The first phase of the project to digitize more than 60 years of the American Theatre Organ Journal begins with the Oklahoma University's Thousands Strong crowd-funding campaign: Help OU Students Preserve the History of American Organs! This campaign will fund the first phase of our project to digitize the American Theatre Organ Journal - a more than 60-year-old publication, filled with...more...
Latest ATOS News
News about ATOS and the world of Theatre Organ internationally.
Sunday, May 21st 2017
This year's Young Theatre Organist Competion had six (6) applications. Three (3) made it! Our three YTOC finalists, who will be performing at the 2017 Tampa Convention at the YTOC competition are… (in alphabetical order…) Ryan Hardy Alex Jones Nicholas Renkosik This year the competition was tough! We are very proud of this group of young organists and can’t wait to hear them at the 2017...more...
Saturday, March 25th 2017
By now you may have been wondering about a ballot in order for members to make their selection of three new Directors for the ATOS Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee Chairman Bob Evans received only three valid candidates for this year’s election, the same number of open three year terms. The ATOS By-Laws allow for the Board of Directors to suspend the mailing of the election ballots...more...
Friday, March 17th 2017
Presented by the "FRIENDS OF THE ORGAN OF CINEMA COLLEGE CLAPARÈDE," created in November 2012 in order to bring attention on an exceptional instrument installed in the Aula (concert hall) of Claparède College, a festival runs March 31 - April 8. The association was created at the instigation of Mr. Nicolas Hafner and Vincent Thévenaz, organists and Madeleine Rousset Grenon, Director of Claparède...more...
Saturday, February 18th 2017
Former ATOS Board Member, longtime ATOS member and supporter, and pipe organ owner John DeMajo recently wrote a post to the Theatre Organ-L chatroom. It posed the serious issue of the growing number of instruments needing homes, and what ATOS is doing about this problem.more...
Saturday, January 28th 2017
Dear Friends in ATOS: By now I know many of you have received the news that I have tendered my letter or resignation as President/CE of ATOS to Chairman Richard Neidich. The effective date is March 31, 2017. I know you know because I have received dozens and dozens upon dozens of phone calls, text messages and emails on the topic. I will answer you all eventually, but there are two reasons for...more...
Friday, November 25th 2016
Boy, is our face red! In the November/December issue of the Journal, we ran a review of a CD from John Clark McCall, entitled Florida Fanfare – Your Packard Hit Parade 5th Edition. Reviewer Doug Grant referred to it as a two-CD compilation with a price of $25.00. Wrong on two counts. First, it isn’t a two-CD set. There is a second CD entitled Florida Fanfare, which is a separate recording. Doug...more...
Thursday, September 1st 2016
David is well-known to theatre organ audiences throughout the world and has served as resident organist at the Clemens Center in Elmira, NY since its opening. Hearing theatre organ music even before he was born, he was fortunate to grow up in a home packed with a modest theatre organ and all sorts of automatic musical instruments. Like so many child prodigies, Dave began taking piano lessons at...more...
Monday, August 15th 2016
Convention 2016 Blog Read about each day through the eyes of some of our younger visitors - the George Wright Memorial Fellowship winners. Read Moremore...
Thursday, August 4th 2016
Helena Simonton, the widow of the late Richard Simonton (d. 1979), passed away peacefully July 31 in California after a brief decline in health. October 31 would have been her 99th birthday. She and her husband, who was one of the founders of ATOS in the early 1950's, created an extraordinary home that overlooked the private Toluca Lake enclave in North Hollywood, CA. It was in this home that a...more...