Entertainment Gathering Features Cameron Carpenter on Rodgers Organ

December 5, 2008

Organist Cameron Carpenter will perform on a custom Rodgers four-manual organ at the third annual conference known as The Entertainment Gathering, to be held at California's Monterey Conference Center next week.

Carpenter's concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, the opening day of the conference. The instrument will be a Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece organ with an American Classic specification.

Carpenter, 28, has been dubbed "the Maverick Organist" by The New York Times and described as a "profound musical intelligence" by The Wall Street Journal. The Dallas Morning News called him "probably the most controversial organist alive."

In a 13-minute feature segment on Weekend Edition Sunday in October, National Public Radio explored how The Juilliard School graduate combines a glamorous and often flamboyant personal style with virtuoso playing and an embrace of cutting-edge digital organ technology.

A child prodigy who made his European organ debut at age 13, Carpenter grew up trying to stretch the physical limits of organ technique. His performances are frequently dazzling, not only for their speed and precision but for the way they reflect his many influences - among them, folk music, jazz, soul, disco and pop. His recording, "Revolutionary" (released in September on the Telarc label) has been nominated for a Grammy award in the category for instrumentalist without orchestra.

The Entertainment Gathering (www.THE-EG.com) is a conference limited to 400 participants, with the goal of bringing together individuals with exceptional talent, influence, and insights into technology and culture. By celebrating "our uniquely American entertainment industries," the conference seeks to provide an incubator for innovative new ideas.

Carpenter is scheduled to perform another Rodgers organ concert on March 13, 2009, in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Rodgers is the world's largest builder of stereo imaged church organs and pipe/digital organs. Rodgers is a member of the Roland Group, headed by Roland Corporation, a world leader in electronic musical instrument technologies and electronic musical instrument sales and manufacturing.

Photo credit: Chris Owyoung