John Lauter has been selected Best Theatre Organ Musician 2012 by Detroit Performing Arts Examiner.
Say the name John Lauter, and eyes light up – he is the king of the keyboard in metropolitan Detroit, and patrons attend his concerts like faithful subjects. When the Baldwin Theatre wanted talent that could show off the majesty of its Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, John Lauter was the perfect choice. The next such concert, called Love Songs, features the timeless themes of love - love that is sweet, and love that has gone sour.
The origin of the word Lauter comes from the Greek, meaning pure or clear. That word describes the gifted musician perfectly – pure Michigan, clear techniques, clean notes, and pure fun. In February, 2010, Lauter was heard playing the Fox Theatre’s massive Wurlitzer organ on NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion.” Host Garrison Keillor said of Lauter, “The man has unerring taste.” Make no mistake, Lauter is not stuffy, conceited, nor unapproachable; to the contrary, it is a pure delight to have him in the midst.
Detroit native John Lauter began his organ/piano/music studies at age 14, under the direction of Marie Connors, Betty Mason, Fr. Jim Miller, Gary Reseigh and John Seng, making his public debut playing at the Redford Theatre at age 16.
Hundreds of movie preludes later, John holds his crown as king of the keys. Over the years, he presented concerts in Detroit, Toledo, Grand Rapids, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Wichita, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Thomaston CT, Toronto and Kingston Ontario. Lauter was a featured performer at the 1995 and 2009 conventions of the American Theatre organ Society. In July of 2010, John was invited to England to present concerts at Tywyn Wales, and at the Saltaire complex in Bradford - that performance being the final concert of the 2010 Cinema Organ Society’s convention. (Lauter was the sole American presented.)
John has been on the staff of the Fox theatre since the 1988 reopening, in addition to being staff organist of the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor for 17 years.
As a silent film score composer/performer, Lauter has scored over 27 titles, 12 of these are original compositions. He has accompanied films at The Redford Theatre of Detroit, Baldwin Theatre of Royal Oak, Palace Theatre of Marion Ohio, Ritz Theatre of Tiffin Ohio, Michigan Theatre of Ann Arbor, and Casa Loma mansion in Toronto.
The Henry Ford museum IMAX theatre contracted Lauter to compose/perform/record a short silent film accompaniment that is part of an IMAX short subject film shown before every presentation at that institution.
Lauter has been the organist/accompanist for the Unity Church of Lake Orion since its inception in 1997. He lives in Farmington Hills with his wife Amy, and children Benjamin and Maryanna.
Don’t miss Love Songs at the Baldwin Theatre. The show will highlight the talents of John Lauter at the Wurlitzer keyboard along with the Stagecrafters singers.
Friday, February 17, 2012, 8 pm concert
Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served at intermission
$18 pp
Sunday, February 19, 2012, 2 pm concert
$16 pp
---
Anton Anderssen is a professionally paid writer for Examiner.com, a Top 100 website, having over 18 million unique monthly visitors. Examiner.com has teamed with Thomson Reuters to license, distribute and share news articles across the United States through their new flagship service, Reuters America. Syndication in Reuters America marks a huge milestone in the history of Examiner.com. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider touching more than 1 billion people a day. Examiner.com is a division of the Clarity Digital Group, LLC, which owns a broad array of assets in print and digital media--including Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and Walden Media--live sports and entertainment, hospitality, film production and exhibition and wind energy development. Examiner.com launched officially in April, 2008, as a unique national news and information website with targeted local content.
Contact Anton at 586 757 4177 or DetroitExaminer @ gmail.com
If you would like an email alert when a new article is written, click on the SUBSCRIBE button at the top of the page.
Friend Anton Anderssen at www.facebook.com/teddybears
Comments