The Wichita Wurlitzer turns 100 years old this year. I’ve felt a connection to it since its arrival here in 1968, during my senior year of high school. I already played piano, clarinet and saxophone, and I aspired to play the Wurlitzer, which could mimic the sound of an entire orchestra.
That year, an arsonist completely destroyed the organ’s keyboard console, setting fire to it in Century II while that building was still under construction. But the Wurlitzer’s pipes and other parts escaped damage, and a new console for it was built by a company in Seattle.
In 1972, as a student at Wichita State University, I was part of a crew that spent months installing the Wurlitzer. I also got to play it as part of the process of breaking it in and fine-tuning it in preparation for its debut that year.
Talk about your moving parts: The 1,700-pound console features four keyboards of 61 keys each, 366 stops (the devices that shape the instrument’s sound) and 32 pedals, all adding up to unparalleled versatility.
By this time, I’d already decided a career in engineering would support my musical habit better than the other way around. But I joined the nonprofit Wichita Wurlitzer, Inc., board as soon as I turned 21 and have served on it ever since. With the August death of Mike Coup, who co-founded the local Wurlitzer group, I am its longest-serving member.
What makes the Wurlitzer special to me is the quality of the instrument and the people who’ve played it. The organ was built by the Wurlitzer Co. of North Tonawanda, N.Y., and delivered to the New York Paramount Theatre in Times Square in 1926. Jesse Crawford, one of the premier keyboard artists of the 1920s, chose the instrument voices for the different sections of the instruments. A technician named Danny Papp adjusted the organ to meet Crawford’s requirements and continued maintaining it until 1964, when the Paramount’s owners decided to turn the theater into an office building. I doubt if another organ ever received that level of attention. After the organ’s move and Papp’s death, his wife sent the tools he had used to Wichita.
The list of great musicians who’ve played the Wichita Wurlitzer is long. Rex Koury, most famous for composing the “Gunsmoke” theme, was the organist at its premiere on Dec. 9, 1972. Gaylord Carter, a composer of film scores who’d live here as a youth performed on it several times. The flamboyant Virgil Fox recorded an album on it for RCA.
I’ve played it for several public shows, and I’ve played it for my own enjoyment.
Please help us celebrate the Wichita Wurlitzer’s 100th birthday at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 at Century II Exhibition Hall, with a concert by Brett Valliant. Tickets are available at SelectASeat.com/Wurlitzer.
For more history of the Wichita Wurlitzer, visit the Wichita Wurlitzer facebook page.
