Philip Julian Kelsall

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

ALCM (born 13 July 1956) is an English

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...

ist who has been principal organist at the

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in ...

Ballroom since 1977.Biography
, ''philkelsall.co.uk'', Retrieved 13 November 2010. Born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, Lancashire, he was inspired to learn the instrument by

Reginald Dixon Reginald Herbert Dixon, MBE, ARCM (16 October 1904 – 9 May 1985) was an English theatre organist who was primarily known for his position as organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, a position he held from March 1930 ...

(“Mr Blackpool”), and was initially appointed as organist for the Tower Circus band aged 18 in 1975; he also deputised for Ernest Broadbent in the Ballroom itself. This followed his attending

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania ...

in Fleetwood, an independent day and boarding school where he was taught by Robin Proctor, who subsequently became Director of Music at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...

. After Ernest Broadbent's retirement, he was appointed Tower organist in 1977.Organists
''blackpooltower.co.uk'', Retrieved 13 November 2010. Noted for his distinctive Dixon-inspired "Blackpool style" of playing, he has made numerous appearances on television and radio playing the Tower's 1935

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ, especially on the long-running BBC Radio 2 programme ''

The Organist Entertains ''The Organist Entertains'' was a long-running music programme broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The 30 minute programme focused on the organ in its many guises, and played recordings and live broadcasts of theatre organs, pipe organs and electroni ...

'', which he has occasionally guest presented. He has also appeared on '' Strictly Come Dancing'', ''Sam on Sunday'', '' Friday Night is Music Night'' and ''

Play It Again ''Play It Again'' is a documentary television series on BBC One, featuring celebrities trying to learn to play musical instruments. The series is produced by Diverse Production and started on 25 March 2007 and is narrated by Tamsin Greig. Epi ...

''. During the Tower's closed season, Kelsall plays the Thursford Collection's Wurlitzer for their annual ''Christmas Spectacular'' shows.Douglas McPherson
Thursford Christmas Spectacular
''The Stage'', 17 November 2008 He was appointed MBE in the June 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list. In 2013, he released his 59th album on the Tower Ballroom Wurlitzer. On 18 June 2017, a special concert hosted by theatre organist Nigel Ogden was held to celebrate Kelsall's 40th year as Tower Ballroom Organist.

References

External links

Official websiteVideo of The Tower Ballroom, Blackpool
1956 births Living people Classical music radio presenters English keyboardists English organists British male organists English radio presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire Theatre organists 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians Musicians from Warrington {{Organist-stub