cheering sellout crowd fills babson, shanklin music hall ...€¦ · vertising, our concert...

Just before this issue of the Pipes went to press, EMCATOS aficionados were treated to a spectacular weekend double header concert by the ragtime team of organist Dave Wickerham and pianist Dick Kroeckel in

our first concert weekend of the 2008-2009 concert season..

Dave, a perennial crowd-pleaser and EMCATOS favorite, was joined by Dick Kroeckel at the piano. Their program of ragtime music has wowed audiences across the country for the past few years, and their performances before a packed Knight Auditorium and a sold-out Shanklin Music Hall kept up this tradition as a cheering audience leapt to its feet with applause. .

Once again our January concert highlights a young organist. This year’s performer, Mark Herman, first dazzled us with his playing skill

and his ability to build a rapid rapport with an audience back in May 2006 at our 50th anniversary party social. At that time Mark was still a senior in high school. Now, just a couple of years older, Mark will be taking a break from his studies at DePaul University in Chicago to play a full length concert at Babson on Sunday January 11th at 2:30 in the afternoon. Mark will be accompanied by vocalist Anthony Snitker in this performance.

The sounds of the legendary Blackpool Tower Ballroom return to the Boston area after a two-year hiatus as the inimitable Phil Kelsall marks a return engagement on Saturday April 18th at Babson and on Sunday April 19 at the Shanklin Music Hall in Groton.

Tickets for any of these events may be purchased online via secure credit card at the EMCATOS website www.emcatos.com, by mail, or by calling Sally Evans at (508)-674-0276.

Cheering Sellout Crowd fills Babson, Shanklin Music Hall for

Dave Wickerham and Dick Kroeckel

E A S T E R N M A S S A C H U S E T T S C H A P T E R O F T H E A M E R I C A N T H E A T E R O R G A N S O C I E T Y

November 2008

Mark Herman and Anthony Snitker

Please extend a warm welcome to the following new EMCATOS members Maureen Connolly Marcia Cutlip Kenneth Duffy Edward Surette Richard Sylvia Daniel Talbot Sandra Watjen

Eastern Pipes November-December 2008

President’s Report “That’s what you get the big money for…” Several of my EMCATOS friends use this statement to quiet me down when I’m ranting over some detail about EMCATOS or ATOS. Fact is, no officer or board member of EMCATOS is paid anything-and we like it that way. EMCATOS is an all-volunteer or-ganization run and supported by dedicated individuals who want to further the cause of the theatre organ.

But, my friends, what is the cause of the theatre organ? Is it the mainte-nance of the instrument itself; the production of concerts for the public; the fra-ternity and fellowship of our monthly socials? The cause of the theatre organ is all of the above plus one very important item…It’s about the music, folks! The question is… How do we keep the music playing? For well over fifty years EMCATOS, with its Pipe Organ Pops pro-grams, has offered the very best of the Great American Songbook (and more) to the citizens of Massachusetts. From the club’s earliest days at the Wurlitzer in Stoneham Town Hall up to our present–time Babson concerts we have always sought to offer the best and most professional presentations. We have, without doubt, succeeded. We have done well at our Babson concerts and have been very successful with concerts at the Shanklin Music Hall thanks to the generos-ity of Sarah and Garrett Shanklin. Not everyone in EMCATOS cares about the technical operations of the theatre pipe organ or the behind the scenes work that goes on before, during and especially after a concert. That’s as it should be. We need audiences for our productions and members to attend our socials. Each and every member of EM-CATOS contributes to the vitality of the organization. We are grateful for your support. But you could do more. Each and every year our cost of presenting concerts rises. Artists are re-questing higher performance fees, transportation costs have skyrocketed and we now must pay a rental fee for the use of Knight Auditorium. These additional costs represent an extra financial burden to the chapter that the price of concert tickets alone cannot offset. I have asked several EMCATOS board members to serve on a fundrais-ing committee. This committee is charged with developing a campaign that will raise the necessary funds for the maintenance of our beloved Wurlitzer and to create an endowment for the instrument to ensure that it is properly maintained in the future. Further, the committee will seek creative ways to promote sponsorship of our concerts by businesses and individuals. Think about the possibilities! A business could sponsor all or part of a concert and receive publicity in our ad-vertising, our concert program, and by word of mouth. An individual could do the same or sponsor the printing of a concert program, the printing of our mail-ers or any part thereof. The opportunities to help are endless. This is a way in

(Continued on page 3)

“It’s about the music, folks…..”

