Next Event: A Fall Season Schedule Soon
This page contains information regarding the next and future RTOS program events. Future event information is arranged in date order.
Tim Schramm
December 10, 2023
Our Artist Tim Schramm is a native of Rochester, NY and is no stranger to the piano & organ. He showed a keen interest in and started playing the piano at the age of six. At the age of 10 his parents introduced him to the Mighty Wurlitzer in the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, and it was love at first sight! Since that day the organ has become his passion. Tim played his first church service at the age of 11. Since then, he continues to play for church services, weddings, funerals, organ dedications and theatre organ concerts.
As a young teenager Tim traveled with the Harmonaires Gospel Quartet out of Buffalo, NY where he developed his Southern Gospel style piano skills. He has produced a CD entitled “Songs of Reflection & Hope” that features his piano artistry.
Tim is currently Director of Music Ministries at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Newark, NY. He also plays the organ for services in other churches as needs arise. Tim has retired from the Rochester City School District where he was a full-time choir accompanist at The School of the Arts. Over the last twenty years he has produced and directed the well-loved “Christmas Follies” for the Rochester Theater Organ Society (RTOS). When the pandemic hit and RTOS couldn’t hold in-person concerts, Tim graciously offered his home and talents to video a large share of the Christmas Follies for RTOS members to watch on YouTube.com. The performance currently has over 3,800 views and can be seen on the Rochester Theater Organ Society’s YouTube channel.
Tim now lives in East Palmyra, NY in a converted church. He has an Allen digital theatre organ, a Rodgers hybrid pipe/electronic organ, two Hammond organs, a Baldwin 5’8” grand and a 9’ Baldwin concert grand piano in his music room named “The Victoria Schramm Memorial Music Room” which he has dedicated to the memory of his late daughter. Tim currently uses his home to hold hymn sings and other small concerts that feature local talent. He has ventured out into a new area and has recorded a Christmas song/video he wrote called “Miracle in Bethlehem” that was produced by Studio6 Recording & Production in Ft. Lauderdale. It can be seen on Tim’s YouTube channel.
Tim has traveled to England many times to perform, thus taking his career international.
We are very pleased to have Tim perform for us on December 10, 2023; along with a barbershop quartet, two tenor vocalists, and multimedia presentations in “Jingle All the Way!”
Poster
For the compete season’s schedule and COVID Policy, click on button to the right.
Below are Artist’s Biographical Info for The Season’s Artists
Alex Jones
January 7, 2024
Alex Jones is currently a candidate for Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Houston where he studies with Daryl Robinson and holds a Graduate Teaching Fellowship in the Department of Musicology. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY holding a Master in Organ Performance & Literature. Alex also holds a Bachelor in Organ Performance with Honours from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, UK.
Alex is a recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the Organ Scholarship at Manchester Cathedral, the Birmingham Symphony Hall Organ Scholarship, the William Taylor Recital Prize, and the Leonard Gibbons Prize.
Alex emigrated to the United States in 2016 and has since gone on to win several prizes in organ performance, including Third Prize at the 2022 Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition in Atlanta, Second Prize at the 2017 West Chester University International Organ Competition in Pennsylvania, Third Prize at the 2018 Royal College of Organists National Competition, and First Prize at the 2017 American Theatre Organ Society National Competition. At the Eastman School of Music, he was awarded the Robert Carwithen Scholarship for excellence in the field of church music and gave recitals at the 2018 Lynchburg International Organ Festival in Virginia and the 2021 “Florenzmusik” Festival in Florence, AL.
Alex has appeared as a concerto soloist having performed the Poulenc Organ Concerto and has also been in demand as a performer of Early Music, making appearances with the acclaimed ensemble Publick Musick; and more recently, with Ars Lyrica Houston at the William P. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX.
Alex is currently the Organist & Choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, TX and has previously served as Director of Music & Organist at St. Louis Catholic Church in Memphis, TN. He has given numerous other performances in the U.S. and Europe including at the Hauptkirche St. Petri in Hamburg; St. Paul’s Cathedral in London; Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; and as a theatre organist in venues including the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, NY; the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, NY; the Senate Theatre in Detroit, MI; the Tampa Theatre in Tampa, FL; the Dickinson Theatre in Wilmington, DE; and Barnum Hall in Los Angeles, CA. Alex has also appeared as a featured artist at the 2018 & 2019 American Theatre Organ Society National Conventions and is a published author having contributed to the 2018 Convention Journal of the Organ Historical Society. In 2023, he was named in ‘The Diapason’ magazine’s “20 Under 30” as being an outstanding leader in the field of organ performance and church music.
Poster
Mark Herman
February 11, 2024
Mark Herman is one of America’s busiest theatre organists, performing over 30 concerts and silent film presentations each year across the US and abroad. In 2012, he was named the American Theatre Organ Society’s Organist of the Year and is the youngest person ever to receive the prestigious honor. Previously, he was overall winner of the Society’s Young Theatre Organist Competition in 2004.
Mark has been featured on several episodes of American Public Media’s Pipedreams program, and has performed for countless conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society, American Guild of Organists, and Organ Historical Society. On the international stage, he has toured in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, his compositions, arrangements, and performances have been heard both on television and in motion pictures. In 2019, he was honored to be featured alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a rare organ solo cameo.
As a film accompanist and scorer, Mark has developed a reputation for dramatic period-authentic film scores with historically informed presentations that not only resonate with but captivate modern audiences. In 2019, he was commissioned to compose and record two new scores for The Criterion Collection’s latest Harold Lloyd Blu-ray release.
He studied theatre organ with the late John Ferguson of Indianapolis, who was recognized worldwide for his skills teaching the art of the theatre organ. His classical piano studies were with Christine Freeman of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts/Management from DePaul University in Chicago.
He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he is President of Mark Herman Music LLC, a provider of organ-related services and products. He is in demand as an organ consultant and project manager, as well as a voicing specialist and tonal consultant for Allen Organs and is proud to be an Allen Artist, showcasing new Allen Organs in the US and beyond.
Poster