ATOS News

News about ATOS and the world of Theatre Organ internationally.


Tuesday, May 13th 2014

One of radio's great weekly programs, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION featuring Garrison Keillor, comes to the Atlanta Fox this coming Saturday, May 17 for its international, live broadcast.

Ken Double, the President and CE of ATOS, will be at the console of the great Moller organ, the specific role Mighty Mo will play in the live broadcast is still to be determined. Keillor has featured theatre organ in many of his "road" broadcasts from great theatres with instruments available.

Check local listings for the time and the NPR station in your area carrying A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.

Friday, March 28th 2014

Jelani Eddington was featured on a post on Gizmodo's Sploid. You can see the feature and comments here.

Thursday, February 27th 2014

During the recent mid-year meeting of the ATOS Board of Directors in Atlanta, one major topic of conversation focused on the issue of the Atlanta Convention CD release.

Without hesitation, the board determined the recordings must be re-mastered, issues corrected, and the new CDs distributed to those who have purchased the recordings.

“There were simply too many errors involved,” said board member and artist Jelani Eddington. “ATOS should not be presenting this product as a representation of the great performances of the Atlanta convention.” The board unanimously agreed.

Monday, February 3rd 2014

Doris Edwards Stovall (1934-2014)

As a General Manager of a major theatre, she might have been the best friend ATOS and a great theatre organ ever had.

Doris Edwards Stovall, former general manager of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne, IN, passed away in Snellville, GA on February 1, 2014. She was 79.

A Georgia native, she never lost that famous Southern charm. She was graduated from Toccoa High School in 1951, and the Harrison Draughon School of Commerce in 1953.

Thursday, January 23rd 2014

Lakeside High School of the Ashtabula Area City School District is located in Ashtabula, Ohio and opened
in 2006. The campus consists of High School, Junior High School, Performing Arts Center and an Athletic
complex. With enrollment of 1100 students, Lakeside High is the largest high school in Ashtabula
County. With a three member administrative team and a dedicated staff of professional educators, the

Wednesday, January 22nd 2014

(from Garden State Theatre Organ Society page at http://www.gstos.org/Jeff_Barker.htm)

We are sad to report that local theatre organist Jeff Barker passed away suddenly on December 31, 2013.

Tuesday, January 7th 2014

Ken Double’s Blog
January 7, 2014

Hello New Year – Good-bye Pounds!!

So have you written any checks yet, and put “2013” on the date line?
And have you dared to venture on to the scale so soon after the holidays?
And for the 187 million of us humans stung by the “Arctic Vortex,” have you ventured outside much? GADS!!

Saturday, December 7th 2013

Ice cold and snow, but hot music in a hot location. That's one way to describe my latest wanderings, this time back to Indiana. Dick and Linda Wilcox, the owners of Uniflex 3000 relay systems, moved to delightful Union City, IN, so named because the state line dividing Indiana and Ohio runs right through the heart of town. (Not unlike another theatre organ friendly town, Bristol, TN).

Wednesday, November 27th 2013

Despite his quiet and genteel nature coupled with the fact that he was a relative “late-comer” to the world of the theatre organ, Lafayette, IN native Robert F. (Bob) Mertz, who passed away November 24, 2013, had a major impact in the theatre organ world in a short period of time. He was 89 years old.

Monday, November 4th 2013

We dubbed it A HALLOWEEN HANGOVER

This time, the travels took me to Lafayette, IN, a town I called home on two different occasions in my professional life, and a place where I jumped in with both feet into the world of theatre organ. I call it “my musical home.”

As I turn 61 this week, it is hard to imagine I moved to Lafayette in 1976 for my first job in TV, and in 1979 began working toward installing a theatre organ at the old Mars Theatre, now Long Center. Gads, does time indeed fly by. We premiered the organ in 1982.