“But you could do more…..”


which any member of EMCATOS or member of our audiences could help perpetuate the quality programming of which we are so proud. Another way you could help is by bringing a new audience member to each concert. If every member did this we would sell out in no time. You will receive a full report from the fundraising committee in a mailing soon. Be sure to join us on Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 2:30 P.M. when we present Mark Herman at the Wurlitzer joined by Anthony Snitker, a fine young vocalist. Mark and Anthony performed at the ATOS Annual Convention last summer and were a smash hit! Sally and I wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and share our hope for a marvelous new year. Remember, it’s about the music.

Bob Evans

(President’s report continued from page 2)

Linda Duncan To Coordinate Member’s Talent Show at March Social Linda has graciously come forward to be the organizer and impresario of this first-time ever event. She will be pressing volunteers into service to show off their key-board talents for the March 1 social at Babson. We’re ac-tively seeking out those of our members who so ably play at our Open console sessions at Babson. This program will differ from Open Console in that the audience will actu-ally be listening and the mikes will be turned on. Start practicing that favorite piece now! Not to worry .. the props in the accompanying photos won’t be used (unless we absolutely have to!). Volunteer today by calling Linda!

2008 Holiday Bash Make your reservations today for the 2008 EMCATOS Holiday Bash on December 14 at the Shanklin Music Hall featuring Brett Valiant at the mighty Shanklin 4/34 console and a buffet dinner catered by Hart’s Turkey Farm. Simply cut out and mail the coupon over-

leaf to Carolyn Wilcox with your payment by December 1


DAN BELLOMY (1951 –2008) We were saddened to hear of the passing of Dan Bellomy shortly after the previous edition of the Pipes went to press. A talented theatre organist, Dan was a long–time member of EMCA-TOS, served on the ATOS national board, and performed over the years for a number of EM-CATOS functions. Stu Hinchcliff, long-time editor of the Eastern Pipes and Dan’s father-in-law , has submitted to us the following piece in loving remembrance of Dan. We are reprinting it in its entirety as submitted:

Farewell, Maestro! During the several years in which I served as editor of the PIPES there came times when I felt I should bring to our readers’ attention that one of our members and friends had passed to their final rest. At too early an age, after suffering through a prolonged but untreatable illness, former EMCATOS member Dan Bel-lomy lost his battle on August 29th , with wife Tina at his side in an area hospice facility. In the classic story about a man called Willie Loman – Death of a Salesman - Willie’s widow senses that his own chil-dren hadn’t fully understood the true worth of their hard working father. In words which have found a permanent place in my own mind, Willie’s wife declares firmly, “Attention must be paid!” I agree. Musicians who are solo performers quite possibly live in a world that is not always clearly understood by most of us, who may never have known the extremes of joy and frustration which come with this chosen way of life. I’ve been close enough to Dan to have observed some of both. It has taken longer than usual for me to have composed this piece, perhaps this loss has come closer to me. After all, Dan had become a member of our family when he married our daughter Tina about sixteen years ago. The memories – so many miles traveled together –so many meals shared – so many wonderful chats – and such a wealth of unbelievable music cherished memories, all over the years. I have been privileged to hear several of our concert performers as they worked through their ‘get acquainted’ sessions with our chapter Wurlitzer. I don’t believe I have ever been quite as ‘blown away’ as I was by some of the fantastic sounds Dan was creating during his first meeting with our beloved old Wurli! Dan’s unique talents for inspired interpretations and for ‘far-out’ improvisation all seemed to find their destiny on Dan’s bench in a match made in heaven. And Lord, could that man ever swing!! I wanted this piece to be praising but honest – loving but not maudlin. I hope it may help the reader to better know the Dan Bellomy who will live on in our family’s memories. Farewell, Maestro!

Stuart Hinchcliff

EMCATOS Holiday Bash—Dec 14, 2008 Reservation Request form Member Name(s) ____________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________ Telephone ______________ Members attending_____ Guests________ Total______ Amount Enclosed (at $25.00 per attendee) $______Make checks payable to EMCATOS INC. Detach and mail to Carolyn Wilcox, 59 Macon Rd, Burlington MA 01803-2311


Chandler Noyes opened our 2008-2009 social season on September 14th with a program of light classical and operatic music at Babson. Noyes, the resident organist at the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, man-aged to transform our instrument into a tonal clone of the Methuen instrument.

For the social on Sunday October 12th Allen Miller was our guest artist at the Shanklin Music Hall. Allen kept the audience enthralled with his masterful playing style accompanied by his gripping account of his long climb back from a stroke he had suffered in early July, following which had lost much of the use of his right hand. His playing belied that mishap as his performance was outstanding

Jack Cook and Friends did not disappoint either at our November social, in a perfectly balanced mix of organ pieces and vocal standards. His presentation brought all the excitement and enthusiasm of his Woonsocket Stadium Theater coffee concerts to the Babson console.

