Keith Chapman (organist)

Background

Keith Chapman was the Wanamaker Grand Court Organist (see Wanamaker Grand Court Organ for more information about the instrument) at the John Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1966 until his death in 1989. Chapman was the accompanist to the Capuchino High School Concert Choir in San Bruno, California, while it was directed by Otto Mielenz, during the early 1960s. A student of Richard Purvis at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, Chapman attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied under organ instructor Alexander McCurdy. According to one biographer, "Keith liked to say that his tastes ranged from Bach to Bacharach, and his light-classics programs alternated with pops renditions that typically included his own suites from Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals."

Tenure as Grand Court Organist

Chapman was only the third organist to play the Wanamaker Organ, the world's largest playing musical instrument, and he brought a new distinction to the post after decades in which the organ had been underutilized.

Keith Chapman's Tenure as Grand Court Organist lasted from 1966 until 1989 during which time he served as only the third person to hold this post since 1911. Keith, who was a brilliant performer and masterful transcriber was considered to be a godsend for the Wanamaker Organ after it's under use by Mary Vogt (Grand Court Organist from 1917 to 1966). The peak of Chapman's tenure as Grand Court Organist came on February 7 of 1986 when an after-hours concert was held with Chapman at the console of the Wanamaker Organ for a 75th anniversary gala (which also marked his 20th anniversary as grand court organist). This was the first after-hours concert to be held since 1928.

During his tenure as Grand Court Organist Keith Chapman also hosted a series of radio broadcasts featuring recordings of the instrument and his own commentaries about the performances and the organ. For some time it was thought that none of these broadcasts survived as recordings but relatively recently some of these "Lost Broadcasts" have been recovered by the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ.

“Keith also produced three recordings of his own on the instrument. ‘The Grand Court Organ’ (1973) included a number of works demonstrating the full organ and the third album, titled ‘Airs & Arabesques’ (1976) explored the softer colors of the instrument to marvelous effect.” The most notable recording, however, is of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’. Made in 1975, the recording is of Keith Chapman’s own transcription of the massive orchestral work and is incredibly true to the orchestral scoring.

Chapman received an honorary doctor's degree from the Combs College of Music.

Keith Chapman's Musical Legacy

Keith had a lively personality and was always happy to welcome visitors to the store up to the organ loft where the console is and permit them to sit during performances. He also allowed visitors to be photographed with him on the bench of the console area. [http://www.nightscribe.com/Music/wanamaker_organ.htm A young boy is seen here with Keith, in 1982, when his father captured this special moment.]

There are several known instances of Chapman playing practical jokes on customers at the store. When there were visitors, Keith would occasionally put up music to one piece but play an entirely different one from memory, turning the pages all the while just to see if the visitors would notice. On another occasion when a policeman blowing a whistle chased a shoplifter through the store, Keith, who was in the middle of a daily concert at the time, broke from his traditional music and began to play chase music. Later on that day, a passerby came up to Keith asking when the spectacle would be repeated. He was especially good at multitasking and would often hold conversations while performing complicated music or even play chess with customers as he performed.

Keith Chapman also had a great love of flying and owned his own private plane. Keith and his wife Sally flew frequently in their twin engine Cessna 310. Unfortunately, on June 29, 1989, while returning from an organ convention in California, their plane was reported missing. While flying over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in south-central Colorado, Keith inadvertently maneuvered the plane into a box canyon in an area called Groundhog Basin. Despite Chapman's efforts to maneuver out, escape was impossible. The plane and the bodies of Keith and his wife Sally were found by a hiker a few days afterward.

Chapman was succeeded at Wanamaker's later that year by present Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte.

External Links

For more information, see also: www.wanamakerorgan.com

http://www.nightscribe.com/Music/wanamaker_organ.htm