Metrolina Theatre Organ Society

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About Us

Metrolina Theatre Organ Society is a not-for-profit organization chartered in Charlotte in 1989 to encourage the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the American Theatre Organ, to support and sponsor the performance of music on these instruments in the few theatres which still are so equipped, and to encourage the renovation and refurbishment of the remaining Movie Palaces through meetings, concerts, workshops, conventions, and education opportunities for its members and the local community.

MTOS is affiliated with the American Theatre Organ Society, ATOS, which was organized in 1955 for preserving the traditions of the theatre organ and promoting the understanding of the instrument and its music. All members of MTOS are also members of ATOS, the national organization. There is an exciting national convention once a year and MTOS is always represented there!

MTOS is unique among chapters of ATOS in that we do not have access to a theatre organ. There were no theatre organs in the Charlotte area when we began in 1989. A group of us founded MTOS on the strength of our love for theatre organs. Of course, we had a dream of putting a theatre organ back in a venue in downtown Charlotte, but that was a very long way off. The closest theatre organ to us, about 90 miles distant, was the Robert Morton II/6 in Greensboro's Carolina Theatre. It was playing in 1989, but through carelessness of a construction crew, it was damaged by rain, but was repaired and enlarged by the dedicated folks at Piedmont Theatre Organ Society. They have had organists such as Walt Strony, Dave Wickerham, and Jelani Eddington play there. Check the Greensboro Carolina Theatre schedule for events.

So what does an ATOS chapter do in a theatre organ wasteland? You'd be surprised!

• Members talk about what's going on in the theatre organ scene all over the world.
• We represent theatre organs whenever possible to our local and state politicians to keep our agenda alive in government.
• We sponsor and promote silent films with live accompaniment.
• We began the drive to save the Carolina Theatre so that we could then install a theatre organ in it.
• Many of us travel to events sponsored by other chapters.
• Many of us travel to ATOS national and regional conventions. We usually bring more members to a national convention than do some chapters with their own organs.
• We get together for meetings to listen to recordings and share videos of the most recent conventions.
• Some of us perform concerts on local church organs (electronic and pipe) and electronic theatre organs.

Here are some things you may find interesting:

• Did you know?
• View the MTOS Articles of Incorporation (PDF) or our Bylaws (PDF)

Join Us

If you love beautiful melodies, gentle ballads, rousing marches, and music that's just plain fun, you owe it to yourself to join us today! Our current goal is to put a new theatre pipe organ into the soon-to-be restored Carolina Theatre. This will be our first theatre organ and the first theatre organ to be installed in Charlotte in more than 70 years. If you'd like to help, please let us know. We also serve as a source or information and coordination for events from other chapters within a few hours driving distance. We often attend events by the Atlanta and Piedmont chapters of ATOS and will eagerly attend any future events by the reorganized Virginia chapter of ATOS.

Do you live in the Metrolina area (Charlotte/Mecklenburg)?

Yes, I do! I can help by:

• Joining MTOS & ATOS
• Serving as docent at the Carolina Theatre
• Helping with events scheduling, preparation, operation, and cleanup
• Maintenance at the Carolina Theatre (for example, an electrician donated $10,000 of electrical work)
• Talking with local and state politicians about why Charlotte needs a downtown theatre with an organ
• Donating money towards helping us get the Carolina Theatre saved so we'll have a place to put Charlotte's only theatre organ
• Attending and speaking out at local civic meetings (Rotary, Lions, etc.)
• Attending meetings, helping with transportation, providing refreshments, suggesting program ideas

No, I'm from another area! I can help by:

• Joining MTOS & ATOS (as an associate member)
• Donating money towards helping us get the Carolina Theatre saved so we'll have a place to put Charlotte's only theatre organ
• Sending us email about how the theatre organ enthusiasts saved a theatre in your town and how that's meant economic growth or at least stability
• Share ideas that have worked for your group

What's A Theatre Organ?

Theatre organs are pipe organs orginally built from 1915 until about 1930 that were originally designed to accompany silent films in place of an orchestra. One musician, the organist, was able to reproduce the many colors of an orchestra by playing this remarkable instrument. Their fundamental sound is based upon the Tibia Clausa, a large wooden pipe that is used with heavy tremulants. Church organs, on the other hand, have been built for centuries, and their fundamental sound is based upon the Diapason, a large metal pipe, without tremulants. Theatre organs usually contain percussion; church organs almost never do.

	This is a large theatre organ console. Different keyboards play different sounds selected by all those colorful stop tabs that surround the keyboards in a horsehoe arrangement. (click picture to link to website)
John Ledwon's Wurlitzer Hybrid, 4 manuals, 52 ranks
	This is a small theatre organ console. You see the same kinds of things as in the large model, but there are fewer of them. The tonal resources are not as great and the volume is not as loud. There were many more organs of this size built than the larger ones. (click picture to link to website)
Carolina Civic Center, Lumberton, Robert Morton, 2 manuals, 8 ranks
	This is an enormous church pipe organ. It is not only enormous, it is the largest church organ ever built at once. It is the 13th largest organ in the world. It is not a theatre organ: It doesn't look like one and it doesn't sound like one. It does, however, contain 2 ranks of theatre organ pipes. (click picture to link to website)
Calvary Church, Charlotte, Moller, 5 Manuals, 205 Ranks

If you're unclear on what theatre organ music sounds like, click on some of the following links. Be sure to have your computer speakers turned up to get the full effect. Legend: wav files are the best sound but they're large and only stream with certain players; mp3 files are much smaller, quicker loading, and may stream with certain players; Real Audio files are the smallest, they usually always stream and therefore play the quickest but they have the worst sound, but it's not all that bad. Real Player can play these perfectly with a good connection on a 56K modem; a good connection on a 28.8K modem is OK, but you may hear dropouts. If you want to download the mp3 and wav files to play from your local computer, right-click the links and choose download; the better sound is probably worth the wait.

These are THEATRE organs (They're great!)

These are CHURCH organs
(They're also great, but different!)

For information on where to purchase all organ recordings, please email us or call (704) 567-1066 and speak to John Apple.

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