Northrop Presents
Cameron Carpenter
Past event
Feb 22, 2022
Cameron Carpenter is a virtuoso composer/performer who is smashing the stereotypes of organ and classical music—he was the first ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album. His All You Need is Bach debuted at #1 on the traditional classical charts, and his Rachmaninoff Polenc, recorded live with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, was released on Sony Classical in Spring 2019. Cameron’s latest album, recorded at the Berlin Konzerthaus, includes his own rendition of Bach’s Goldberg Variations as well as Hanson's Symphony #2, and was released by Universal/DECCA in Fall 2021. For this special concert, Carpenter performs his transcriptions of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Northrop’s historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 organ.
This event will be captioned, with other accessibility services available upon request.
“Carpenter is one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument … He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed … And, most important of all, the most musical.” —Los Angeles Times
"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 musical cosmos.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“... he is a player with extraordinarily glib fingers and Astairelike Footwork ... a first-rate talent with a sense of how phrases move.” —The New York Times
Learn More
The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop's mission towards intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Explore These Themes
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested courses.
Music: Classical, Contemporary Classical
Religious Studies
Design & Technology/Engineering
Music/European History
Dance/Movement
Global Studies
Take a deeper dive into these resources that provide more information about the company of performers, the history of the artform, and where you can learn more about the artistic process!
Start a conversation about the performance, or reflect on the performance, using these questions as inspiration.
In 2014, after years of work, Carpenter and a team created the International Touring Organ - a digital and travel-friendly organ instrument. Because of this, he is no longer limited to performing where organs are typically installed such as churches and concert halls. Carpenter has “designed and directed installation of 246 site-specific installations of I.T.O. for approximately 350+ concert events internationally.”
- What considerations do you imagine go into the design of a new instrument? Sound quality? Expense for the installation? Similarity or difference to the original form of the instrument?
- What impact might it have on the audience to hear organ music in another (unexpected or atypical) venue? Some might say this move is a way to secularize the music - do you agree or disagree?
Carpenter has been described as visionary, revolutionary, innovative and game changing when it comes to organ playing, writing, interpretations, and conceptions. He often emphasizes how he aims to shift ideas of what is perceived by audiences, musicians, and general society as organ music.
- How do you imagine organ music to be played, taught, and experienced in the next 10 years? 20 years? 50 years?
In an interview with the Lincoln Center entitled “Dancers Make Better Organists,” Carpenter describes how the understanding of full body movement is essential to successfully play the complex instrument.
- When watching an organist play the instrument, how do their arms, legs, torso, and head compare to specific dance styles you have seen? Which dance style reminds you the most of organ playing?
Supporters
Part of a Series
Program Notes
Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 537
Prelude and Fugue 1 in C Major (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II), BWV 870
Prelude and Fugue 11 in F major (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II), BWV 880
Fantasia on Komm, Heiliger Geist, BWV 651
Chorale-Prelude on O Mensch, bewein’ dein Sünde gross, BWV 622
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major St. Anne, BWV 552
Intermission
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
B. 1981, Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; homeschooled 1981–1992. American Boychoir School (Princeton, NJ), 1993-1995; public performances in USA and Europe as a chorister, accompanist and keyboard soloist. Homeschooled, 1995–1996; University of North Carolina School of the Arts 1996–2000 (high school diploma), The Juilliard School, New York, NY, 2000–2006 (Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance 2004; Master of Music in Organ Performance, 2006). Many arrangements and transcriptions for organ, mostly of orchestral and piano works, from c. 1996. First organist nominated for a GRAMMYTM Award for the album Revolutionary (Telarc®, 2008). Publishing contract with Edition Peters 2009; emigrated to Germany 2010; first concerto for organ and orchestra (The Scandal, Op. 3, premiered 2011 at Cologne Philharmonie by Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Alexander Shelley). Management by Konzertdirektion Schmid and CAMI Music LLC since 2011; global touring, orchestral engagements, media since 2011. Featured speaker at TED, IdeaCity, Aspen Ideas Festival, other conferences; Leonard Bernstein Award (Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival), 2012. First Organist-In-Residence, Philharmonie Berlin, Season 2012–2013; recording contract with Sony Classical, 2013.
