Celebrate the 20th Birthday of the McKissick Mighty Wurlitzer on Sunday, November 9 at 2 PM as Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts is honored to bring Theatre Organ Legend Jonas Nordwall to perform the anniversary concert of its first Wurlitzer concert in 2006. This internationally renowned virtuoso organist who has been hailed as “a grand master of the organ” will bring his venerated artistry in both classical and modern/popular music to inspire, uplift and bedazzle ARCA’s Wurlitzer loving audience.
The recipient of rave reviews worldwide, for over a half century Jonas Nordwall has presented concerts and workshops in churches and performing arts centers in Japan, Europe, China and has made several tours of Australia. The only American organist to play a solo concert at the famed Sydney Town Hall for an audience over 2,000, his concert also was broadcast throughout the South Pacific by the Australian Broadcasting Company. In 1999, he was both an adjudicator and recitalist for the Swiss International Organ Competition in Geneva, Switzerland.
With over 25 highly acclaimed recordings on many labels, his performances are frequently heard on the internationally syndicated radio show, “Pipedreams”. His national television broadcasts include NBC’s “Today Show” and the ABC’s “Good Morning Australia”
Nordwall is among the most respected theatre organists nationally. His prodigious accomplishments began at a very very early age. At the age of 16, Nordwall performed for King Gustav Adolf during a tour of Sweden. In college when he had the rare opportunity to be the organist at the Paramount and Oriental Theaters in Portland. For many years he was the Senior Staff Organist for the legendary Organ Grinder Corporation, with large Wurlitzer pipe organs in lavish restaurants in Portland and Denver.
As the organist for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra during the tenure of Maestro James DePriest, Nordwall was a featured soloist for several concerts and has recorded with the orchestra on the Delos label. In 1987 the American Theatre Organ Society named him Organist of the Year and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2022. He directs the ATOS Summer Youth Adventure, the ATOS version of the AGO Pipe Organ Encounter young organist program.
Nordwall has been a professional church musician since high school. He has served as the organist for Portland’s First United Methodist Church since 1971 and is presently the Artistic Director of Music. There he oversees one of the finest music ministries in the United States. He has played for many international church gatherings, an accompanist for the American Choral Directors Association conventions, and performed for several regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists.
in addition to his musical performances, Nordwall has been a major influence in the later 20th century design and manufacturing of both pipe and electronic organs. He introduced MIDI implementation to the organ world in 1987 at the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show in Chicago. He was associated with the Rodgers Organ Company for over 30 years and presently is an artist for the Allen organ Company.
This will be an unforgettable afternoon of pinnacle theatre organ artistry with Jonas Nordwall. Join us to experience this extraordinary artist at the newly renovated McKissick Mighty Wurtlizer as we celebrate its 20th Birthday – including a champagne toast and birthday cake at the reception from 4 to 6 PM in the Red Brick Gallery!
Tickets are Adults $25, Members $20, Students $5.
Call to Reserve at 724-659-3153 and pay by cash or check at the door. Or Buy Online Here. Doors open at 1:30 PM.
Wurlitzer 20th Birthday Celebration
Immediately following the concert, the audience is invited to the Red Brick Gallery for a Wurlitzer Birthday Party – with a Champagne toast and Birthday Cake – from 4 to 6 PM in the Upstairs Gallery with the exhibit of Rafi and Klee – Interwoven: The Art of Growth and Connection featuring the work of Rafi Perez, Art & Klee Angelie, Jewelry.
Award-winning artists Rafi and Klee present Interwoven, a celebration of growth, connection, and the resilience of the human spirit. This collection of art and jewelry explores the beauty of our interconnected lives through nature. Each piece invites you to reflect on the threads that shape your journey, honoring the power of the human spirit.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street in Foxburg. The 2025 season Gallery Hours are Fridays 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Saturdays 11:00 PM –7:00 PM, and Sundays 12:00 noon – 5:00 PM.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Internationally renowned virtuoso organist, Jonas Nordwall, is equally skilled in both classical and modern/popular schools of musical performance. For over a half century he has toured the world presenting concerts and workshops in churches and performing arts centers. He has performed in Japan, Europe, China and has made several tours of Australia. In 1999, he was both an adjudicator and recitalist for the Swiss International Organ Competition in Geneva, Switzerland.
