David Peckham

The RTOS 2026 ATOS Committee wishes to acknowledge David Peckham’s many contributions to theatre organ. David’s many efforts to support this convention and the RTOS. David, during the past few years has been maintaining many of this convention’s instruments including the Capitol Theatre’s 3/7 Moller, Shea’s Buffalo’s 4/28 Wurlitzer, the Clemens Center’s 4/31 Marr & Colton/Wurlitzer and the Society’s 4/23 Wurlitzer, in addition to his own residence instrument.

David Peckham has been performing as a theatre and concert organist for more than 40 years. One of his first performances was on the RTOS Mighty Wurlitzer in 1974 when he played for its 10th Anniversary Gala at age 13.

Raised in a musical family in Breesport, NY (near Elmira), he credits his parents with giving him a musical background and says: “I was going to concerts, apparently, before I was born”. David began studying piano at age 8 then classical organ as a high school student with Albert Zabel in Elmira, NY. He went on to graduate from the University of Rochester where he studied liberal arts and organ with David Craighead at the Eastman School of Music. Upon graduation, he returned home to join his family’s pipe organ service business and currently cares for over 50 instruments across New York State and northern PA including the RTOS-Grierson 4/23 Wurlitzer.

David has performed on nearly every major theatre organ in the USA as well as tours of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has played for several conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society and was honored to be named “organist of the Year” at the 2016 ATOS convention held in Cleveland, Ohio. Then, in 2019, David received the ATOS “Award of Technical Excellence”. He has also created scores for several silent films, a process utterly dependent upon fluid improvisation and that marvelous nexus of an audience reacting to a film. These skills will be front and center for the 2026 ATOS Convention as he accompanies the silent film “That’s My Daddy”, a 1928 release starring Reginald Denny and Barbara Kent.

He has been organist and choir director at the First United Methodist Church in Horseheads, NY since 1985. He has also been organ curator and resident organist at the Clemens Performing Arts Center in Elmira, NY for many years. Dave is the father of three grown children. He and wife Cathy reside in Horseheads, in a renovated farm house to which they recently added a large addition to house their collection of musical instruments along with his long- planned home theatre pipe organ.

He has recorded four CDs, most recent, No Remaining Seats was performed on the RTOS-Grierson Wurlitzer organ.