Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ Visits
New Victoria Centre, High Street, Howden Le Wear, Crook, County Durham, DL15 8EZ
Now restored to 'as new' condition with the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, you can discover the magic of the Theatre Organ. As well as listening to the spine-tingling sounds, you can find out how the master organ building craftsmen enable a musician to produce these amazing sounds from an instrument made of wood and metal with no electronic amlification or tone generation. After you see and hear the organ and perhaps find out a little of its history and how it works, look inside* the 'Secret Spaces' of the two large organ 'chambers' which are usually hidden from view and contain over 1,300 organ pipes varying vastly in shape and in size (from a fraction of an inch to 16 feet long) and producing a huge variety of musical tone - plus - a whole percussion department (of real instruments played by the organ's electro-pneumatic action). Find out for yourself why the Wurlitzer really was 'Mighty' in sight AND in sound: designed as a true one-man orchestra in fact!
* Access to the organ chambers may be unsuited to those with limited mobility / wheelchairs
New Victoria Centre, High Street, Howden Le Wear, Crook, County Durham, DL15 8EZ
Most area are accessible for wheelchair users except inside the organ pipe chambers where space is limited and steps are involved