- Program announcement on St. Louis Fox-2 News for the Radio City Music Hall Theatre Organ Concert, August 9, 2008.
- CBS Early Show, July 31, 2008, promoting the organ concert at Radio City Music Hall on August 9.
Jack Moelmann is a retired Air Force colonel with a passion for playing the pipe organ. His love for the instrument runs so deep that he recently plunked down nearly $120,000 to fulfil a lifelong dream - to perform on the famed Wurlitzer organ at Radio City Music Hall.
On Aug. 9, 2008 the 67-year-old Moelmann will sit at the ebony horseshoe-shaped keyboard console at the magnificent Art Deco concert hall for a single evening performance entitled "A Musical Showcase Featuring Col. Jack Moelmann and Friends at the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ."
Moelmann says that Radio City for him has always constituted "the Mecca of places to play."
The organ at Radio City is the largest theatre pipe organ ever built by the Wurlitzer Company. Installed in 1932, the year Radio City opened, it features four keyboards, 58 sets of pipes and twin consoles that can be independently operated.A closer view of the console. There are 4 manuals and 58 ranks (sets of pipes), plus tuned percussion. The little white buttons are thumb-pistons where combinations of ranks are stored.
Moelmann has no illusions of making money or attracting a huge audience. He spent $118,182 to rent out the 6,000-seat hall, and had to cash out his savings accounts and savings bonds to cover the cost. He also thought of renting Radio City's high-kicking Rockettes for the show, but quickly realized they were way out of his league; they would have cost $90,000 for a five-minute performance.
Tickets to Moelmann's show are $50, and he may donate some money to the Theatre Organ Society International, where he serves as secretary.
The independently working consoles are what makes the Radio City Wurlitzer unique, Moelmann said. Sitting literally "a city block apart" across the 144-foot-wide stage, they are rarely played simultaneously.
Radio City's "Christmas Spectacular" has used both consoles at the same time, but Moelmann's concert would be the only time both are played at a public concert exclusively showcasing the organ, Cordova said.
The theatre organ was originally designed as a one-man orchestra accompaniment for silent films. It has a variety of percussion tones and sound effects such as drums, cymbals and whistles ideal for popular tunes. Concert and church organs, on the other hand, are designed for the more sombre tones of a classical and liturgical repertoire.
Moelmann is a bachelor who lives with his beloved Australian Shepherd in O'Fallon, Ill., outside St. Louis.
He retired in 1991 after 26 years in the Air Force, assigned to the communications and electronics field. His love affair with the organ began early on while observing the organist at his church in Oak Park, Ill., where he grew up.
Live Concert at Radio City Music Hall, August 9, 2008, 4/58 Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ
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