Michael Carter

About Michael

IMPORTANT - Due to Covid-19, many concerts are subject to cancellation or amendment. Please do check before travelling and also view any notes associated with each concert listing. Stay well everyone.

2021 - Please think of those that rely on our musical world for their income before booking me in 2021. Whilst I'd be delighted to be invited to play, there are others that are currently not getting the usual income from music and I believe it's only right to give those artists first chance of any concerts that resume in 2021. I will still be here the year after and just as delighted to play using my new Yamaha Stagea ELC-02.

Michael Carter is an organist from the West Midlands, near Solihull. He plays both electronic and theatre organ.

During his concerts you will hear a mix of theatre organ standards, orchestral arrangements, light classical items, film music and showtunes, as well as some popular tunes and diverse musical interpretations.

===== F E E D B A C K ==========================================================

"Thanks Michael for an enjoyable concert. We had very favourable comments on your programme choice, especially the Film Music items."  Leamington Spa & District Organ Society. (Yamaha EL900m)

"Thank you Michael for an extremely entertaining hour of music performed by yourself at our Wurlitzer on Easter Sunday. Our audience were so pleased with the variation of Musicals & Light Classical tunes eg 'Blood Brothers selection' and 'The Legend of the Glass Mountain'."  Shropshire Theatre Organ Trust - (3/10 Wurlitzer)

“Michael played a very varied programme of music to suit all tastes. This included a selection from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘The Godfather’, ‘Meditation’ and ‘The Legend of the Glass Mountain’. His presentation was excellent and an enjoyable evening was had by all.”  Cookhill Keyboard Club. (Yamaha D-Deck DDK7)

============================================================================

Michael started learning to play the organ following a visit to Blackpool Tower, aged nine. Michael was mesmerised by the sound and remembers deciding there and then that he wanted to play that instrument.  Within a few years of hard work and with tutorage from Midlands Cinema Organist, Foley Bates, he returned to the Tower and achieved his ambition to play the famous instrument.

Throughout his teenage years he worked weekends and school holidays in local music shops and continued with his lessons in theatre style whilst developing his own approach on electronic.

Michael started performing for concerts, dancing, and local events including an appearance on the same bill as a young Joe Pasquale for a charity event.  Throughout these early years, he owned many instruments and most performances were either on his Hammond M102 or on Yamaha HS series.  His love for theatre organ remained and Michael performed a number of concerts alongside his teacher as well as solo events.

After a 20-year musical hiatus to focus on his career in IT, Michael acquired a Yamaha HX1 and then an EL900m with which to return to the concert circuit - since then he has changed instrument to a Yamaha D-Deck for a couple of years and has most recently acquired a Yamaha Stagea ELC-02 which will be used for all future electronic concerts. With a full-time career as an IT professional, Michael is only able to accept a limited number of engagements each year. Please do get in touch early, if possible, to help with diary planning.

In his spare time, Michael helps with maintenance at some theatre organ venues and is the editor for 'Cinema Organ'; the quarterly journal of the Cinema Organ Society, taking over the role from John Leeming.  Not content with this, his garage now houses a 2-manual Wurlitzer console that he is rebuilding as a Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ.

2020 saw Michael making a recreational visit to the USA to play a number of theatre organs around PA, DE and NJ before things halted due to Covid. Michael was due to travel to the Isle of Man Wurlitzer to play for a midweek concert and make return visits to the LTOT in Peel Green and the Wurlitzer's at Beer and Rye. Many of these events will be rebooked for 2021/22 with return electronic concerts at Cookhill and Leamington as well as a number of new venues. A special cross-event has been rescheduled for 2021 at St. Peter's, Cradley featuring the Compton church organ alongside (and with) his Yamaha electronic.

Booking now for 2021 / 2022

Michael's Photo Gallery

Michael's Concert Diary