Superstar Organist Cameron Carpenter to Perform at Majestic Theater, 1/23

After a dazzling debut at Lincoln Center on March 2014 in which its sound was described by The New York Times as "quite terrific," Cameron Carpenter brings his revolutionary International Touring Organ (ITO) to the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, PA on Friday, January 23 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $34-$46; call 717-337-8200 or visit gettysburgmajestic.org to purchase.

"There hasn't been an organ concert at the Majestic Theater since the early 1960s when its original Möeller pipe organ (installed in 1925 to accompany silent films) was sold for scrap. I can't think of a more sensational performer to reintroduce the "king of instruments" to Majestic audiences than Cameron Carpenter who is the undisputed, international organ virtuoso of our generation. If you only attend one concert in a decade, this is the one not to miss." exclaimed Jeffrey Gabel, Founding Executive Director of Gettysburg College's Majestic Theater. "His travelling digital organ is a sight and to behold!"

That instrument, of course, is the International Touring Organ, which was built to his very own specifications in collaboration with American digital organ pioneers, Marshall and Ogletree. The instrument is Carpenter's dream and, like Carpenter himself, it represents a seismic shift in the organ world. This custom-built instrument dispenses with traditional pipes and instead uses digitalized sounds culled from instruments from across the globe, thus allowing Carpenter's artistry to expand in even more compelling directions.

Carpenter will treat Gettysburg audiences to works that showcase the full range of the ITO's abilities, including works from his Sony Classical debut album If You Could Read My Mind. This album, described as "full of joy and daring" by the Los Angeles Times, features scintillating transcriptions of works by Bach, Dupré, Piazzolla, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin alongside a cycle of inventive paraphrases on songs by Burt Bacharach, Leonard Cohen, and Gordon Lightfoot. The album also includes the world premiere recording of Carpenter's own eagerly-anticipated composition for organ, Music for an Imaginary Film (2013). In addition to the impressive technical wonders and effects that have become his trademark, the music on this album is imbued with deep sensitivity and emotional power, the manifestation of Carpenter's joy at finally being able to connect with his very own instrument.

2012 recipient of the coveted Bernstein Award (Schleswig-Holstein) CAMERON CARPENTER is "one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument... He is a smasher of cultural and classical music taboos. He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed... And most important of all, the most musical." (The Los Angeles Times)

A virtuoso composer-performer unique among keyboardists, Cameron's approach to the organ is smashing the stereotypes of organists and organ music while generating a level of acclaim, exposure, and controversy unprecedented for an organist. His repertoire spans the complete works of J. S. Bach and Cesar Franck, hundreds of transcriptions of non-organ works, his original compositions, and his collaborations with jazz and pop artists - an extraordinary diversity he brings to his international audiences.

In 2006, he began his worldwide organ concert tours, giving numerous debuts at venues including Royal Albert Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Melbourne Town Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Davies Hall in San Francisco and many others. His first album for Telarc®, the GRAMMY®-nominated Revolutionary (2008), was followed in 2010 by the critically acclaimed full length DVD and CD Cameron Live! Cameron recently signed a long-term multi-album recording contract with Sony Classical and August 2014 will see the release of If You Could Read My Mind, his first recording with Sony Classical and the first on his International Touring Organ. The disc combines a variety of Cameron's famous transcriptions and settings of classical and modern music, including a cycle of "song treatments" ranging from the American Songbook to present day, with a world premiere recording of his new work for organ, Music for an Imaginary Film (2013).

Edition Peters became his publisher in 2010, beginning the ongoing release of his original works with Aria, Op. 1 (2010). His first major work for organ and orchestra, The Scandal, Op. 3, was commissioned by the Cologne Philharmonie (KölnMusic GmbH) and premiered on New Year's Day 2011 by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under the direction of Alexander Shelley. Of Cameron the composer, DIE WELT's Manuel Brug writes: "Carpenter... is proving himself to be a clever eclecticist, who understands to entertain with much finesse, and admits with a wink that he is 'annoyed by intellectual music'." His most recent published piece is Music for an Imaginary Film.

In March of 2014, the "extravagantly talented" (The New York Times) Carpenter launched his International Touring Organ (ITO) in a daylong festival at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Having completed the first part of the Album Tour '14 during the summer in Europe playing the International Touring Organ, Cameron and his new instrument will return to the USA to continue performances on the ITO from Fall into Spring of 2015 before the next European tour begins.

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