Witness Cameron Carpenter change the organ world single-handedly!
Organists, like pianists, must play a new instrument in every venue. However, unlike the piano, the organ is restricted in setting and musical subject, and every organ is different from the next. Juilliard-trained Cameron Carpenter, who first became enamored with the organ when he saw one pictured in an encyclopedia, has made it his mission to change that. The “brilliant and iconoclastic” young virtuoso set out, after years of frustration with stationary organs, to design a portable organ with unlimited possibilities. The end result, unveiled by Massachusetts organ builders Marshall & Ogletree in March 2014, is called the International Touring Organ. Its makers sampled sound from Carpenter’s favorite instruments around the world and then project them via a vast array of speakers, and the output can be customized to any hall.
In addition to his interpretations of pop, rock, jazz, film, and a wide array of classical music, Cameron’s vast number of compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions—including Mahler’s 5th symphony, Duke Ellington works, and Chopin études —make his repertoire one of the most diverse of any organist. “No other musician of Carpenter’s generation has more adeptly fused shrewd showmanship, dazzling technique and profound thinking about his instrument and his place in the cosmos.” (San Francisco Chronicle) His “technical prowess and musical flair,” “brilliant” cadenzas and improvisations, (New York Times) and “rock-star approach” divide and energize the organ world.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 AT 7:30 PM
- Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, NM 87501
- Tickets $27-$100; Order tickets through PerformanceSantaFe.org or TicketsSantaFe.org
For interviews/information/images: Please contact Sandra Noë, sandra@performancesantafe.org, 505 984 8759.
Photos available upon request.
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For season and other information, please visit www.performancesantafe.org
Performance Santa Fe’s 79th season in 2015-16 is funded by the City of Santa Fe and the 1% Lodgers Tax; New Mexico Arts, a Division of the Office of Cultural Affairs; the McCune Charitable Foundation; and donors, patrons, and sponsors from New Mexico and across the world.