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The Mighty Wurlitzer organ
 For
decades, a favorite element of the Tennessee Theatre experience
has been the golden-voiced Mighty Wurlitzer. The Wurlitzer was installed
in the Tennessee Theatre at the time of its opening in 1928. It
was built by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda, New
York, and cost about $50,000 at that time. Jean Wilson (pictured)
was the Tennessee Theatre's first house organist, and many have
followed her -- most notably, Billy Barnes, who entertained at the
console four times daily in the 30s and 40s; and the Tennessee's
current organist, former Chancellor and Dean of Engineering at the
University of Tennessee, Bill Snyder.
 In
October of 2000, virtually the entire organ -- all the pipes and
the console with its manuals, stops, and pedals -- was shipped to
Reno, Nevada, to master organ rebuilder Ken Crome. Mr. Crome and
his technicians painstakingly restored the instrument piece by piece,
and artisans and craftsmen returned the organ's appearance to its
original 1928 color scheme and design. The chambers on either side
of the stage(pictured), which house the pipes, have been replastered
to fully ensure the protection and preservation of the restored
instrument.
The Wurlitzer returned to Knoxville
on August 27, 2001, and was re-installed by Mr. Crome and his staff
during the entire month of September. Acclaimed theatre organist
Lyn Larsen was involved in much of the configuration and tonal regulation
of the organ, and he was the first to publicly perform it at a gala
concert on October 1, 2001. Mr. Larsen had this to say about the
Tennessee's Wurlitzer: "I am so excited about the newly restored
Wurlitzer organ in the Tennessee Theatre, and I consider it to be
among the handful of the very finest 'in-theatre' installations
in the country.  The
unsurpassed craftsmanship of Ken Crome and his expert team of artisans,
the perfect match of the auditorium's acoustics to the organ sound,
and the commitment to 100% quality by everyone at the Theatre have
all combined to produce this 'new-old' pipe organ that is absolutely
sublime. I hope to be a part of the Tennessee Theatre for many years."
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