Meet Edward Torres | Theater Organist & Piano Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Edward Torres and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Edward, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I consider myself one of the luckiest fellas in the world to be able to do what I love on a regular basis and to be given the opportunity to share my passion and talents with people. I currently serve as theater organist at the historic Bob Baker Marionette Theater, and I get to play an instrument from a bygone era to a whole new generation of listeners. I would say the most important factor behind all of my success has been my teachers and mentors, without whom I would’ve never gotten this far.

Growing up as my teens here in Los Angeles I discovered the opulent world of theater organs, movie palaces, music of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, and I was fascinated by all of it! For a while always felt like an outcast with my peers in those early days, but soon I got to meet someone who would change my life. His name was Bill Field, a professional theater organist who lived his whole life in Los Angeles and he would become one of my greatest supporters and mentors. Through Bill I met a lot of wonderful people, many of whom were musicians who had also nurtured my love for music and were more than happy to share the their talents with me. The theater organ world is a small one, but filled with lots of passionate and friendly people.

I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have had such a wonderful support system that really took the time and made the effort to get me to where I am today. Some of those folks live here in LA, some are far away, and some are even in heaven – but every time I sit down at the theater organ I am filled with euphoria and knowing I can introduce this art form and be able to entertain a whole new generation of listeners who may never get to hear a theater organ otherwise.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Well, I play a rather unusual instrument called the theater organ. These were instruments that were developed back at the turn of the last century to accompany silent films in the early days of cinema. The idea was one person could be a one-man band, you are at the command of a full symphony orchestra when you play. The theater organist is comparable to 15 or 20 musicians all playing at once. What I do at Bob Baker Marionette Theater is presenting and preserving this nearly forgotten art form to the general public. As an old-time theater organists put it, our job is to “perfume the air with music”, I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of the Bob Baker team to add a little bit of old fashioned charm to an already magical place.

My life has revolved around the theater organ and the music that is played on it. Getting to where I am now has been far from easy, but the theater organ has played a huge part in me finding and expressing myself. I started playing piano when I was about eight and took up organ when I was about 14. I was excited about learning this art form and devoted every ounce of spare time to practicing and playing music. My life was turned upside when was about 19 years old when I became homeless. My family threw me out when they found out I was gay and it was a really low point in my life, ended up living on the streets for some time. At that time I found myself in a place I would never dream of and I worked extremely hard to rebuild my life. Music and the theater organ became my salvation and were anchors in my life in those days. Through hard-work and many wonderful, compassionate people like Bill Field, I was able to grow from that experience.

I now serve as the house organist at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, and I love what I do. I get to come in every weekend and work with some of the most wonderful, and dedicated people that I’ve ever met. Once again I’m able to entertain crowds who might never have heard of a theater organ in the first place. I play a lot of tunes from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, Broadway shows, and even a few other well-known songs that gets everybody’s foot tapping. I guess what they say is true, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s how I feel every time I walk into the doors of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s so many wonderful spots in Los Angeles it’s hard to narrow it down. There are two places to eat that I always enjoy taking my friends that visit from out of town. The first is Meceli’s in Hollywood for Italian food and Philippe’s The Original for some great French dip!

For some entertainment, I would usually take friends to the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Highland Park or to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. The Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier are also a couple of favorites. If they would like to walk around lush spaces I would take them to the Huntington Garden in Pasadena, or Kenneth Hahn State Park on the west side or the Lake Shrine Realization Center. Listening to live music is always a treat, and visiting places like the Walt Disney Concert Hall is even more so! If they are a fan of sports, we could always visit Dodger Stadium for a Dodger Dog or Crypto Arena.

I’m sure I’ve missed many, but those are some off the top of my head. So many great places around town!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There have been so many loving people that have helped me along the way, and they all really wanted what was best for me, I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of their support. If I had to narrow it down to one person, I would choose one of the most important people in my life and a personal hero of mine named Bill Field. A native Angeleno and professional theater organists, he took me under his wing when I was just a teenager, and really nurtured this love that I had for these wonderful instruments and the elegant era of show business that they came from. As we got to know each other he became much more than a mentor, he became my best friend. Although there was a little more than 60 years of an age difference between us, we had a wonderful friendship. He was like the grandfather that I never got to know and always wanted what was best for me both in life and in music. He was a hard taskmaster, and pushed me extremely hard as a musician to develop my skills. I was fortunate to know that gentleman for the last decade of his life, and in that time he not only showed me how to be a good performer and musician, but also gave me important life lessons. Although our time together came to an end a few years ago, my time spent with him will always be one of my favorite chapters in my life.

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Image Credits
Molly Perez,
Matias Bombal
Mike Hume