American Theatre Organ Society
Valley of the Sun Chapter
Phoenix , Arizona
Other Theatre Pipe Organs in the Phoenix
- Phoenix College WurliTzer
The WurliTzer, Hope Jones Unit Orchestra,
Opus 408 was shipped from the Rudolph WurliTzer factory in North Tonawanda, New York on April 16th, 1921.
It was destined to the new Rialto Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. When the theatre was demolished in mid-50's,
Harry Nace, the theatre's owner, realized the value of the WurliTzer in the Rialto and had it removed and
stored on the stage of his Downtown Glendale Theatre.
Over the years the organ suffered from some water damage after serveral fires in the Glendale Theatre. Al Davis, composer and teacher at the Phoenix College Music Department, heard of the existence of the WurliTzer. Al had always loved the theatre organ, so he went to work to see if it was possible to have the organ donated to Phoenix College. He knew the potential of the WurliTzer and set out to make it happen. After hours and hours of meetings he was finally able to get the donation from the Nace Organization and approval to install the organ in the school Auditorium.
Although the installation of the organ in the auditorium was begun in the '60's, it wasn't until 1975 that the Valley Of The Sun chapter became involved in the organ's restoration, replacing wind lines, wiring, and releathering. When Al Davis, then the chairman of the Music Department retired, the Music Department lost interest in the project and it was put on hold due to the inability to raise adequate funding to complete the restoration.
In 2004 Phoenix College faculty member Ellen Brown contacted the Valley Of The Sun Chapter with the hopes of returning the organ to playing condition. An agreement was negotiated with the Maricopa Community College District to restore and the use the WurliTzer. After nearly 30 years, the quest to make additions and restore the organ to concert condition has been realized.
- The Adrian Phillips
Residence: Midmer-Losh 5/105
Originally installed in the
in the Phoenix residence Music Room of Adrian
Phillips, Jr.
Photo courtesy Al Young
The building of the music room started in
October 2000 and was completed in July of 2001. The restoration project
started in January of 2002 and continued through the end of 2006.
Currently, the organ is about 85% complete..
We are currently working on the final additions and expect the project to
be fully complete by 3rd quarter of 2008.
There are currently 105 ranks playing with a pipe total
of approximately 6400 pipes.
Wind pressures in the organ range from 3 1/2", 5", 6"
7 1/2", 10", 12", 15", 20" and 25". The
organ is divided into 7 chambers. The Orchestral, Floating and Choir chambers on the west side of the
room and the Upper Great, Lower Great/Pedal, String and Solo chambers on the
east side. Exposed on the upper loft, 8' pedal tibia, vibra-harp,
metal bar harp, marimba, chimes and small percussions.
The organ wind system is provided by the two original Kinetic
blowers, 15HP and 7 1/2 HP along with an additional 15HP Spencer blower.
The music room was built to be soundproof so that
organ music cannot be heard outside. The music room is climate controlled
so that we maintain a constant temperature of 72 degrees throughout the
facility. This is accomplished by 22 tons of air
conditioning equipment. Humidification systems are also in place to maintain
the correct amount of needed humidity throughout the year. The music room
building is 5500 square feet in size and has a 400amp 3 phase electric service
to it.
The organ is controlled by the Rickman Uniflex System
and was wired by Mr. Al Young who made an earlier post about this subject.
The organ was totally restored from the
ground-up.
The organ is of symphonic design but also includes a theatre organ section.
Mr. Lyn Larsen was hired as the project director
and tonal consultant for this project. Under his direction, we carefully
choose the re-specification of this organ from the original pipe work and
numerous other builders. Unfortunately, when the organ was
acquired in 1974 from the high school, some of the pipe work had been
stolen or damaged beyond repair. In preparing for the installation of
this project, which took about 26 years, we were able to acquire choice pipe
work from other builders. The original pipe work was by Midmer-Losh.
Additional pipe work was added from the following builders: Aeolian,
Cassavant, E.M. Skinner, Estey, Barton, Robert Morton, Kimball, Gottfried,
Trivo, and Wurlitzer. The end result from this
reborn organ is stunning. It is one of the very few
organs in the
Recent concerts on the instrument over the last 3 years (2005, 2006 & 2007)
included artists, Mr. Lyn Larsen, Mr.
If anyone has any additional questions or would like to see and hear the
instrument,
located in
Co-Owner
and Curator
First
Christian Church Fellowship Hall - 2/11 Wurlitzer:
Owned by the church and maintained as a chapter organ for many years is a Wurlitzer 2/11
theatre organ. Located in the north central area of
- The William P. Brown Residence Organ, 5/34
Wurlitzer -
Originally installed in the
Chicago Paradise Theatre as a 5/21 Wurlitzer, this magnificent home
installation now boasts 34 ranks. It came to
Click here to view a picture of, and the specs for Bill Brown's Organ
Organ Stop Pizza Restaurant's 4/67+ Wurlitzer Console.
The original Wurlitzer was built for the Denver Theatre and installed in 1927. In
the theatre, it was a style 260, configured as a 3/15. Organ Stop purchased the
instrument in the early 1970s, rebuilt, enlarged and installed it in the
original
Click Here to
visit The Organ Stop Pizza's Home Page: www.organstoppizza.com
Click
to visit
Click
to visit organist
Click
to visit R. Jelani Eddington, 2001 Organist of the Year http://www.rjeproductions.com/
Click
to visit Walt Strony’s Web Site: http://www.waltstrony.com/
Click
to visit organist Rob Richards: http://www.robrichards.com
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