Rosa Rio

A prodigy, Rosa Rio began playing the piano at age four, taking lessons at eight, & at nine was invited to play the piano at a silent movie theatre. Her music education included stints at Oberlin College, & a course of study in film accompaniment at the Eastman School of Music. Her career as a theatre organist proceeded through posts at theaters in Syracuse, Loew's houses around NYC, tours through the Saenger chain of southeastern theatres, the Scranton Paramount, Brooklyn Fox Theatre, RKO Albee, & the Brooklyn Paramount. Moving into radio, she became a staff organist at NBC radio, accompanying performances during the "golden age" of radio. During this time, she was heard playing on such shows ast "The Shadow", "Lorenzo Jones", "My True Story" and "Deadline Drama". Television became an important new medium, & she played the organ for many network series, including "The Today Show", "The Guiding Light", & an early Saturday morning series which encouraged children to draw, "Cartoon TeleTales". In the 1980s, she scored & accompanied on the Hammond organ around 375 silent films released on video by the Video Yesteryear label. Besides these "regular gigs", she continued to perform as a concert artist, had arrangements of popular music published, taught music, & released record albums. She is frequently found as a guest at "golden age of radio" conventions & as an instructor at theatre organ seminars. Rosa Rio continues to compose & play, most notably accompanying silent films on the Wurlitzer at the Tampa Theatre in Tampa, Florida.