Walt Strony (born 1955) is an American recording, consulting and performing
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
and organ teacher, both on the theatre organ and traditional pipe organ, ranging from pizza parlors to churches and theatres to symphony orchestras.
Biography
Strony’s classical organ studies were with Herbert L. White of the Sherwood Conservatory of Music
Columbia College Chicago and
Karel Paukert
Karel Paukert (pronounced Karl Poukert) (January 1, 1935 in Skuteč in the Czech Republic) is a Czech-American organist, choir director and educator.
He graduated from the Prague Conservatory, and the Ghent Conservatory, Belgium. He studied unde ...
at Northwestern University. His theatre organ teacher was
Al Melgard
Al Melgard (October 4, 1890 in Denmark – July 8, 1977) was the best-known organist for the Chicago Stadium, from 1930 until retirement in 1974, at age 84.
Career
Melgard, who lost his left index finger in an accident as a child, was nonetheles ...
, famous as the Staff Organist on the Barton organ at the
Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...
. When Melgard retired in 1975 he gave Strony his Oak Park, IL teaching studio. Strony later studied piano with Giulio Favrio of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
He made his public debut as an organist in 1974, aged 18. During his college years he began playing the theatre organ in
pizza parlor
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, oni ...
s, a fad in the 1970s which gave new life to a largely forgotten instrument. For many years thereafter he was Artist-in-Residence at First Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Strony has studied with silent-film accompanists and has accompanied silent films for years, such as
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
''The Phantom of the Opera'' is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel ''Le Fantôme de l'Opéra'', directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts ...
and
Nosferatu
''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...
at the
Plaza Theatre (El Paso).
Performances
He has performed in the United States, toured extensively in Australia (1978), England (1989), Japan (Expo ‘75 & 2011), and Canada (1999), and he is a regular performer at conventions of the
American Theatre Organ Society
The American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) is an American non-profit organization, dedicated to preserving and promoting the theatre pipe organ and its musical art form.
ATOS consists of regional member-chapters, and is led by democratically e ...
. In 2012 he played his 39th ATOS convention, more than any other organist. He played there again in 2008. He has also performed for the
American Guild of Organists
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...
on both local and national levels.
He has performed on numerous classical instruments as well, most notably having been featured in June 2009 at
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
in Philadelphia (formerly Wanamaker’s) playing the largest operating pipe organ in the world. He has also recorded on the world’s largest theatre organ at the Sanfillipo Music Room in Barrington, IL.
In addition to solo concerts, he has performed with several symphony orchestras. In El Paso he played music including Symphony No. 3 (Organ) of
Camille Saint-Saëns. He played at the Calgary International Organ Festival with the Calgary Philharmonic. Additionally, he has performed with the Allentown Symphony and Symphony Silicon Valley. While in college he performed the Poulenc Organ Concerto with the Chicago Businessman’s Orchestra.
Awards
In 1991 and 1993 the American Theatre Organ Society selected him as "Organist of the Year." He is the only living organist to have received this award twice. In 2011 he was inducted into the American Theatre Organ Society Hall of Fame.
In the spring of 2008, and in celebration of his career, the
Allen Organ Company
The Allen Organ Company builds church organs, home organs, and theatre organs. Its factory is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania. The Allen International Sales Headquarters also includes the Jerome Markowitz Memorial Center, a museum. It displ ...
developed the Walt Strony Signature Model - the STR-4 - which is a four-manual instrument. Strony designed the stoplist and chose all the samples from their extensive library based upon his experience as an organist and tonal consultant.
Other work
His book ''The Secrets of Theatre Organ Registration'' (1991) was the first book to be written about this subject. According to the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, this is "what many theater organists consider the definitive guide" to Wurlitzers. TheatreOrgans.com calls it "The hands down best book ever written on the subject of Theater Organ registration. Get a copy of this if you can, it is worth its weight in gold."
In addition to musical performance, he works as an organ consultant, most notably for instruments built by the Allen Organ Company. In collaboration with Allen Organs and the ATOS, he and four other artists recorded a five-DVD instructional video entitled “The Art of Playing Theatre Organ”.
Discography
Walt Strony has made numerous recordings and can be heard on over 30 albums.
[Compiled from publicly available sources, multiple Internet pages and ads, and several private collections.] His first recording was made in 1976 at the Chicago Theatre, where he was the first organist to play that instrument on a semi-regular basis in 25 years.
Solo Albums
With Others (CD)
Videos
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strony, Walt
Living people
1955 births
American organists
American male organists
Theatre organists
Musicians from Chicago
Date of birth missing (living people)
Northwestern University alumni
Columbia College Chicago alumni
21st-century organists
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American keyboardists