Designed, financed, and converted most activities to International Touring Organ (debuted Lincoln Center and Konzerthaus, Vienna 2014). Extensive global touring with International Touring Organ (‘I.T.O.’) in U.S.A., Europe, Russia, China, Australia from 2014–early 2020 in a variety of formats (solo, concerto, open air, collaborative, broadcast, others). Premiere of Terry Riley’s organ concerto At The Royal Majestic in Los Angeles, Geneva, and Berlin, 2014; ECHO Klassik award (If You Could Read My Mind), 2015. Designed and debuted George W. Mergens Memorial Organ at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Palm Beach, 2016. Creation of organ and orchestra version of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, 2016–2017; Artist-in-Residence, Konzerthaus Berlin, Season 2017–2018. Rachmaninoff Paganini mounted with I.T.O. and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (world premiere Shanghai 2018), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Wien, Graz Philharmonic, Bamberger Philharmoniker, Orchestre National du Lyon, Minnesota Orchestra, others, 2018–2019. Rachmaninoff Paganini recorded with I.T.O. and Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Christoph Eschenbach for Sony Classical, 2019.
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We gratefully acknowledge the support from, Arts Midwest Touring Fund, Minnesota State Arts Board, Marbrook Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and New England Foundation for the Arts.
We extend a special thank you to our event sponsors PNC Bank, RBC Wealth Management, and HGA.
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Please contact Trisha Taylor at taylort@umn.edu if you have any corrections or questions.
The Heritage Society honors and celebrates donors who have made estate and other planned gifts for Northrop at the University of Minnesota.
- Nancy M Allen*
- Jerry L Artz
- John W Follows*
- Stephen Gordon and Pat Gavan-Gordon
- Peter S Lund
- Darlene M Sholtis
*deceased
NORTHROP’S AEOLIAN-SKINNER ORGAN
Thank you to the generous donors who continue to support programming for Northrop’s beloved Aeolian-Skinner Organ. It is because of you that this magnificent instrument’s voice will be enjoyed by many for years to come.
organ supporters
- Anonymous
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- Richard Steege
- Paul Stever
- William Tajibnapis
- Nicole Thomas
- Curtis Trout
- John Vilandre
- Michael Volna
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- David and Rachelle Willey
organ advisory board
- J. Michael Barone
- Cynthia Betz
- Dean Billmeyer
- Kristen Brogdon
- Dr. Robert Bruininks
- Dee Ann Crossley
- Laura Edman
- Cathie Fischer
- Nils Halker
- Cari Hatcher
- David Jensen
- Helen Jensen
- Pamela Neuenfeldt
- Kari Schloner
This season’s listing is current as of 2/14/22
Please contact Trisha Taylor at taylort@umn.edu if you have any corrections or questions.
Welcome to Northrop’s winter season! I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate 2022 than by joining us for the Northrop debut of organ virtuoso Cameron Carpenter on our historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 organ. We are so grateful for your support and commitment to the work that we do and the artists that we present.
I hope you can join us as well for the rest of Northrop’s 2021-22 season which includes more newly commissioned works, co-presentations with our partners in the Twin Cities arts community, and multiple premieres of pieces never seen before in this region. I know you’ll enjoy these upcoming events and I invite you to bring family and friends to share memorable experiences with you.
As we enjoy this season and look to the future, I invite you to support Northrop’s programs, helping to shine bright lights on our stage. Please consider supporting the important work that Northrop is doing now and in the future to inspire positive change in our world. The Northrop Advisory Board is growing along with new opportunities to engage. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us at northrop@umn.edu. And if you see me at Northrop, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself! I would love to meet you.
Thank you for attending this performance, and we look forward to seeing you at many more Northrop events in 2022!
Jeff Bieganek
Northrop Advisory Board Chair
The Northrop Advisory Board
The Northrop Advisory Board is committed to the growth and awareness of Northrop’s mission, vision, and the continued future of presenting world-class dance and music in our community. If you would like more information about the advisory board and its work, please contact Cynthia Betz, Director of Development, at 612-626-7554 or betzx011@umn.edu.
board members
- Cynthia Betz
- Jeff Bieganek, Chair
- Kristen Brogdon
- Dr. Robert Bruininks
- John Conlin
- Deb Cran
- Susan DeNuccio
- Karen Hanson
- Cari Hatcher
- Jill Hauwiller
- Bob McMaster
- Katheryn Menaged
- Cory Padesky
- Holly Radis-McCluskey
- Gary Reetz
- Robyne Robinson
- Kari Schloner
- Donald Williams
This season’s listing is current as of 2/14/22
Please contact Trisha Taylor at taylort@umn.edu if you have any corrections or questions.