Organized Rhythm

Concert audiences across the United States, Europe and Asia have been brought to their feet by a pairing of musical personalities as improbable and winning as Organized Rhythm’s combination of the pipe organ and multi-percussion. 

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British organist Clive Driskill-Smith trained at Eton and Oxford. His solo performances around the world have earned him recognition as one of his generation’s star organists. Now based in Fort Worth, Clive is an active soloist, music director, collaborator and committee member of his local AGO Chapter. Joining Clive in Organized Rhythm is percussionist Joseph Gramley. An Oregon native whose own crowd-pleasing solo concerts and work with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble have made him one of the leading multi-percussionists performing today, Gramley strives to both complement and augment Clive’s masterful registrations, textures, colors and sounds.  

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This powerful and harmonious duo presents what has been described as “...an exciting two-hour musical adventure, [offering] startling clear insight into what makes a live performance good, and why good live performances are important for us...passion, technical mastery, and precision...two young musicians doing what they clearly love--making music, not just for themselves, but for us as well." (The Granite State News, NH)

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Trumpet and organ: it’s been done before. Flute and organ: it’s been done before. But the “symphonic-orchestral” pairing of organ and percussion remains a rarity, making Organized Rhythm the only full-time duo of its kind anywhere in the world. Clive and Joseph take every opportunity to explore the lyrical and powerful tonal aspects of thunderous and dulcet wood and metal organ pipes married to the visceral, arresting and delicate aspects of a wide array of percussion instruments from around the world through a collection of new works as well as transcriptions of recognizable classical compositions. Their repertoire spans from the music of J.S. Bach and Camille Saint-Saëns to that of Aaron Copland, John Williams and celebrated and innovative 21st century composers Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, William Susman and Brenda Portman. The duo’s adaptation of Gustav Holst’s The Planets has been played worldwide, from Budapest to Bloomington — Taipei to Tulsa. 

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Committed to collaborating with the leading composers of today, the Duo commissions and premieres new works each season. Listeners to the Duo’s recording Beaming Music will hear dozens of world drums, multiple metals, cymbals, tam-tams, multi-keyboard melodic percussion, orchestral percussion and timpani melding with the full organ’s sound. The duo has found balances in which even the soft bars of the marimba meld seamlessly with the organ’s softest registers. The creative ease that exists between the two – developed not only during travel and concerts, but while finding, arranging and shaping repertoire – is instantly evident to anyone watching them rehearse, perform and record. Recent sold-out performances include the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest and Taipei’s stunning National Performing Arts Center.