The EMCATOS Holiday Bash will replace the December social.

As has become customary, the January 4th social at Babson will be a mixed bag of video and computer presentations, followed by open console.

The February 1st social has been dubbed “Bring your Grandchildren to EMCATOS Day”. Bob Legon will play the accompaniment to a few selected comedy shorts so that yet another generation can be introduced to the wonders of live unit orchestra accompaniment to silent movies. The popcorn machine will be running.

March 1st will be “Member’s Talent Day.” We’re asking participants to prepare a program of one or two pieces each, and present them as a guest artist would in front of a actively listening audience . This is different from an open console which is usually spontaneous and mostly ignored. Please volunteer—we know the talent is out there.

For our April 5th social, we have invited Jonathan Ortloff, winner of this year’s ATOS young Organist competition, to play at the Shanklin Music Hall.

We are hoping to hold the May social at the Hanover Theater as a half-open house to mark the installation

If you would have a guest artist in mind for a social or wish to volunteer to play at a social, please do not hesitate to call or email me. Dick Handverger

EMCATOS Socials Season Well Underway

A major milestone was reached last week at the Hanover Theater in Worcester as the massive blower weighing several hundred pounds was horsed into the theater sub-basement then bolted together and mounted on its pad. Following electrical and wind-pipe installation, the blower provided wind to the main chamber chests for the very first time

The stalwart Hanover crew is now in the process of doing the “pipe pass” in which one rank at a time is carefully fitted into its chest and very carefully tested with the wind on to rule out leaks and ciphers. Mean-

while back in Don Phipps’ New Bedford workshop, the team of elves is busily working on refinishing and put-ting ormolu on the the console. The cables for the con-sole have been pulled from the orchestra pit to the cham-bers and the cables are being terminated for their mar-riage to the driver boards this week. We expect to have the console in place on the lift in the theater within the next few weeks. Still to be done is the work on the solo chamber which remains mainly untouched and pretty much unreachable by mortal means.

. The work is heavy, hot, hard and dirty but it is FUN and all of the crew is basking in that glow of accom-plishment that results from a big job done right. There is still lots of work to be done at the Hanover and new volunteers are always welcome. If you’re interested in getting in on this effort, contact Don Phipps via phone or email. Your help will be welcomed gratefully.

Len Beyersdorfer and Bruce Hager horse the bars and resonators of the Marimba Harp into position on the second level of the main chamber of the Hanover or-gan to join the Chrysoglott already in its place

Hanover Theatre Blower Makes First Wind

Dick Handverger, Ken Duffy and Bruce Hager pose beside the huge blower in the Hanover theater’s sub-basement.

EMCATOS is a bargain-hunter’s dream Have you checked out the price of a downtown night out recently? Compared to theater district prices, EMCATOS is a real bargain. Suppose you want to see a show at one of the Boston theaters. You are in for a shock. Using the heavily promoted example of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” now showing at the Wang through December, we find a price range of $76 to $419. The cheap seats ($76 is cheap??? —what are you smokin’???) are

“nosebleed seats” at the very rear of the second balcony. Note that EMCA-TOS has NO nosebleed seats and that our member pricing at Babson gives you a minimum of five tickets for the price of one nosebleed seat downtown But that’s not all, folks. The downtown shows will hit you for a handling charge of between five and ten dollars per ticket, plus a transaction fee and a restoration fee. EMCATOS does not participate in any of these shenanigans. Sally NEVER charges any ticket pur-

chaser for the use of her fingers. The small cost of our credit card transaction fee is added to online orders at our cost without markup, and is never treated as a profit center.

Once you’ve bought the tickets, you then have the problem of driving downtown and park-ing your car. Boston has the second highest parking garage prices in the country and an “event fee” of around $20.00 is commonplace in most of the downtown garages. Parking at both our venues is easy and free. You can’t argue with free.

But wait !!! There’s more !! This Ginzu Knife infomercial continues.

Once you’re in the theater, you find that the music you are listening to is canned. Even at these astronomical prices, very few touring shows provide live music for their highly scripted, highly choreographed, sterile performances in which the audience is managed rather than being involved. At EMCATOS, all of our music is live, produced by first-rank live musicians, who keep the audience involved, up close and personal .

There is something about sitting in an audience that generates thirst and works up an appe-tite. At intermission time at the downtown refreshment stand you’ll pay upwards of $5.00 for a miniscule watered-down “juice drink” of dubious pedigree or for a pre-packaged cookie that reeks of high-fructose corn syrup and mono and di-glycerides. Compare that to EMCATOS where for just a buck you get a full can of unadulterated brand-name soda plus a magnificent selection of mouth-watering homemade baked goods, dragged kicking and screaming from a member’s oven that very day.

