Cameron Carpenter Organ Views

Music

Noted for his intensely personal, often flamboyant performances, Cameron Carpenter was recently dubbed “the maverick organist” by the New York Times. Program will include Demessieux’s Étude, “Octaves” as well as Carpenter’s own arrangement of Chopin’s Étude, “The Revolutionary.” Buy tickets

When organist Cameron Carpenter performs in Los Angeles on Sunday, he’ll be playing at the First Congregational Church. And his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut already looms; it’s an all-Brahms program scheduled for May 2011. Yet those listeners could be in for a surprise, because Carpenter has lately been devoting great effort to something called the virtual pipe organ – essentially an all-electronic version of the instrument. That’s right: a pipe organ with no pipes. “I would very much like to take it to Disney Hall,” said Carpenter of his virtual pipe organ, despite the presence of the auditorium’s highly regarded and distinctive-looking real pipe organ.

At Cameronirs"s 2009 New York recital, recorded live as Cameron Live! The CD, the ovations came not only from the capacity audience, but also from the press. The New York Times noticed that ald"everything (he) did... was meant to show his audience exactly what he was up to, without compromising the serious music he played. rd" Of the same concert, Feast Of Music rs"s Pete Matthews raved: rld"Are there any miracles left in the modern world? Is the concept of musical genius — represented by flawless technique and effortless execution — nothing but a myth? To all those who question the full capacity of human ability, I have but two words: Cameron Carpenter. His facility and flamboyance on the organ defies description. All you could do was sit and shake your head at the majesty of it all.lrd"

Sometimes the simplest gesture can make an extraordinary impression. I thought of this when I met organist Cameron Carpenter just 15 minutes before the start of his show at [Le] Poisson Rouge a few weeks ago. Hi, I'm Cameron Carpenter, he said, as he walked around and shook hands with audience members mulling around in the packed house that had come to hear what they believed would be a bunch of his trademark classical transcriptions. I searched my memory and couldn't think of another time I had seen a performer greeting an audience before a show.