Arts & Entertainment
Visiting virtuoso
Organist Cameron Carpenter makes D.C.-area debut next weekend
Cameron Carpenter, organist
Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tucker Lane
North Bethesda, MD
April 12
8 p.m.
$25-40
301-581-5100
Strathmore.org
Cameroncarpenter.com
Organist Cameron Carpenter. (Photo by Heiko Laschitzki; courtesy Bucklesweet Media)
Organist Cameron Carpenter is a tangle of apparent contradictions.
On one hand, he’s made a slightly daring fashion sensibility a central component of his stage persona, yet in stage speech (banter is way too light a term for it) and conversation, he comes off as deadly earnest. But perhaps this says more about us — why do we tend to think that mohawks and sequins might indicate a less-than-intellectual musical mind?
Perhaps because he takes — in some ways — a rock star approach to being a serious (Juilliard-trained) classical musician and seems to delight in unorthodox and even iconoclastic approaches (his transcriptions of piano and orchestral works to the organ have elicited everything from critical awe to “is-this-a-joke?” reactions), Carpenter is a polarizing figure.
But get to know the queer, Berlin-based organist, follow his career over several years and play devil’s advocate with him — as we’ve done here — and you realize the creativity and talent he brings to it all far supercedes the reductions of dozens of articles and TV profiles around the world that have reduced him to little more than a “bad boy” or “modern-day Liberace.” Yes, there’s grumbling in more staid organ-world circles (one often notices a trend of rather bemused expressions when his name is uttered), but try to think of young organists who are sparking the kind of raves and career he has managed, and the list gets really, really short. He makes his Washington-area debut April 12 at the Strathmore.
Carpenter, in Georgia with a friend who’s having him give a private recital at a pipe organ this person has installed in his house, says he feels little pressure generally speaking. We chatted for about an hour in mid-March by phone.
“I am conscious of it at times and I sometimes have the sudden realization of deadlines coming up but though this may sound supremely arrogant, when I later manage to pull it off, I realize I should never have had any self doubt. I think this theory is sound … I try to stay away from getting too caught up in pressure and luckily I don’t get stage fright.”
Carpenter remains — a recurring theme — frustrated by constantly having to adapt to the organs in various concert halls around the world. Purists are skeptical, but Carpenter expects a touring organ he’s been working on for several years will be “built and launched” next year.
Of the grand tradition of grand organ building, Carpenter says what he’s trying to do doesn’t diminish those achievements.
“It’s not how many rooms full of wooden pipes there are or how many degrees someone has or how many works one has written for the organ,” he says. “It’s only interesting in terms of human emotion and how it makes us feel to be alive.”
He says constantly having to get accustomed to new organs has become maddening.
“The closest analogy I can come up with is if you made a film and every time you screened it, you had to recut the edit. There’s a staggering amount of work that goes into each minute of film. It would be almost unsustainable. That’s why touring for me is so very hard.”
Although it’s highly likely to change — Carpenter has been known to have programs printed, then play nothing listed on them — he says his Strathmore performance may contain an organ adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” Overture, perhaps some Marcel Dupre variations, a reimagining of a scherzo by Tchaikovsky and “maybe” some Liszt Transcendental Etudes.
“It all depends on the organ, which is as yet unknown,” he says.
Carpenter says he can’t relay details just yet, but an announcement about a new recording deal is imminent. His last album was 2010’s “Cameron Live!” release (a CD/DVD double album). A feature-length documentary on his life and work is also “very much in the planning stages,” he says.
“I don’t really see myself as someday having a recorded legacy of 70 CDs, but I do think it would be great if each of them … is something really personal and strong. … I’ve also wanted to wait until the right recording instrument would be available so I’ve been focusing most of my energy on that for now. I don’t have any particular compulsion to record just for its own sake.”
He says he appreciates media coverage immensely so objecting to superficial comparisons of performers from bygone eras isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“It is kind of knee-jerk and wildly reductive, but they can’t be blamed for trying to sell tickets,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind if I never hear the phrase ‘bad boy of the organ’ ever again but it’s a sad truism I guess.”
And of the Mohawk he’s been sporting of late, Carpenter says it’s here to stay at least for now.
“I think I’ve settled on something that hits a visual balance of elegance and style. It’s also the haircut of a warrior which is not inappropriate.”
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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