Program Description
Event Details
Come learn about mechanical music with award-winning Plainfield musician, Ian Fraser. Ian will talk a bit about mechanical music and instruments from the 1800s and play his authentic Celestina crank organ. Attendees will even get to turn the crank organ themselves! All ages welcome!
ABOUT IAN
Ian Fraser’s fascination with organs started at the age of two when he heard a band organ on a local carousel in his hometown of Staten Island, NY. His interests soon expanded into the world of mechanical music with player pianos, orchestrions, etc. When he was 16, after seeing a silent film at Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY in 2017, he got the chance to sit at the console and play the theatre organ for the first time. From there, he has followed his passion to become a theatre organist. Leveraging his ability to play by ear, Ian taught himself in just a few short years to play the theatre organ. This has been influenced by studying his favorite genres and organists.
Now residing in Plainfield, NJ, Ian is the house organist at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island playing pre-shows for their Classic Movie and Arts-In-Education series. He has also performed at the Bardavon Opera House, the Loew’s Jersey Theatre, the Trenton War Memorial, the Brook Arts Center, the Union County Performing Arts Center, The Sunnybrook Ballroom, and Babson College among others.
Ian is the 2023 first-place winner of the American Theatre Organ Society’s Young Theatre Organist Competition.
He is a silent film accompanist and has recently developed a new live show format featuring silent shorts, historical presentation and a mini-concert.
Ian also maintains an interest in the restoration of pipe organs and mechanical musical instruments.
He is a board member of NYTOS (New York Theatre Organ Society) and Vice President of AMICA’s Lady Liberty Chapter (Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors Association). He is also a member of COAA (Carousel Organ Association of America), NCA (National Carousel Association), GSTOS (Garden State Theatre Organ Society) and ATOS (American Theatre Organ Society).