WELCOME EVERYONE!
February 22nd, 2024 – An Update;
A new song has been recorded by Alva Sound Art Studio. It is called “Leave Us Alone” The piece is a bit of a protest song, however I do not like the term or focus of protest. Rather this piece identifies some very negative current issues in our world, and then it presents a perspective and offers solutions, from a straight demand to stop the crimes, the wars, the harms, the lies, and then sings about how blessed we are and can be in this Lifetime, “as we ascend to the Heaven above us, as Humans upon the Earth”
And the overall theme is “Leave us alone, Just leave us alone,… Just leave” to be who we are, as we are, and as we are meant to be without anyone else messing things up and demanding, while we are singing “we don’t bow down to your lusts”
I am very glad to say that my good friend Rich Sanders sang some of the lead and chorus on this piece. My wife Tanya and I also sang lead parts and chorus. I did a bit of a vocal experiment with three different lead voices in three different sections. I am also very happy to say that a drummer who I played with back in the 1990s, who is now a successful Los Angeles based musician played electronic sampled Drums. His name is Rich Sherwood.
The piece is very straight ahead, a bit of a rocker, with a bit of southern style, and punk. I played bass, guitar and tambourine, and I kept the instruments somewhat low in the mix, and simple, even the bass guitar has a simple part, but expressive. When the song came to me it was going to always feature voices and percussion.
I will add the song to the youtube channel – Alva Sound Art Studio.
AND onwards with the works of “A Play in Mind” this is becoming quite a large project. I have been really focusing upon the aesthetics and the ritual of the Orthodox Church. That has taken my focus a bit and what I am coming up with is quite a bit of material and an approach, which is as I mentioned, quite sprawling. This one might take a couple of years to realize.
AND the final version of “MorningStar – a play as musical audio book” is ready to have its last two, and final edits made. Meaning that it will be ready for purchase as an entire 8 hour audio production, along with “A Creative Place” contact me for those and I can arrange for a dropbox transfer and purchase.
November 16th, 2023. There were three successful Story Orchestra Performances of “Phila Omni Dear All” in May and August of this year. I am grateful to the performers and to Prof. Gardner Rust who was the choral director. Unfortunately we lost the Indian Musical and Dance components for the production. So when you see the current video, we no longer have the Sitarist. The audience response was excellent… and Now it is time to move on.
NEXT – “A Play In Mind” is the in the works, being created with an intended schedule for performances next Summer, Summer 2024. This is going to be a fairly large scale Theater Performance piece. Characters will portray the thoughts of an individual through the course of the day.
“A Play In Mind” will coalesce quite a few of the individual project goals and compositions that I have been working on over the years. There will be elements from “Phila Omni Dear All” as well as compositions on the theme of Wisdom, relationships, the good, the true, the beautiful, as well as on thoughts about doubt, sadness, concern, wondering, work, war and peace, culture, and the world. This will be tricky to write, but I have been actually writing this for my whole life, so I have unused material to draw from.
I am anticipating around 20 compositions, recitative, actors, dancers, chorus, solo voice, and a small instrumental ensemble. The performance will be about 90 minutes in length.
Please Be Sure to contact me if you are interested in helping support this financially, would like to help arrange a performance, or would like to purchase the musical audio books of “Morningstar” or “A Creative Place.” I can arrange to send you an audio file of these works. My hope is that in the next five years I can get “MorningStar…” back on stage, and complete “Charlie Troll Chum” as another musical audio book.
I am not certain about the current status of “The Story Orchestra.” My goal for “A Play In Mind” is for acoustic bass guitar; wind instruments and light percussion as well as at least 4 choral singers.
July 16th, 2023, so onwards we go for sure. Please look at the “Phila Omni, Dear All” page for the latest on performances for this Contemporary Oratorio focusing upon Beauty performed by “The Story Orchestra.”
If you are interested in purchasing one or two of the audio musical audio books “MorningStar” or “A Creative Place” please contact me at asartstudio@gmail.com and I can arrange to get you a copy. Excerpts to be loaded up on my youtube “channel” Alva Sound Art Studio – soon.
My goal is to eventually record “Phila Omni, Dear All” as the next musical audio book, sorry dance cannot be included in this so come and see the shows. And then to work on “Charlie Troll Trum” which I actually feel is my best original work, that is not completed. This is another theatrical play that translates well into just an audio project.
Both “MorningStar, a Play with Music and Dance” and “Charlie Troll Trum” are meant for the stage, not as well, but primarily. I am looking for people to work on these projects, with “MorningStar” to go up first. The business side, performance company, producers, business, business, business, musical director, stage director, all are needed, once and yet again. If you are interested, or know of people, give them my contact information. I plan on establishing a Patreon Page for these as well. I would love to talk with you all about this, so drop me an email.
And finally for now, I am reaching out to other performance groups and theater companies to collaborate on and share performances, gigs. Working together to bring a variety in a production with two, or more, performance groups is a good and powerful thing, it reaches more people, defrays the cost, and of course will provide positive, beautiful artful entertainment.
morningstarplay.com the address for Alva Sound Art Studio’s website, and the main page for morningstarplay.com of old, which can be found in the tab Alva Sound Art Studio Old Website.
WELCOME EVERYONE!
October 18th, 2022 – It has been a while. As with many creative artists performances have been delayed. However much has happened. Currently I am working on a performance piece entitled “Phila Omni, Dear All.” This will be a musical performance with dance and spoken word hopefully to be performed either in the the Spring or Fall of 2023. It will be an eclectic myriad of styles, all aiming for the beautiful, the positive, as a somewhat historical presentation of the human mind, psyche, and being in nature and in spirit. More on this shortly, a page will be devoted to this.
And! I completed a bit of a memoir in the form of Musical Audio Book entitled “A Creative Place – Life in Cotati 1979 to 82” It is about moving to a piece of land with my family, the creative people who were there when we arrived, and the creation of my first couple of bands as a teenager. More on this as well. But to say this is a real celebration of positive and beautiful creativity, and of the craftmanship of Art. Very purposeful, and not just about me.
And!! I am working on edits for “MorningStar – A Play as Musical Audio Book” creating version two, or the second edition. I am looking to find a better way to get this material, well actually both audio books, to you all. More on this as well!
My hope is that in the Spring, or Fall of 2023 there will be series of performances and releases to radio stations, publicity et al. to present all of the offerings that I have to you all. I am working with several creators and performers now, and will continue to do so.
Of course what is needed is funding. I want to pay creative artists, performers, the business associates, and tech crew needed to mount a large scale production. I will be setting up Go Fund Me and Patreon accounts in order to do so. And I will be available to present to you, and dialogue with you ideas about creativity, and aesthetics and the metaphysics of beautiful audio and theater. If you wish to connect now, please email me at asartstudio@gmail.com
One of the goals of “Phila Omni, Dear All” is to present not only visually, but aurally, sonically, the best ever sounding production in the San Francisco Bay, and then perhaps… to other places as well. Nick