WINNIPEG — It’s a sound you’ve likely clapped to during a Winnipeg Jets game. Although the classic sound of an organ disappeared for awhile, it will be present once again at the MTS Centre thanks to a musician and some crowd motivating sounds.
Trevor Olfert is the new organist who will be at the helm of the instrument for all of the Winnipeg Jets’ home games.
“It’s fun to be able to do it, it still feels kind of surreal,” Olfert said. “If I think back to when I was a kid and at a Jets games… I would hang back with my dad to listen to the organ guy play a few songs while everybody left. And now 30 years later it’s me doing it.”
Each night in the upper bowl of the arena, the seasoned musician is responsible for the six keyboards that can produce thousands of sound effects.
Olfert said he’ll play 10 to 12 songs a night, and tunes hit all the decades. The key is to connect the older and younger generations during the game, he said.
“If I can get a boy and a dad talking about what music they heard… and one connects it to Star Wars and the other connects it to Elvis or the Beatles…I think that’s great,” he said.
To mark the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg this year, Olfert said he will focus on more traditional hockey-themed songs.
The Winnipeg Jets face off Monday night against the Boston Bruins, where fans will be able to hear a few of Olfert’s tunes.
Comments