Michael Carter

About Michael

2023/24 - My concert instrument for electronic concerts is the latest Yamaha Stagea ELC-02. For theatre organ concerts I can also offer a cross-over programme where I use the electronic for a few solo items and also to accompany the theatre organ using pre-sequences backing tracks. If this is of interest, do let me know at the time of booking.

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.

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 in Warwick and Leamington Spa 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 returned to the concert scene in 2017 and now uses a Yamaha Stagea ELC-02 imported from Japan for all electronic concerts.

With a full-time career as an IT Manager, Michael is only able to accept a limited number of engagements each year. Please do get in touch early if possible  

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. His house is also home to a 2-manual Wurlitzer console (originally from the New Victoria Cinema, Edinburgh) that he is rebuilding as a Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ using computers instead of pipes.

Early 2020 saw Michael making a return 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, but as we know there followed 18 months of disruption. Happily, live music is firmly back on the agenda and during 2022/23, in addition to the usual concerts, Michael played a number of cross-events featuring electronics and pipes.

Booking now for 2023/24

Michael's Photo Gallery

Michael's Concert Diary