The Music Box has featured theatre organ music on a regular basis since 1983, the only theatre in Chicago to do so. Ironically, it opened in 1929, at the end of the silent movie era, and never had a pipe organ. Now, it is the only theatre presenting silent films on a consistent basis, accompanied by the organ.

The current instrument uses state of the art digital sampling to realistically recreate the sound of the theatre pipe organs of the 1920s. It was custom designed by house organist Dennis Scott and built by his husband Thom Day. The console you see is from an original Kimball pipe organ built in Chicago in 1929, the year the Music Box opened. It has twenty four audio channels. Twelve 200 watt per channel stereo amplifiers send signals to ten speakers in the left (main) chamber and fourteen speakers in the right (solo) chamber. There are individual samples of every pipe, percussion and sound effect, all carefully voiced and balanced for the room.

The organ is played every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It accompanies a silent film at least once a month and is played for holiday sing alongs and frequent film festivals, the most visible theatre organ in the Midwest.

House Organist Dennis Scott

Dennis Scott first started playing at the Music Box in September, 1992. In 1998, he had to give it up for other work demands, but returned on an occasional basis in 2004 to play for silent films and sing alongs. In 2009, he resumed his duties as house organist and started a monthly silent film schedule in 2011.

He frequently accompanies silent films in other venues around the Midwest and is the official organist for the International Buster Keaton Society.