King of Kings (1927) – Silent Film

June 29, 2017

Show Time: 7:00 pm

Featuring organist Scott Foppiano.

A pre-show movie talk by Dr. Jane Martin from University of Saint Francis starts at 6:45 p.m.

The movie will have a 15 minute intermission. Film ends at 9:35 p.m.

ABOUT THE MOVIE: Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, this 1927 epic depicts the last weeks of Jesus before his crucifixion. Runtime 155 minutes. Cast includes H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence.

ABOUT THE ORGANIST: Scott Foppiano was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1965. He studied the piano with Evelyn Maschmeyer of the Memphis Beethoven Club, organ with Dr. John Hooker at Calvary Episcopal Church and began playing the organ in church while a student in the Parish School of St. Paul the Apostle. During his years at Christian Brothers High School he discovered his love for the sound of the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre and soon began playing overtures and intermissions.

Following high school his family relocated to Charlotte and he entered the NC School of the Arts as a scholarship student of Dr. John and Margaret Mueller. His formal studies also brought him under the continued tutelage of Donna Robertson, Dr. David Lowry and Dr. Robert Glasgow. In addition to being thoroughly trained as a classical organist, he continued private study of classical organ repertoire with the late William Whitehead and also the study of theatre and symphonic organ stylings with his mentor and best friend, the late, great Thomas Hazleton.

Critically acclaimed and sought after as a recitalist, theatre organist and silent film accompanist, he has played and recorded some of the greatest classical and theatre pipe organs in the United States, Canada and Europe. To date he has six solo organ CDs with future projects pending. In addition, he has been a featured artist for regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society and the American Theatre Organ Society.

In 2001 he took his choir on a 14 day tour of Italy where they sang in the Cathedrals of Milan, Assisi and Florence. Under his direction, they also sang the Solemn Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome at the invitation of then-Sistine Chapel Choir Director Monsignor Pablo Colino and Vatican organist James Goettsche. The culmination of the choir’s tour, under Foppiano’s direction, was being presented to and singing for His Holiness Pope John Paul II on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001.

He has served as organist and music director for several prominent congregations and has held positions on the administrative boards of both the AGO, the OHS and ATOS. He was an adjudicator for ATOS’s young organist’s competition at both local and national levels for many years at the invitation of the late Dorothy VanSteenkiste. He holds the Service Playing and Colleague certifications of the AGO and serves as the Organist-Choirmaster at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, a Traditional congregation and the episcopal Cathedral of the Society of St. Pius X, in Kansas City, Mo,, where he now calls home.

In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he maintains a very active schedule as a performer. During the 2007 ATOS national convention in New York City, Foppiano was presented in a solo organ concert at the great organ of the Cadet Chapel of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was also named the 2007 Organist of the Year by ATOS.

Event Info

Harkening back to a tradition almost as old as the Embassy, we present black and white movies with the Grande Page Pipe Organ! The Embassy matches world class organists with classic films to bring you the best vintage experience you can experience in Fort Wayne. The series occurs at 7:00pm every Thursday evening in June.