AO MUSIC, (also known as, AO) is a pan-cultural world/new age musical group, known for an exotic blend of ethnic texture, rhythmic energy and ambient harmony. Their compositions employ melodic refrains, sung by Miriam Stockley (the voice of Karl Jenkins' Adiemus project), and children's choral ensembles from around the globe. Song lyrics are typically sung in a mixture of ancient languages or made-up phonetics, so as not to pay allegiance to a particular ethnicity; thereby lending to a more universal impression. Each song is composed, produced and performed by three well established recording artists; founder Richard Gannaway (vocals, stringed instruments), Jay Oliver (keyboards, synths, samples) and Miriam Stockley (vocals). Gannaway and Oliver produce the sound using a blend of live acoustic instruments and digital samples that cover a broad range of world indigeny mixed with contemporary elements.

Latest News

AO MUSIC's album "...and Love Rages On!" was voted BEST WORLD ALBUM of 2011 by Zone Music Reporter's international network of radio and web broadcasters.

AOMUSIC Bio

AOMUSIC, (also known as, AO) is a pan-cultural world/new age musical group, known for an exotic blend of ethnic texture, rhythmic energy and ambient harmony. Their compositions employ melodic refrains, sung by Miriam Stockley (the voice of Karl Jenkins' Adiemus project), and children's choral ensembles from around the globe. Song lyrics are typically sung in a mixture of ancient languages or made-up phonetics, so as not to pay allegiance to a particular ethnicity; thereby lending to a more universal impression. Each song is composed, produced and performed by three well established recording artists; founder Richard Gannaway, Jay Oliver and Miriam Stockley. The group self-produces albums on their own indie label AO Music/Arcturian Gate (established in 1996). Gannaway and Oliver produce the sound using a blend of live acoustic instruments and digital samples that cover a broad range of world indigeny mixed with contemporary elements.


Formation:

Richard Gannaway (stringed instruments, vocals) and Jay Oliver (synths, samples, keyboards) began working on the Aomusic project in 1996.

The Aomusic album "Grow Wild" was released in 2000 on Arcturian Gate and promoted on NPR radio across North America.

In 2001 Gannaway and Oliver moved to Carlsbad, California to begin production of their second Aomusic album "Twirl". During that year the group traveled to Indonesia, where they studied the Gamelan music tradition. They were also invited to China by CRC (the China Record Corporation) and introduced to the Beijing Olympic Committee, who asked the group to compose theme music for the 2008 Summer Games. That same year they enlisted Miriam Stockley to sing the chorus of "On Jai Ya" along with Beijing's renowned CRC Children's Choir, which is how Stockley became involved with Aomusic.

In 2004 they were invited to Mumbai to work with Bollywood film score composer Sandeep Chowta, who brought a wealth of musical resources to the group from that region.

With the release of "...and Love Rages on!" in 2011, Aomusic aligned with one of the many charities under the FirstGiving / GlobalGiving umbrellas. The FirstGiving / Aomusic alliance is specifically organized to build sustainable villages for the children of Haiti, who were displaced by an earthquake in 2010, and represents the first association of its kind for Aomusic's non-profit affiliate AO Foundation International.

Comments

Author
Antho
over 30 days ago to AO MUSIC

Great stuff, love On Jai Ya!



Author
Ziplok
over 30 days ago to AO MUSIC

ziplok.us ziplokus@gmail.com



AO MUSIC Friends

Clean Clean

Clean Clean

Artist Name
00:00 / 00:00