Nordwall has over 25 highly acclaimed recordings on many labels. His recordings are frequently heard on the internationally syndicated radio show, “Pipedreams”. He is the only American organist to play a solo concert at the famed Sydney Town Hall for an audience over 2,000, which was also broadcast throughout the South Pacific by the Australian Broadcasting Company. His national television broadcasts include NBC’s “Today Show” and the ABC’s “Good Morning Australia”.
A Portland, Oregon native, Nordwall’s first musical studies began at age 4 on the accordion. Besides Portland teachers Joe Parente and Eileen Hagen, he tutored with Charles Magnante and Anthony Galla-Rini. At the age of 16, Nordwall performed for King Gustav Adolf during a tour of Sweden.
His studies expanded to piano and organ at age 10 with Portland teacher, Goldie Pos. Nordwall graduated with a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Portland, where his piano, organ and orchestration studies were with Arthur Hitchcock. Hitchcock was the pianist and organist for 20th Century Fox Studios from 1935 to 1950 in addition to teaching at Los Angeles colleges. Additional classical organ studies were with three of the twentieth century’s finest organists – Frederick Geoghegan, the English/Canadian virtuoso, Richard Ellsasser, the American virtuoso and Richard Purvis, the eminent organist-composer of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral.
Nordwall has been a professional church musician since high school. He has served as the organist for Portland’s First United Methodist Church since 1971 and is presently the Artistic Director of Music. There he oversees one of the finest music ministries in the United States. He has played for many international church gatherings, an accompanist for the American Choral Directors Association conventions, and performed for several regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists.
As the organist for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra during the tenure of Maestro James DePriest, Nordwall was a featured soloist for several concerts and has recorded with the orchestra on the Delos label. Other orchestral appearances include the Vancouver, BC Symphony Orchestra, Portland Festival and Chamber Orchestras, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver, Washington, Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Symphony Orchestra, Peter Britt Music Festival, Cascade Music Festival and the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra (Bellingham, WA).
Nordwall is among the most respected theatre organists. During college he had the rare opportunity to be the organist at the Paramount and Oriental Theaters in Portland. For many years he was the Senior Staff Organist for the legendary Organ Grinder Corporation, with large Wurlitzer pipe organs in lavish restaurants in Portland and Denver. In 1987 the American Theatre Organ Society named him Organist of the Year and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2022. He directs the ATOS Summer Youth Adventure, the ATOS version of the AGO Pipe Organ Encounter young organist program.
In addition to his musical performances, Nordwall has been a major influence in the later 20th century design and manufacturing of both pipe and electronic organs. He was associated with the Rodgers Organ Company for over 30 years and presently is an artist for the Allen organ Company. He introduced MIDI implementation to the organ world in 1987 at the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show in Chicago.
His performances and recordings have rave reviews. Recent reviews stated “Nordwall is a grand master of the organ” and “ . . if more organ concerts were as carefully programmed and excellently performed, the organ would again be at the fore-front of the musical public.”
The McKissick Mighty Wurlitzer
During the hey-day of silent films between the mid teens and late 1920’s, the variety of entertainment venues across this country centered around vaudeville, silent movies, community sing-a-longs, and other live stage productions in movie palaces in every town, large or small. Thousands of movie houses depended on live musical accompaniment for their silent movies, and while some smaller houses merely had pianos, the vast majority had theatre pipe organs. While these wonderful instruments were not inexpensive, even back then, it was far more affordable to have a “Mighty Wurlitzer” with a few house organists on staff than to pay for a full orchestra or even modest band to perform in the orchestra pit every day.
