Dave Calendine

My "official" biography that is used for my concerts is as follows:

Dave Calendine, a Warren, Ohio native, started his musical career with the player piano at the age of 3.  By age 5, he was playing some of the music without the aid of the player mechanism.  By age 7, he was playing at his church, where he also started to teach himself the organ at age 15.

When at age 16, Dave first heard the magnificent sound of the theatre organ, he was instantly hooked and determined to play the theatre organ at whatever the cost.  His wish came true when, one night after a movie, the management of the Akron Civic Theatre let him play.  Shortly after that, he was hired as one of the house organist at the 2,678-seat movie palace.  The youngest person to ever hold the position, he entertained audiences there for over 3 years.

After leaving the Akron Civic Theatre, he continued on, playing at several restaurants featuring theatre pipe organs, such as the Organ Grinder (Toronto, Canada), and Shady Nook (Cincinnati, Ohio).  Dave has also played several theatre pipe organs throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2000, he went on his first overseas solo concert tour through Germany and Switzerland, playing to packed houses.

Dave currently holds the position of Resident Organist and organ curator for Detroit's fabulous Fox Theatre, holding that position for 25 years now.  He is also one of the organist at Little Caesars Arena for the Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League team.  He has also played nine years for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, featuring the world-famous Rockettes.

Dave's enthusiasm for the theatre and theatre pipe organ has him serving as the Chairman of the American Theatre Organ Society.  He is the Past President, and on the Board of Directors, of the Motor City Theatre Organ Society, which owns and operates the Redford Theatre in Detroit.  He is also on the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Detroit Theatre Organ Society, which owns and operates the Senate Theatre. 

Dave’s love of mechanical musical instruments also has him actively involved with the Musical Box Society, International (MBSI).  He is currently Past Chairman of the Mid-America Chapter of MBSI, and Past Secretary of the Lake Michigan Chapter of MBSI.  His work with mechanical instruments has garnered him various awards, including being honored by the Governor of the State of Montana for his work on restoring the Bovey Collection of Mechanical Instruments, one of the largest public displays of mechanical music in the United States of America.  His achievements there were also recognized in an Achievement Award by President George W. Bush.

For his regular employment, Dave works in the Operations Department of Olympia Entertainment, one of the nation’s premier presenters of sports and live entertainment, operating several venues in Detroit, including the Fox Theatre, City Theatre, Hockeytown Café, Little Caesars (home of the 11-time Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings) and Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers).

In the fall of 2007, Dave was honored by being inducted into the Achievement Hall of Fame at his high school, Champion High School, in Warren, Ohio.   The first person to be inducted for the performing arts, he was nominated by several of his former teachers.

Dave is organist at his church, Southminster Presbyterian Church in Taylor, Michigan.

Currently 47 years old, Dave resides in Detroit, Michigan.

More information (not my biography) is here:

I got my musical start at the early age of three, when my parents got a player piano from my Uncle.  My uncle restored player pianos, nickelodeons and band organs for several years.  Many times, I would go to his house and watch him work on the various music machines and was fascinated with how they worked.  I also loved the music that they produced.  My playing style today is very heavily influences from these mechanical music marvels.

I started taking piano lessons when I was five years old from Mr. Harry Brown.  He helped me learn to read music, and to improve my ability to play by ear.  I took lessons till I was nine years old, but remained in contact with him for several years later.  He has since passed away, but I will always remember the days that he would come to the house for my lessons.

My interest in the piano started to dull when I was about twelve, and I almost stopped playing completely.  It was when I was fifteen that I started taking a notice of the organ at my church, Champion Presbyterian Church.  The organist then was Dorothy Reynolds.  She was a wonderful lady that was an incredible musician, not only on organ, but on the piano as well.  My interest in playing came back even stronger than before.  I started practicing on the organ and piano.  I soon was  playing at church for preludes and offertories.  I was getting lessons from Dorothy and another organist that was a friend of hers, Gordon Brooks.  Those two helped me learn my way around an organ console, with all the keyboards and the pedals, as well as learning what the different stops (sounds) were.  Turns out that Mrs. Reynolds was a graduate (with honors) from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.  That's one of the most elite music schools that there is in the world.  I look back and feel honored that I was able to be one of her students, and was able to admire her skills as a musician.  That she was a wonderfully nice person was a bonus as well.

I continued playing the organ at my church, but the sound still wasn’t what I was looking for in an instrument.  I started improvising many songs at church on the organ, and this was noticed by several people that enjoyed the jazz and big-band influence of my playing.  It was then that Dorothy Reynolds told me about the theatre pipe organ at the Akron Civic Theatre.  It also turns out that there was an organ concert coming up soon that she wanted me to go to.  It was an event that I can honestly say changed my life.  The organist’s name was Lyn Larsen.  The organ was the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.  The experience?  WOW!  I couldn’t believe that all of that music, drums and all, came from one person at one organ console.  I had to get my hands on that organ.  And get my hands on it, I did.  At the age of sixteen, after getting my drivers license, I drove back and forth to Akron for days (alright, a week) until they finally let me in to play the organ.  After playing it for about twenty minutes, I went home a very happy guy.  Less than a week later, I was offered a job as house organist at the theatre.  I remained organist there for three years, playing for several shows a week.  My love of classic movie palaces came from working at this theatre.  From there, I went on to play at several other theatres across Ohio, eventually the country, and even overseas.  I also played at several restaurants that had theatre pipe organs in them.

Today, I live in downtown Detroit, Michigan.  I am one of the house organists at the 5,100-seat Fox Theatre there.  I am honored to be selected as the Chairman of the American Theatre Organ Society.  I am the Past President of the Motor City Theatre Organ Society, which owns and operates the Redford Theatre in Detroit, where I also play on the Barton organ installed there for several shows a year.  I am Treasurer for the Detroit Theater Organ Society, which owns and operates the Senate Theater in Detroit, where I also play on the Wurlitzer organ installed there for shows throughout the year.   I also play at my church in Taylor, Michian, Southminster Presbyterian Church.  As my passion is still very strong in the mechanical music field, I am Past Chairman of the Mid-America Chapter of the Musical Box Society International (MBSI), and am co-chair of the 2018 annual convention of the MBSI, which is being held here in Detroit (at Motor City Casino Hotel) from August 28-September 1.  I also belong to the Carousel Organ Association of America (COAA).

There is a lot more to all I do and love, but this is the main highlights for now.  

Want to know more?  Ask me!