The wurlitzer organ

The Mighty Woking Wurlitzer

Experience the Golden Age of the American Theatre Organ at Woking Leisure Centre

Woking Leisure Centre is the home of a 'Full Bodied Mighty Wurlitzer' Theatre Organ, built in America in 1937 and originally housed in the Granada Cinema, Welling, Kent.

Since being installed here by enthusiastic volunteers from ATOS (The American Theatre Organ Society) in 1995 extra pipes have been added and the Woking Wurlitzer is now substantially larger than even the more famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom organ.

The Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ
The organ weighs around 15 tons. All of the sound comes directly from pipes and percussions contained in 3 specially built chambers - there is no amplification. Although the pipes and organ console remain original, in order to enlarge the organ's specification, ATOS installed a £20,000 Digital Relay Transmission System to act as an interface between the organ's keys and the pipes. As a bonus, the facility now exists to connect any electronic 'MIDI' instrument to the Wurlitzer

The value of the organ in 1937 was £10,000. As Wurlitzer has not built a pipe organ since 1939 these unique instruments are now much sort after antiques and almost priceless.

Concert Dates

Date

Concert

Time

  
May 17 2008 Ian Gough and Michael Baron    7.30pm
June 28 2008 Michael Wooldridge   7.30pm
July 19 2008 Dennis James USA (silent movie presentation)   7.30pm
September 13 2008  Nicholas Martin    7.30pm
October 12 2008  Youth at the Console  2.30pm  
November 15 2008  David Ivory    7.30pm
December 13 2008  Len Rawle and special guests Christmas Concerts  2.30pm  7.30pm

Len Rawle at the organ
International organist Len Rawle with the Mighty Wurlitzer

For further details:
American Theatre Organ Society.
Tel: 01923 720511

Back to top

Further Information

Use these links to find out...