Upcoming Events
Christmas at the Orion with John Atwell, Sunday Dec 1 @ 2pm
Location: Orion Centre, Campsie
Join us for our annual Christmas concert at the Orion Centre, Campsie, with Dr. John Atwell at the console of the 3/17 Wurlitzer Pipe Organ.
Afternoon tea is included in the ticket price.
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Wicked - Gala Preview and Limited Season Screenings at the State Theatre, Sydney
Margaret Hall will be playing selections from Wicked on the State Theatre Wurlitzer, prior to limited season screenings of the highly anticipated film, from 20-22 November.
There is a Gala Premiere on Wednesday November 20th at 7:30pm, and then three screenings per day: 12pm, 4pm and 8pm on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and selling well. Best seats for hearing the Wurlitzer (due to chamber location) are in the front section of the stalls and circle.
Purchase Tickets Here
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The Theatre Organ Society of NSW presents
“Meet the Organ”
11am Tuesday 14 January 2025
A FUN and FREE musical event for kids of all ages.
Come and hear a magnificent pipe organ playing your favourite tunes and have the unique opportunity to play the organ yourself!
West Ryde Anglican Church,
14 Bellevue Ave, West Ryde
No cost and no booking required. Just show up on the day!
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You may be familiar with Pipe Organs, from the fairly modest instrument in a local suburban church to the magnificent and powerful Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ with its massive 64-foot pipes. But you may not be so aware of another kind of Pipe Organ—the Theatre Pipe Organ.
Developed purely for entertainment, rather than for worship or classical music, Theatre Organs were installed in dance halls and movie theatres, and even a few skating rinks!
But instead of building the pipes into a decorative casing in full view as is usually the case with a “Classical” organ, all of the pipes were placed in chambers, out of sight, with ornate plasterwork grilles allowing the sound to fill the auditorium. Only the console would be visible to the patrons, mounted on a side wall, on the side of the stage or very often mounted on a hydraulic hoist so that it rose majestically from its pit into the spotlight for the performance.
This unique instrument could replace an entire orchestra with just one musician! Sets of pipes (called ranks) imitated the various tone families of the orchestra: Strings, Woodwinds, Brass. Percussions are also included: Drums, Cymbals, Wood Block, Triangle, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Cathedral Chimes, Sleigh Bells etc. These are real percussion instruments, played from the console.
At first, the Theatre Organ was used to accompany silent movies, and many “sound effects” were included to enhance the movie experience—all the bells and whistles! With the advent of sound movies, Theatre Pipe Organs fell into disuse but some were saved by private collectors or by Theatre Organ preservation groups such as the Theatre Organ Society of Australia (TOSA), which began in Sydney in 1960.
TOSA acquired the Wurlitzer Organ from the Prince Edward Theatre and installed it into Marrickville Town Hall, Sydney (the first ever of such an arrangement with a Council, since followed by many.) Later, the larger Wurlitzer from the Capitol Theatre was acquired and was eventually rebuilt and installed into the Orion Centre in Campsie in south-western Sydney. A third Theatre Organ, a Christie, has recently been restored and installed in its new home at the West Ryde Anglican Church (St Columb's).
The three operational theatre pipe organs that TOSA NSW owns and operates are some of the only authentic theatre pipe organs currently used for publically accesible shows and concerts in New South Wales. All organ sounds heard by the audience are created using the combination of electrical activation of pneumatically powered valves.
Entirely run by volunteers, TOSA is dedicated to preserving these mighty instruments which are so versatile that almost all genres of music can be played on them.
Join TOSA NSW by clicking here and downloading a membership form.
TOSA NSW is now on Facebook. Click the facebook logo to go to our page . Once at the Facebook page click Like to keep up to date if you wish
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