By this time, you should get my drift. If you’re already a regular EMCATOS concertgoer you already know this. What we need you to do is for you to brag to all your friends about the rare bargain you’ve discovered so you’ll get the credit for being a smart shopper and great bargain hunter when those friends join you at our next event.

Dick Handverger


These are challenging economic times. Costs have been rising everywhere and EMCATOS is no exception. Effective January 1, 2009 , we will be raising our chapter dues to $15.00 per year. This is the first dues in-crease in over ten years. When you consider what you are getting for your money, you are still getting a very good deal.

Chapter Membership Dues to Rise to $15.00


We continue the series begun in the last issue featuring our officers and board members. In this issue we feature a submittal from our secretary and treasurer, Linda and Jim Duncan Linda and Jim met 14 years ago as Jim was playing the piano for a private party and Linda 'checked out his electronic keyboard ' ! Short ly af ter they met , they discovered that they could 'make beautiful music together'. They both

play theatre organ and stride- piano. They soon became know as the DUNCAN DUETS in their social circles. Jim has been a member of EMCATOS for about 20 years and Linda joined when she met Jim. Together they performed at Babson for the first time in November 1999. They performed many years for the Cape Cod Organ Club and have performed at the Shanklin Music Hall in Groton. For the past five years the couple has been invited to per-form for the brown-bag concerts at PPAC - Providence Per-forming Arts Center in Rhode Island. They have also done several church shows. Jim is the organist for First Church Congregational in Marl-

borough, MA, is the accompanist for the 85-member Westborough Community Chorus and has a 25-member senior chorus every week at a local senior center. Linda has twenty-five private music students, sings in the community cho-rus, plays English Handbells and continues her studies of stride-piano. The cou-ple also performs at a local retirement/assisted living/nursing facility in Westbor-ough. This weekly event brings well over 125 people each week. Many of the sen-iors from the community also attend - they love music and love to sing. The Dun-cans direct and produce many musical events for two different churches, senior cen-ters and also play for private functions. Music is our life!

Jim and Linda Duncan

Bring your Grandchildren to EMCATOS on February 1 Help us to pass on the legacy of silent movies accompanied by a Mighty Wurlitzer Theater organ to another generation. This program of short silents, accompanied by our very own Bob Legon should give your children, your grandchildren, and even your great grand-children instant memories of a nearly-forgotten era. Join us at our very first EMCATOS Kiddie Matinee ! Let the popcorn pop and the movies roll!

“Music is our Life”

EASTERN PIPES Is a sporadic publication of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the American Theater organ Society.

President: Bob Evans

Vice President: Len Beyersdorfer

Secretary Linda Duncan

Treasurer Jim Duncan

Board of Directors: Roger Austin , Dave Hawkins, Dick Hill, Don Phipps, Charlie Briggs, Dick Handverger, Lawrie Rhoads, Garrett Shanklin, Dick Linder, Allen Walker, Ed Wayrzynowicz

Pipes Editor Dick Handverger

Submit copy for the Pipes to

[email protected] Support and encourage live theater pipe organ events at all of the venues at which our members play

Babson College --Shanklin Music Hall— Zeiterion Theater—Stoneham Town Hall--PPAC-Stadium Theater—Hanover Theater(coming soon)

Eastern Pipes November-December

ATOS Board Gives EMCATOS Green Light for 2011 National Convention

At publication time of the previous issue of the Pipes, EMCATOS had submitted a bid to ATOS for a national convention in 2012. We have now gotten ATOS’ blessing for a con-vention to be held in 2011. Since the time of our last regional, we have witnessed a change in the number and capacity of our venues that makes a national convention doable. Pre-liminary planning has begun for a convention based in Providence. We’re looking at Providence rather than Boston or Worcester because of lower hotel prices and the avail-ability of good nearby restaurants. By 2011, the Phipps Experience which seated only 125 people, will have completed its metamorphosis into the 2300 seat Hanover Theater. This will make the logistics for a larger convention much easier. As anyone who worked the previous two regional conventions can recall, planning and executing a convention of this size takes a lot of people working very hard. We are going to need the help of all of our members in making this convention a success. When the no-tice of the organizational meeting hits the Pipes or the chapter email list, please step rap-idly up to the plate and ask “What can I do to help?”.

Eastern Pipes c/o Dick Handverger 281 Village Street Medway MA 02053

Visit us on the Web at www.emcatos.org

Phone: 508-533-2302 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Eastern Mass Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society

E A S T E R N M A S S A C H U S E T T S C H A P T E R O F T H E A M E R I C A N T H E A T E R O R G A N

S O C I E T Y

cheering sellout crowd fills babson, shanklin music hall ...€¦ · vertising, our concert...

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