hosting the ATOS annual convention in 2019, several members have asked me what ATOS is and what is our relationship to them.
We all belong to RTOS; an independent, member-based ‘society’ that was founded in 1964 and is focused on preserving our Wurlitzer theatre pipe organs and producing public concerts and other activities, primarily for our members. At one time RTOS was the largest stand-alone theatre organ oriented group in existence. Today, even though our numbers are diminished, we remain
one of the most successful among the still active independent clubs.
The American Theatre Organ Society, (ATOS), was founded in 1955 in California and quickly developed into an ‘umbrella’ organization of more than 70 ‘chapters’ located throughout the USA and beyond. In addition to providing various services through its chapters ATOS also publishes a bi-monthly journal that is sent to all members. This high-quality publication is filled with information relating to all aspects of theatre organ; its instruments, artists, history, concert listings, technical information and much more. Copies of the Theatre Organ Journal are
available for RTOS members to borrow in the RTOS Library.
Each year, ATOS partners with one of its chapters to produce an annual convention in the chosen chapter’s home territory or city. Sadly, there are no ATOS chapters in Western New York. Following extensive negotiations, ATOS and RTOS have partnered to have the 2019 conclave headquartered in Rochester and run by RTOS.
While some RTOS members already belong to ATOS, most do not. Membership is open to anyone. If you would like to know more about ATOS and perhaps become a member, check out their website at:
WWW.ATOS.ORG