Performances
Concerts - featuring outstanding theatre organ performers!!!
Silent films - the way they were meant to be heard!!
Presenting silent feature film classics the way they were originally presented in the movie palaces of yesteryear, their musical scores played on the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ . We relive this history in the palatial surroundings of Casa Loma's Great Hall with live accompaniment by masters of this musical art.
Photographs of past events, the organ and the TTOS
Additional links below - including artist names and silent film titles - in black.
Monday October 1 2012
Ken Double
A few years ago, after a 32-year career in broadcasting, Ken was asked to put his gift of the gab to work with his marketing skills as CEO of the American Theatre Organ Society. As he guides the Society towards a promising future, he still maintains an exhausting worldwide concert schedule. We welcome him back for his fourth “tour” of the informal Lake Ontario theatre organ circuit. Ken's brilliant CD of the TTOS Wurlitzer (a performance he donated to our future) is still available, too.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
A few years ago, after a 32-year career in broadcasting, Ken was asked to put his gift of the gab to work with his marketing skills as CEO of the American Theatre Organ Society. As he guides the Society towards a promising future, he still maintains an exhausting worldwide concert schedule. We welcome him back for his fourth “tour” of the informal Lake Ontario theatre organ circuit. Ken's brilliant CD of the TTOS Wurlitzer (a performance he donated to our future) is still available, too.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Monday November 5 2012
Steven Ball
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Gary Cooper (in his first credited film role) and Ronald Colman vie for the affections of Vilma Bánky in this 1926 tale of progress and prosperity in the American Southwest desert. Our accompanist tonight is Steven Ball, a silent film scholar with a doctorate in organ performance. An accomplished carilloneur and Fulbright Scholar in campanology, he was the first to accompany a silent film entirely on a carillon! We welcome him tonight for his début appearance at Casa Loma.
Film notes courtesy of our partner in the presentation of this film - the Toronto Silent Film Festival.
Screen time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Gary Cooper (in his first credited film role) and Ronald Colman vie for the affections of Vilma Bánky in this 1926 tale of progress and prosperity in the American Southwest desert. Our accompanist tonight is Steven Ball, a silent film scholar with a doctorate in organ performance. An accomplished carilloneur and Fulbright Scholar in campanology, he was the first to accompany a silent film entirely on a carillon! We welcome him tonight for his début appearance at Casa Loma.
Film notes courtesy of our partner in the presentation of this film - the Toronto Silent Film Festival.
Screen time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Monday December 3 2012
Dave Wickerham
Dave's bright holiday concerts are as much a Casa Loma tradition as the festive tree in the bay window of the Great Hall. His refreshing interpretations of those wonderful holiday tunes we all know and love are the delightful result of his classical organ training and his love for the theatre organ. He is organist-in-residence at the Crystal Theatre in Crystal Falls, Michigan, and continues to play to sold out audiences with a concert schedule that takes him as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Dave's bright holiday concerts are as much a Casa Loma tradition as the festive tree in the bay window of the Great Hall. His refreshing interpretations of those wonderful holiday tunes we all know and love are the delightful result of his classical organ training and his love for the theatre organ. He is organist-in-residence at the Crystal Theatre in Crystal Falls, Michigan, and continues to play to sold out audiences with a concert schedule that takes him as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Monday March 4 2013
Pierre Fracalanza
Named this past August as the newest member of the Steinway Artist Roster, Pierre has spent his entire professional life playing one form of keyboard or another. His years as a popular club and restaurant entertainer on both piano and organ evolved into a stint in the retail music business and then to his present career as a full-time church musician. Along the way, he has been a beta tester for a series of virtual theatre organs and a prolific recording artist. We welcome him to his first concert on the TTOS Wurlitzer.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!
Named this past August as the newest member of the Steinway Artist Roster, Pierre has spent his entire professional life playing one form of keyboard or another. His years as a popular club and restaurant entertainer on both piano and organ evolved into a stint in the retail music business and then to his present career as a full-time church musician. Along the way, he has been a beta tester for a series of virtual theatre organs and a prolific recording artist. We welcome him to his first concert on the TTOS Wurlitzer.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!
Monday April 8 2013
Clark Wilson
My Best Girl (1927)
Mary Pickford and future husband Charles “Buddy” Rogers (fresh from the Academy Award winning Wings ) teamed up in 1927 for what has become a silent romantic comedy classic. Once again our old friend Clark Wilson, whom Leonard Maltin recently called “a master silent film accompanist” reviewing a live performance of Wings, commands the console to provide just the right musical background for this heart-warming film.
Film notes courtesy of our partner in the presentation of this film - the Toronto Silent Film Festival.
Screen time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!
Mary Pickford and future husband Charles “Buddy” Rogers (fresh from the Academy Award winning Wings ) teamed up in 1927 for what has become a silent romantic comedy classic. Once again our old friend Clark Wilson, whom Leonard Maltin recently called “a master silent film accompanist” reviewing a live performance of Wings, commands the console to provide just the right musical background for this heart-warming film.
Film notes courtesy of our partner in the presentation of this film - the Toronto Silent Film Festival.
Screen time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!
Monday May 6 2013
Mark Herman
This past summer, Mark became the youngest person ever to be named Organist of the Year by the ATOS. His concert career takes him regularly to theatre organ venues across the U.S., Australia and New Zealand performing an eclectic repertoire that often includes some of his own compositions. A professional in theatre arts management by day, Mark also manages to build websites and restore his 1939 Art Moderne home in his spare time.
Tonight's concert is presented in conjunction with the ORGANIX pipe organ festival.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!
This past summer, Mark became the youngest person ever to be named Organist of the Year by the ATOS. His concert career takes him regularly to theatre organ venues across the U.S., Australia and New Zealand performing an eclectic repertoire that often includes some of his own compositions. A professional in theatre arts management by day, Mark also manages to build websites and restore his 1939 Art Moderne home in his spare time.
Tonight's concert is presented in conjunction with the ORGANIX pipe organ festival.
Concert time is 8 pm. Doors and the Box Office open at 7:15 pm.
Purchase Advance Tickets Now!