Paul Cartier

Paul Cartier (born January 4, 1959) is the stadium organist for Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and the National Hockey League's New York Islanders.[1]

When he plays for the Yankees, Cartier plays 15-20 minutes every game night before the game starts.[2] He finishes off every half-inning with organ music as well as Happy Birthday promotions and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the seventh inning stretch.[2] He also plays music when the Yankees are at bat, chosen either by himself or in consultation with the music director.[2] His organ booth with his Hammond Elegante, is currently in the Delta Club where fans sometimes visit him between sets.[1] In the old Yankee Stadium, it was directly above and behind home plate, next to the booth used by announcer Bob Sheppard.[1]

Cartier played for the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum for the first time in 1979 and became their regular organist in 1980 through 1985.[1][3] He had been a fan since he saw their first game in 1972, often playing their theme song from his window before playing street hockey with his friends.[4] He returned as a fill-in organist in 2000, and replaced Eddie Layton as the full-timer a few years later.[1] Since 2015, he's been playing for them at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.[3] As of April 2022, Cartier is still with the Islanders at UBS Arena with a new organ, the Lowrey Prestige organ, and can be seen in section 201a.

Early life and education

Cartier's first organ was a Magnus chord organ that belonged to his aunt.[5] His parents later got his own Estee chord organ, and he started taking piano lessons.[5] He began playing at his local church as an eleven year old.[5][4]

Cartier graduated from Hofstra University in 1981 with a BS in music education.[2] He played organ in church to help pay for college and has been the organist at Our Lady of Hope Church in Diocese of Rockville Centre since 1987.[5] He is also a substitute organist at various other area Catholic churches.[5] In his day job he was an air traffic controller until 2015, and also works for his local volunteer fire department as a Firefighter/EMT. He lives in South Hempstead, New York.[5]

References
  1. Kreda, Allan (2014-01-30). "For Organist, the Best of Both Worlds". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. "Alumnus of the Month, Paul Cartier '81 - New York". Hofstra. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  3. Tasch, Justin (2015-10-03). "Music to their ears as Paul Cartier brings Long Island sound to Islanders new home arena in Brooklyn". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  4. Hermann, Mark. "Organist transplanted from church to Coliseum". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  5. Shemitz, Gregory A. "Playing organ for New York teams is sports heaven for church musician". Catholic Courier. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
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