Well, it’s happened. MoMA purchased all the necxessary hardware – keyboard, stand, organ pedals – for the Miditzer VTO (virtual theatre organ) this week. What this means is that when I am asked to play for a silent film at… Read More »news: MoMA to add theatre organ to its silent film accompaniments
On June 1st I begin a rather busy two months of silent film accompaniment, both on piano and on theatre organ. 16 dates in June and 13 in July, several of which have two (or three) shows on the same… Read More »My summer of silents
Well, last night’s show of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (1923) was a blast. If you’re within driving distance of the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill…go see something there. It’s a beautifully restored 1930 Paramount Publix Theater. It originally… Read More »Safety Last at the Paramount (Peekskill, NY)
Shown here (R) is my Miditzer set-up at the New-York Historical Society from Sunday, May 6 at the Silent Clowns Film Series. I used the organ for the concluding program of the SCFS, a show of Lupino Lane comedy shorts,… Read More »Lupino Lane at the Silent Clowns series
Played for a film history (a/k/a “cinema studies”) class at NYU, where it all started for me. Teacher was Antonia Lant, and I’ve played for her class once a year for the last few years. Hadn’t played at NYU since… Read More »avante garde films at NYU, my alma mater
Photo at the right is the beautiful console of the organ at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, which I had the great fortune to play in accompaniment to DeMille’s 1927 epic King of Kings on Fri March 23.… Read More »DeMille’s “King of Kings”, Keaton, and “Pandora’s Box”
Did a live radio interview on WEBO yesterday morning around 8:15am to promote the Ti-Ahwaga showing of The General on Fri 3/16 (tom’w). The station (1330AM) is a sponsor of the film series, and will be re-running parts of the… Read More »on the radio in Owego
Have just recorded three scores for an upcoming DVD release by Kino. The films, all shorts directed by Edwin S. Porter for the Thomas Edison Co., are to be extras for the main feature, a doc on Porter’s work. So,… Read More »scoring Porter (Edwin S., that is)
In the last week I’ve played three Immigrant shows for school groups at AMMI out in Astoria. Shows went well, and I got a refresher in how to play for this film at 21fps; hadn’t played for it there in… Read More »Warning Shadows at MoMA, plus Immigrant x3
Played for The Beggar Maid (1921, dir. H. Blache) this afternoon at the Met. The film preceded a lecture on Tiffany and the Tiffany estate, and the house was packed with museum-goers (plus a bunch of people I recognized from… Read More »The Beggar Maid, NYC