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Hammond Noonday Concerts at Knabe
Attract Large Fifth Avenue Crowds
Fifth Avenue shoppers in New York
have for the past three weeks been get-
ting quite a thrill out of the noonday
organ recitals which are being held in
of having the concerts, has stated
"though we have received many inquir-
ies regarding the organ, the recitals have
also resulted in manv sales."
organ. The entire lower floor under-
neath the main wareroom is now being
readied and will be devoted to this
new school.
Ten Kimball Pianos
In Ft. Worth Methodist Church
In the First Methodist Church of Fort
Worth, Tex., which now ranks with the
first 12 largest Methodist churches in
the country, there will be found 10 new
Kimball pianos, recently sold to the
church by E. I. Conkling, sales manager
of the Oliver H. Ross Piano Co. of
Fort Worth.
The church will soon celebrate its
100th anniversary, as it was established
in 1853, and the new edifice was erected
in 1930 at an approximate cost of $1,-
000,000. It was dedicated debt free in
June, 1945.
Oliver H. Ross has been selling pianos
in Texas since 1896. For many of these
years, the Ross Piano Co. has been sell-
ing Kimball pianos and Mr. Conkling,
the sales manager responsible for the
Collins
attracts large audience at Knabe Salon with noonday Hammond organ concert.
the piano salon of the Wm. Knabe & Co.,
584 Fifth Avenue.
Large and small Hammond organs
are used in these recitals and Collins
Driggs, one of the leading exponents
of the Hammond organ and active as a
music consultant with Laurens Ham-
mond in the development of the Ham-
mond organ, Judson Rand, well-known
church organist, and Robert Lofquest
are those who play in the recitals.
Not only does the audience stand on
the sidewalk and peer through the con-
vex glass window, which gives a clear
view of the entire salon, but on every
occasion there have been as many as
200 people gathered in the wareroom
to listen to the concerts which last some-
times as long as an hour and a half.
Clarence M. Pettit, manager of Wm.
Knabe & Co., who inaugurated the idea
Mr. Driggs, who plays entirely with-
out music, has an extensive repertoire
and his experience dates back to the
age of 12, when he organized the first
school orchestra in Manchester, Conn.
At 14 he was a church organist and
choir director and within a short period
after that he beccfrne" a featured organist
in the Paramount Theatre. At 15 he
was on the NBC outlet in Hartford,
Conn, billed as the "World's youngest
featured organist." He has made record-
ings for RCA Victor, and at the New
York World's Fair in 1939 he was com-
missioned to organize the New World
Ensemble at the Ford Exposition which
was conducted by Ferde Grofe.
Commencing with September, Mr.
Driggs will conduct a school at the
Knabe address for the purpose of teach-
ing people how to play the Hammond
Fort Worth Church which lias KimUall piano*.
First Methodist Church sale, reports
that "the purchase of Kimball pianos
indicates how far the church is going in
its efforts to give its members the best
of service.
K0HL6R & CAMPBELL, INC.
JULIUS A. WHITE, President
401-425 East 163rd Street
New York 56, N. Y.
THE HOME OF QIAL1TY
SMXCE MlUi
1'IAMS"
SOME FRANCHISES OPEN —INQUIRIES INVITED
12
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, AUGUST, 1950