RTOS: Donnie Rankin

Presented by the Rochester Theater Organ Society (RTOS). Doors open approximately 45 minutes prior to show time. General Admission (unassigned) seating. DONNIE RANKIN The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Silent Film) Beneath the Orchestra Pit of the Auditorium Theatre, resides a magnificent Wurlitzer 4/23 (opus 1951) theatre organ. The console rises, and the sound of 1,619 pipes, trumpets, clarinet, saxophone, drums, shimmering strings, or marimbas emanates from the filigreed proscenium arch surrounding the main stage. The Rochester Theater Organ Society (RTOS) was originally formed to rescue this organ from the downtown RKO Palace Theater, just before that 2,916-seat, luxurious 1928 movie house fell to the wrecking ball of urban renewal in the mid-1960s. Theatre organs were traditionally used to provide musical accompaniment to silent movies, and RTOS stages several concert performances of the mighty Wurlitzer each year, performed by many of the world’s great organists.