Tauranga Theatre Organ Society presents One Maestro, Two Keyboards - Another Wurlitzer and Steinway Show - featuring American Young Organist of the Year Jelani Eddington, on Sunday.
During the years that Eddington, pictured, has given concerts, he has easily established himself as one of the most prominent and sought-after artistson the concert circuit. He has performed at most of the major concert venues in the United States, has toured extensively abroad, and received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2001 Theatre Organist of the Year.
Jelani Eddington was born in Muncie, Indiana, and grew up in a very musical family. Between the interests of his mother, a professional music teacher, and those of his grandmother, Florence Arnold, a well-respected piano instructor, Eddington demonstrated musical inclination very young.
Shortly after beginning piano instruction at the age of four, he began studying classical piano with his grandmother. At the age of eight, a trip to hear a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ in Indianapolis introduced Eddington to the instrument's sound..
Ultimately, he began studying theatre organ under John Ferguson, whose skills as a theatre organ instructor are highly acclaimed internationally.
Eddington remains the youngest competitor to win the American Theatre Organ Society's Young Theatre Organist title.
He has featured at numerous conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society, and has toured the world extensively, making many concert appearances. He has also accompanied a great many silent films and appears regularly at film series. In 2007, Eddington accompanied the classic film The Hunchback Of Notre Dame for an international organ festival in Finland on the country's largest pipe organ.
He has also distinguished himself as a concert pianist, appearing recently in performances of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A-Minor, George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue and Leroy Anderson's Piano Concerto in C-Major. In February 2008, Eddington played two special recitals of Anderson's concerto with the Tulsa Signature Symphony for Leroy Anderson's centennial.
He has also produced theatre organ albums on some of the best-known and most dynamic instruments in the country. In August 2001, the American Theatre Organ Society honoured his extensive career by naming him the 2001 Theatre Organist of the Year - the organisation's most prestigious honour for theatre organists.
Baycourt Theatre, Sunday, 1.30pm. Tickets available at Baycourt TicketDirect ph 577 7185.
