In 1978 the Rochester Theatre Organ Society installed Wurlitzer opus 1492 in the 401-seat Eisenhart Auditorium located on the campus of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. This instrument began life as a Style E Special, originally installed in the Capitol Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was dedicated and presented to the RMSC on Columbus Day (quite appropriately for an opus 1492), 1978. The organ has since been expanded to 12 ranks. The most recent addition was a 61-pipe Clarinet rank. Though smaller than the 4 manual Wurlitzer in the Auditorium, it boasts a quite different set of traps (including an extremely loud “awooga” klaxon), an upright piano at floor level, and a Krumet – an exceptionally useful color reed, sounding something like a cross between the very thin Kinura and a Clarinet, that functions in the chorus as well as as a solo stop.
Eastman School of Music
