Film Streams Presents Cabin Music

April 21st, 2025

There is a power to music in the way that it can deeply impact both the lives of those who listen as well as the musicians who create it. For pianist and film maker James Carson, a lifetime surrounded by music was the guiding force to forming a new style of playing the piano. Film Streams presents a screening of Carson’s feature documentary film, Cabin Music. 

“The whole world is in that cabin and then the whole cabin is in the music,” Carson said. 

Identified as a child prodigy, Carson grew up musically gifted. His talent led him to composing before age ten. By 15, Carson’s work was being performed professionally by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. It was during his time at the New England Conservatory that Carson’s desire to both rework his understanding of musical possibilities and perform music in a new way began to emerge. 

During this time, Carson was working as a musical engraver, preparing orchestral scores.  He transferred from the Conservatory’s Composition Department to the then named Contemporary Improvisation Department, known today as Contemporary Musical Arts. The new department allowed him to focus on the piano and develop the sound he wanted to hear.  

After leaving the New England Conservatory, Carson decided to travel to see the world and the ways in which others lived. With nothing but a backpack for his belongings, Carson booked a flight to Spain. For two years, he spent time visiting various countries and finding inspiration for the cabin he planned to build once he got home. 

After returning to Canada, Carson began planning for the cabin he would build in Northern Alberta. After five years of building, Carson was able to move the piano into the cabin.

Although a simple building, the clay walls of the cabin produced a clear sound when playing. Years after the idea originally struck him, Carson began to create a new style of music fueled by the forces within a space leading to a unique performance each time he plays.  

“So once, once we had the once we had the cabin and the music, then there was this question of, how do you get that to the world,” Carson said. “Like, I had to figure out a way to get the world to catch up to where the cabin was.” 

After initially renting a camera in 2009, Carson began work on producing and directing a film about the cabin and his music. After 12 years of development, Carson debuted Cabin Music in 2022.  

Film Streams will be welcoming Carson to Omaha for the screening of Cabin Music alongside a performance and Q&A session at the Ruth Sokolof Theater April 22. The film will begin at 6:30 pm.  

For more information about Carson’s film and musical endeavors, visit www.cabinmusic.earth.