| The theatre organ is a uniquely American musical invention, necessitated as a means to provide sound accompaniment in the silent era of motion pictures, from 1910 1932. The theatre organ has been described as the “heart and soul” of motion picture houses and movie palaces. Nearly 7,000 theatre organs were performing each day when the motion picture screen finally learned to speak in 1927. Soon after, theatre organs were abandoned, discarded, sold, given to churches and/or languished for years dormant in their theaters.
Today there are approximately 125 theatre organs in public venues nationally. The majority of these are owned or operated by the American Theatre Organ Society's local Chapters, which are Section 501(c)(3) organizations. Wurlitzer, the world’s largest and most prestigious manufacturer of theatre organs, accounts for nearly half of these remaining magnificent instruments.
Originally a 2/8, Opus 562, Style "F" (Wurlitzer's first model of this type) was shipped from the factory on July 29, 1922 and installed by the grand opening of the palatial Kentucky Theatre on October 4, 1922.
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The Wurlitzer Company added a second Vox Humana on December 13, 1923 at the request of Haden Read, Kentucky Theatre organist. In 1926, the Wurlitzer Company enlarged the organ again with five (5) additional ranks and a new three-manual "paneled" console (Job #703). This organ became the "largest theatre organ in the South" according to a Lexington Herald newspaper article (February 7, 1926).
This project returns an original historic theatre organ back to its rightful theater venue. Little remains of the once glorious "Golden Age of the Movie Palace" and, unfortunately, no theatre organs remain in any theatres in the state of Kentucky! This theatre organ project is a special community initiative and a unique preservation project for our state and will be a significant attraction for new visitors to the Kentucky Theater and downtown Lexington.
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