Event

Charlemagne Palestine, solo organ

ISSUE is pleased to present the inimitable Charlemagne Palestine in his first-ever New York organ performance. A self-described "maximalist composer", Palestine originally developed his organ technique in 1964 at the Unitarian Church on Central Park West, gave his first public performance in Holland in 1979, and has since played internationally on the instrument. In this concert he performs on one of New York City's most distinctive instruments: the Aeolian-Skinner organ at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights, known for its "American Classic" sound.

Tickets are available to ISSUE Members now, on sale to the general public Tuesday, February 18.

Charlemagne Palestine is an American composer, performer, and visual artist. A contemporary of Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Phill Niblock, and Steve Reich, Palestine wrote intense, ritualistic music in the 1970s, intended by the composer to rub against Western audiences' expectations of what is beautiful and meaningful in music. A composer-performer originally trained to be a cantor, he always performed his own works as soloist. His earliest works were compositions for carillon and electronic drones, and he is perhaps best known for his intensely performed piano works. Palestine's performance style is ritualistic: he generally surrounds himself and his piano with stuffed animals, smokes large numbers of kretek, and drinks cognac.