These organs became wildly popular and several different manufacturers jumped on the band-wagon to join the Wurlitzer company in order to have an organ in every movie house in the land. These organs are also known as “Unit Orchestras” as they can emulate many different sounds from the orchestra – from pipe organ violins to flutes, oboes, trumpets, clarinets, and so on. Also unique to theatre pipe organs was the inclusion of tuned percussions such as chimes, marimbas, pianos, glockenspiels, xylophones, vibraphones, etc. Even a set of tuned sleigh bells was included in the more expensive models. In order to create that special mood for the silents, all sorts of sound effects and traps were also included. Items such as birdcalls, boat whistles, auto horns, doorbells, crashes and thunder, drums, tambourines, castanets, cymbals, and gongs were just some of the “toy counter” items available to the organist. The Wurlitzer organ in Lincoln Hall is one of the best examples of this class of theatre organ.
ARCA’s Wurlitzer contains seventeen ranks of pipes and is characterized by a balanced blend of unmistakeable Wurlitzer ‘sounds”. Built in 1928 at the Wurlitzer Organ factory in North Tonawanda outside of Buffalo and numbered OPUS 1989, the organ originally was installed in Cleveland’s Uptown Theatre. It was played for several years accompanying silent movies. With the end of the silent film era it was subsequently purchased by Richard Wheeler, a Cleveland organist, and remained in his home until Wheeler passed. Paul McKissick purchased it from the Haynes Company in North Canton, Ohio, where it had been in storage.
Paul lovingly and painstakingly rebuilt the instrument over eleven years and in 1999 the restored Wulrtlizer was installed in McKissick’s garage at their home in Lake Latonka near Mercer, PA. The organ became known as the Latona Pipes, and was played in annual benefits concerts to raise money for the DeBence Museum in Franklin. Dr. Arthur and Patricia Steffee attended one of the concerts. When Paul decided to downsize and was seeking a place for the Wurtlizer for the next generation, Dr. Arthur and Patricia Steffee, ARCA’s founders, purchased it to enhance the newly restored Lincoln Hall, on the second floor of the Foxburg Free Library.
Its seventeen ranks of pipes translate to 60 notes per voice or rank, more than 1200 pipes and 6,000 moving parts to make the Wurlitzer sound. Only the relay and computer are not authentic or vintage parts on the organ. The installation included one of Wurlitzer’s most unique features, the decorative ‘Toy Shelf’ of miniature instruments, which are displayed in a rear balcony in Lincoln Hall and are all powered by the organ. The marimba was added and all the associated drums, cymbals, bells and automatic piano produce a balanced blend of unmistakable Mighty Wurlitzer sounds.
ARCA audiences have enjoyed nineteen years of glorious music making on the McKissick Mighty Wurlitzer by some of the worlds greatest theatre organists – including David Wickerham, Brent Valliant, Martin Ellis, Walt Strony, Scott Foppiano, Donna Parker, Jelani Eddington and Ken Double. Jason Wiles is ARCA’s organ technician, maintaining and tuning the organ for each concert and conducting the major restoration project in 2024 and 2025, with its debut on Sunday, June 1, 2025.
ARRIVE EARLY & EXPLORE FOXBURG!
Before the concert, enjoy a brisk walk along the Allegheny River trail or have lunch at the Allegheny Grillein their dining room overlooking the Allegheny River.
Or for more casual fare, at Foxburg Pizza with salads, sandwiches and pizza.
Be sure to save time to enjoy a wine tasting in the newly renovated Foxburg Wine Cellars or enjoy a bottle of wine on the beautiful patio on a warm November day – or do some early Christmas shopping for stocking stuffers – like their deliciously robust River Queen.
Enjoy ARCA’s 20th Anniversary Wurlitzer weekend extending your stay with an overnight in Foxburg in the elegantly renovated Foxburg Inn where every room has a river view and the river deck gives you a panoramic experience of the the beautiful Allegheny-Clarion River Valley.
