“Music of the Big Band Era” Kilgen Organ performance by Ken Double, Oklahoma History Center

The Oklahoma History Center announces the next in its series of Kilgen Organ performances. “Music of the Big Band Era” will feature artist Ken Double on the Kilgen Organ with trombone accompaniment by Irv Wagner on Monday, April 30, at 7 pm in the Devon Great Hall of the Oklahoma History Center. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for Oklahoma Historical Society members. Tickets may be purchased by calling 405-522-0765. There are no reserved seats, so early arrival is recommended.

Ken Double began his training and appreciation for organ performance at age eight while growing up in Chicago, Illinois. A high school field trip to a local theater further defined that appreciation in the direction of theater organs when he was given the opportunity to play the Wurlitzer theater organ. Double received a degree in radio-television from Butler University in Indianapolis and, while working his first job in broadcasting in Lafayette, Indiana, he started playing locally at the Long Center and continued to do so over the next thirty-two years. Ken has played nationally and has toured Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. He has served as president and chief executive of the American Theatre Organ Society for a number of years, working diligently to raise funds, raise awareness, create new and exciting programs, and help steer the fifty-eight-year-old organization in a new direction to ensure its growth and existence for another fifty years and more. “It is not often that one gets paid to have fun for a living. Nice work if you can get it,” said Double.

To enhance the theme, Double will be accompanied by local University of Oklahoma (OU) music professor and trombonist, Dr. Irv Wagner. Wagner is a founding member of the Oklahoma Brass Quintet and has been named as a David Ross Boyd Professor. Wagner conducts the popular OU Trombone Choir. He is a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the conductor for many of that orchestra’s Pops concerts. Wagner’s compositions and arrangements are in demand by many major symphony orchestras and trombone choirs.

Ken Double

Irv Wagner