The Riviera Wurlitzer and Music Education

One of the most important aims of the Riviera Theatre & Organ Preservation society, in promoting the Riviera Theatre & Performing Arts Center as a major contributor to community life, is to encourage the education of local young musicians and all students by introducing them to one of the most important instrumental achievements of the past century - the Mighty Wurlitzer.

The 'organ', as an instrument of note, has been with us for a long time, mainly associated with church use and was a favored outlet of expression for early composers like Bach.

Robert Hope Jones, an early British telephone engineer and accomplished organist, had the idea to make an organ that could reproduce all the sounds of an orchestra with a separate moveable console. The timing of his work on designing such instruments coincided with the heyday of silent movies. With the increasing cost of providing orchestras to accompany movies, the local movie house owners were resorting to the use of a single piano and only the larger cinemas could afford small orchestras.

The Wurlitzer Company recognized the need for a solution and recruited the young Mr Jones from England to develop an organ that could satisfy the requirements of the movie industry. The instruments he helped to develop not only replaced orchestras but also were capable of producing a wide range of special sound effects that proved very popular with audiences.

Probably not since the invention of the early harpsichords and clavichords, that developed into the piano we know today, has a single instrument had such an important effect on mass entertainment. Now, with the coming of 'talkies' and the precision of digital sound, the original purpose of these magnificent instruments has diminished. However, there are many who, having heard the theatre organ for the first time, have fallen in love with the magnificent sound that can be produced, making a theatre tremble one moment and then issuing the sweetest sounds the next.

There is so much to learn from this instrument, a modern miracle of man's ingenuity in using wind power to make music. A far cry from comb and paper.

We encourage music educators to help us introduce school students and, especially, music students of all instruments, to the Mighty Wurlitzer. Many lovers of music, who have never heard the instrument live, will be enthralled by the sheer majesty of the sound. Some, the more practical, will want to know how it works. Whatever the inclination there is much to be learned from the Mighty Wurlitzer.

To arrange for a tour of the theatre and introduction to the organ, please contact the theatre box office on 716-692-2413. Alternatively, Email the Executive Director, Frank Cannata, at: fcannata@rivieratheatre.org

Entry to the Monthly Organ Concert Program (see CONCERTS) is free for under 18s on most dates in 2010 except May and September when the Student price is $15. School Music Teachers are invited to apply for special tickets from the box office that can be used as part of a fifty/fifty fundraiser for both schools and the theatre. Priced at $10 each, the proceeds are divided equally between school funds and the theatre organ fund. Students who can persuade both parents to accompany them will raise $10 for their school and $10 to help ensure the future of the Mighty Wurlitzer.