Music fans are expected to head to Proctors in Schenectady this weekend for special performances by the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Proctors spokesperson Michael Eck said it had been about two decades since the Albany Symphony Orchestra performed in the theater. “And the fact that they’re going to be using our fabulous Mighty Wurlitzer, ‘Goldie’, as we call her, is very exciting.”

“Goldie” – built in 1931, one of the last years of theatrical pipe organ construction – was brought to Proctors in the early 1980s, long after the theatre’s original organ was sold in late 1920s when “talkies” first hit the scene.

According to Proctors, “Goldie” has three keyboards, 32 pedals, and 18 rows – each of the latter consisting of dozens of pipes ranging from less than a foot to 16 feet long, representing various members of the orchestra blown by the wind. .

Frank Hackert is President of the Hudson Mohawk Chapter of the American Theater Organ Society. “The reason theater organs existed was because it was too expensive for theaters to operate a small orchestra for each screening of a silent movie. An unamplified piano would have a hard time being heard throughout the building. . This offered an opportunity for the pipe organ builders to create a new type of instrument specially designed for this one job: accompanying silent films. “

“Goldie”, with its 1,400 pipes, is the only fully restored organ in a concert hall in the capital region, making its ASO debut on Saturday evening, sharing the stage with the New Zealand conductor Gemma New.

Hackert explains that the pipe organ represents early 20th century technology based on the technology of early telephone systems. “The energy that produces these sounds comes from the air supply, because it is a pipe organ. First of all, the reason there are sound effects is the role it played to accompany silent movies. So there are some weird sound effects like car horns and horse tongs and doorbells, all those kinds of things that are useful to accompany a silent movie. “

In the hands of players like Carl Hackert, Proctors will be filled with melodies of yesteryear. Hackert says “Goldie” has been enhanced with MIDI devices to add classic sounds for Saturday’s Organ Symphony. “This also includes adding a few more subwoofers, which people sitting in the audience will feel. The piece has a really big opening in the finale with a C major chord, so we want to make sure it’s something that is. attracts people’s attention. So it has to be tuned like a classical organ and it has to have the additional voice of a classical organ in order to be successful in this piece. “

Albany Symphony Orchestra

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
O: Supervisors
HOW MUCH: $ 63 – $ 15
MORE INFORMATION: 518-694-3300; www.albanysymphony.com