Welcome
CRTOS is dedicated to theatre organ preservation and promotion of this uniquely American instrument. We sponsor theatre organ concerts, silent films screenings, music workshops and theatre organ restoration projects in Oregon and Southern Washington. Click here for more information.
What's New
International Youth Silent Film Festival 2012
The Hollywood Theatre, our instrument and our local artist Nathan Avakian have starring roles in this event. It offers filmmakers under age 20 the opportunity to create a modern version of silent film, see it on the big screen with live theatre organ accompaniment, and win cash prizes. The festival turns the filming process upside down: producers are given a sound track for which they must make a film in one of several categories. Winning films are shown to a live audience with live organ accompaniiment. Submission deadline this year is March 16. Details may be found at www.makesilentfilm.com.
CRTOS Night at the International Youth Silent Film Festival
Our next public musical event will be a special CRTOS night during the International Youth Silent Film Festival at the Hollywood on Wednesday evening, May 23. We hope that members will turn out in force to support this project and hear our Beverly Ruth Nelson Memorial Organ. Nathan Avakian will accompany several short silents scripted to fit musical scores prepared in advance. Ron Deamer is coordinating the CRTOS part of this show, which will have special treats for organ fans. Please mark your calendar for the evening of May 23rd. We hope to see you there!
Musical Chairs
Movie patrons at the Hollywood Theatre have are being treated to music performed on the Beverly Ruth Nelson Memorial Theatre Organ while finding their seats and waiting for the film to roll. Organists Mike Bryant and Rob Kingdom have started playing before certain Hollywood 3 PM and 7 PM shows there, in order to add to the ambience of the theatre and increase awareness of the instrument. This comes at a time of other recent Hollywood improvements: new seats, screen, and sound system. The organ has been improved, also- ten loudspeaker cabinets were rebuilt for better response, and voicing adjustments were made for tone and balance.
We are proud to be part of the continuing progress at Portland's Historic Nonprofit Theatre, opened in 1926.
Explosive Increase in Participants and Films for the 2011 Youth Silent Film Festival
Organizers of the Youth Silent Film Festival presented 74 films created by 190 young filmmakers and were presented in May of this year which was an increase of 64% and 124% respectively from the previous year. Submissions arrived from as far north as Vancouver, BC, and as far south as Temecula, California. The vast majority of filmmakers reside in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Jon JP Palanuk, Creator and Executive Producer of the festival indicated the winners were determined by the festival's celebrity jurors who included the Oscar nominated and Cannes Film Festival winner Gus Van Sant, New York Times best selling author Chuck Palahniuk, publisher/writer/producer and Saturn Award Winner Kerry O'Quinn, and writer/producer Tom DeSanto. Our own Nathan Avakian composed the scores used by the filmmakers and accompanied the screening of the films presented on the Virtual organ in the Hollywood Theatre. Of the 74 films entered only the top 45 were screened.
A sanctioned event of the Portland Rose Festival, the competition is open to all filmmakers aged 20 years or younger, and is already scheduled for next year. Submissions must be three minutes in length and use pre-recorded music that will be supplied by the festival organizers. All films must be family-friendly/appropriate for viewers of all ages. Film makers must use only original footage and no copyrighted material. Decisions of the jury members will be final.
The Youth Silent Film Festival is presented in collaboration with philanthropist Jon "JP" Palanuk, organist Nathan Avakian, the Northwest Film Center, Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc., Columbia River Theatre Organ Society and the Hollywood Theatre. For more information, visit www.makesilentfilm.com or contact the organizers at info@makesilentfilm.com.
CRTOS Application to ATOS Approved
We are proud to announce that by unanimous vote of the Board of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS), the Columbia River Theatre Organ Society (CRTOS) has been accepted for membership in the National organization!
CRTOS Blog
We are happy to announce that we have added a blog to the CRTOS website. Blogs are a great way to share current bits of information on a variety of topics. In addition to being able to read stories from our website, you can set up your RSS newsreader or "active bookmarks" in your browser to automatically check for the lastest posts to the CRTOS blog. Click here to take a look!