Emile at Sunset Cultural Center in collaboration with the Carmel Bach Festival

Emile Norman (1918-2009)

A selection of sculpture from Emile Norman’s personal collection, 1956-1968, bronze

Slideshow: Historical photographs from Emile Norman’s personal archive, circa 1960

Courtesy of Emile Norman Arts Foundation

This year, we celebrate the long history shared by the Carmel Bach Festival and the late Big Sur-based artist Emile Norman.

Emile was a devoted patron of the Carmel Bach Festival, attending annually from the early 1950s. He became a beloved figure among musicians and attendees from around the world, easily recognized as “the man in the purple beret.”

Bach’s music infused Emile’s artistic life. Whether it was resounding from the speakers that filled every corner of his Big Sur home or played by Emile himself on one of the many instruments he practiced daily, Bach was ever-present.

Audacious in both vision and life, Emile and his life partner, Brooks Clement, commissioned a custom Baroque tracker organ from the Klais Company in Germany in 1969—an instrument much like the one Bach would have composed on. The organ arrived in Big Sur in 1970, along with a company installer, and over several months was housed in a magnificent 10-by-12-foot wooden cabinet designed and inlaid by Emile himself. The cabinet, rich with natural themes inspired by the Big Sur landscape, was specially installed in an acoustic designed concert living room built to honor the instrument’s structure and resonance.

In March 1971, the first concert on the organ was performed by E. Power Biggs, one of the world’s most celebrated organists at that time. Many more memorable concerts followed throughout Emile’s lifetime.

This year in the Sunset Center foyer, we are delighted to exhibit original photographs from Emile Norman’s historic archive as well as a selection of Emile’s bronze sculptures. These works on view have been generously loaned by the Emile Norman Arts Foundation—a Big Sur-based, community led nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining Emile’s home and archives while advancing his legacy. 

After many years, the Carmel Bach Festival has joyfully rekindled its connection to Emile’s legacy and the magnificent Klais organ that remains in his Big Sur home.

The Carmel Bach Festival and the Emile Norman Arts Foundation look forward to further collaborations—celebrating a shared belief in the transformative and unifying power of music.