Carson Cooman on Creating and Promoting Contemporary Music

Carson Cooman (photo by Colby Cooman)

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #84!

Today's guest is an American composer, concert organist, writer, editor and consultant Carson Cooman (b. 1982) with a catalog of hundreds of works in many forms—from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes.

​​Since 2006, Cooman has held the position of Composer in Residence at The Memorial Church, Harvard University. From 2008-11, he also served as Composer in Residence to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 2015, he has been Organ Editor for Lorenz Publishing Company.
Carson's music has been performed on all six inhabited continents in venues that range from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the basket of a hot air balloon. Cooman’s music appears on over forty recordings, including more than twenty complete CDs on the Naxos, Albany, Artek, Gothic, Divine Art, Métier, Diversions, Convivium, Altarus, MSR Classics, Raven, and Zimbel labels.

Cooman’s primary composition studies were with Bernard Rands, Judith Weir, Alan Fletcher, and James Willey. As an active concert organist, Cooman specializes in the performance of contemporary music. Over 150 new compositions by more than 100 international composers have been written for him, and his organ performances can be heard on a number of CD recordings.

​Cooman is also a writer on musical subjects, producing articles and reviews frequently for a number of international publications. He serves as an active consultant on music business matters to composers and performing organizations, specializing particularly in the area of composer estates and archives.

In this conversation, Carson shares his insights about his love of contemporary music, about his organ compositions, about his initiative to create new works for chamber organs and many other things. This is a particularly inspiring talk.

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Listen to the conversation