Organist rents Radio City to fulfill a dream
Organist rents Radio City to fulfill a dream

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By The Associated Press

Published: August 8, 2008

NEW YORK — Jack Moelmann is a retired Air Force colonel with a passion for playing the pipe organ. His love for the instrument runs so deep that he recently plunked down nearly $120,000 to fulfill a lifelong dream — to perform on the famed Wurlitzer organ at Radio City Music Hall.

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On Saturday, the 67-year-old Moelmann will sit at the ebony horseshoe-shaped keyboard console at the magnificent Art Deco concert hall for a single evening performance titled "A Musical Showcase Featuring Col. Jack Moelmann and Friends at the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ.”

Moelmann says that Radio City for him has always constituted "the Mecca of places to play.”

"One day back in February, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘Jack, you have a dream, go for it!'” he said. "Not to argue with myself, I have personally rented Radio City Music Hall for an organ program the likes of which has not been done in years, if ever.”

The organ at Radio City is the largest theater pipe organ ever built by the Wurlitzer Company. Installed in 1932, the year Radio City opened, it features four keyboards, 58 sets of pipes and twin consoles that can be independently operated.

Moelmann has no illusions of making money or attracting a huge audience. He spent $118,182 to rent out the 6,000-seat hall, and had to cash out his savings accounts and savings bonds to cover the cost.

Tickets to Moelmann's show are $50, and he may donate some money to the Theatre Organ Society International, where he serves as secretary.

"I'll be happy with 1,000 people,” he says. "I'm going there to gratify myself by playing ... and to show off what the music hall has in the way of an organ.”

Moelmann's concert is an unusual event for Radio City.

"We do not have any record of having rented the Music Hall directly to an individual in the past, however we have no formal policy that would preclude us from doing so and all bookings are addressed on a case by case basis,” said Mikyl Cardova of Radio City Music Hall.

Moelmann doesn't know what he'll do for an encore after his lifelong dream is behind him.

"I'll need to recover from this,” he said with a laugh.