Organist Jason Roberts Accompanies Silent Film STEAMBOAT BILL JR. as Part of Great Music at St. Bart's Series Tonight

Organist Jason Roberts will accompany the silent film "Steamboat Bill Jr.", as part of the Great Music at St. Bart's Series tonight, February 13 at 7:30 pm.

The silent film era lasted only a little over a decade. During this time, when recordings could not yet be synchronized to video, organists and pianists cultivated the art of silent film accompaniment. Although in large theaters scores were composed for orchestras to play, most often film accompaniments were improvised. This art is mostly lost today, but occasionally there are opportunities to experience this exciting art form.

Our screening of the 1928 film "Steamboat Bill Jr.," featuring Buster Keaton, will be one such opportunity. Keaton, in the role of William Canfield Jr., returns home from college to find his father in fierce competition with another riverboat captain. With his ukelele and beret, he's not really what his father expected; and his girlfriend turns out to be the daughter of his father's rival. Despite these barriers, he soon proves himself worthy of the family name!

The film will feature live improvised accompaniment on St. Bart's famous pipe organ by Jason Roberts, St. Bart's newly appointed Associate Organist. Dr. Roberts is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, TX and he holds graduate degrees from Yale University and the Manhattan School of Music. A gifted organ improviser, Roberts has won first prizes in many organ improvisation competitions including the American Guild of Organists National Competition and the Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition.

The concert will be performed on St. Bart's magnificent Aeolian/Skinner pipe organ of 168 stops and 225 ranks of pipes, the largest in New York City. The Brimberg Memorial Organ Console, which controls the instrument, will be in full view of the audience.

Tickets at $20 and $10 for seniors and students will be available online at mmpaf.org or by calling the Concert Office at (212) 378-0248. Tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the concert. St. Bartholomew's is located at Park Ave and 51st St. in Manhattan.

The Great Music Series, produced by the Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation, Inc., offers a diverse variety of concerts from large scale choral works and organ concerts in the church to chamber music and jazz in the acoustically remarkable chapel. Crucial to the musical programming of the series is St. Bartholomew's Choir, a fully professional choir, and the Boy and Girl Choristers, renowned as one of the finest children's choir in the metropolitan area. The church also possesses an Aeolian/Skinner pipe organ of 168 stops, the largest in New York City and considered to be one of the greatest examples of the American Classic Organ of the 20th century.

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