A Halloween Tradition

A big thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday 26 October for Phantom of the Opera. The 1925 silent horror film starring Lon Chaney was brilliantly accompanied on our Barton organ by Tim Mesun with his original score. When the movie ended, the audience rose as one to give Tim the standing ovation he so thoroughly deserved. Coming to HIT for a silent horror movie is becoming a Halloween tradition to which lots of people look forward each year. During the Q&A session after the movie presentation, audience members asked Tim all sorts of questions about how he scores a movie, how he comes up with the various themes, and how long it takes him to fully develop a score. Tim also demonstrated some of the special sound effects and “voices” he is able to extract from the organ, and paid tribute to Rick Helderop of Covenant Organs in Detroit MI, for keeping the Barton in tip-top shape. Helderop arrived on Thursday for his annual visit for repairs and tuning of the organ, a task he completed in the wee small hours of Saturday morning! Many of our regular patrons commented after Saturday’s movie that they’d never heard the Barton sound so rich and full. Kudos to Rick and to Tim. And keep HIT in mind next year when planning your Halloween celebrations.

You can help support the maintenance of our “Grand Old Lady” by donating to the Barton Organ Maintenance Fund. Simply click on the link then scroll down to the Barton fund.