We’re proud to announce the completion of the world premiere recording of Michael Staley’s evocative new ballet Pompeii (2011).

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Excerpts

We’ve completed our performance and recording of Mike Barnett’s tour-de-force concerto for piano and orchestra, “Lucifer Rising.”

  Lucifer Rising, for piano and orchestra, by Mike Barnett (20 minutes)

Contact Mike if you’d like to play or commission a new work:  Mike Barnett

Composer David Moulton has been commissioned to create music and sound design for Kansas City’s new Kauffmann Center for the Performing Arts opening in September. Moulton uses customized musical building blocks created by the Fauxharmonic Orchestra to create music that appears to move through space, either “bouncing” or “sweeping” from one loudspeaker to another.

In the central atrium sound will appear to rise from the bottom when triggered by pedestrians walking in from their cars, and will appear to fall when they return from the center itself.  According to Moulton, the music will be “understated, leaving the pedestrians open to anticipation of what might be next, and how it will appear to change with their changes in position, rather than a pervasive sonic perfume that is so typical of most public music playback scenarios.”

About David Moulton

David Moulton is a composer and producer with expertise in acoustics and electronic music.  With degrees from Bard College and The Juilliard School of Music, he studied with Jacob Druckman, Vincent Persichetti, Luciano Berio and Roger Sessions.  He has composed numerous large, multi-channel electronic music works, and has pioneered composition an music production in a six-channel periphonic format.  He was nominated for a Grammy in 2000 for Best Engineered Classical Recording (George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children).

Moulton is one of the inventors of acoustic lens technology, now owned and used by Danish audio manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, and used in their groundbreaking speakers, as well as in cars made by Audi, Aston Martin and Mercedes Benz.  Moulton also taught at the State University of New York, Berklee College of Music, the University of Massachusetts and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  He serves as a trustee for the New England Institute of Art.

Videos

We’d love to feature your video of the Kauffman Center atrium and parking garage music.  (It’s the only way we can show what it’s like).  If you have one, send us the link at info@fauxharmonic.com.

The Fauxharmonic Orchestra’s original film score won the gold award for “best use of music” at the 2011 International Visual Communications Association (IVCA) Awards ceremony in London, England.

Composed by Paul Henry Smith, the orchestral score brings a magical, cinematic grandeur to “The Spirit Within,” an effects-heavy corporate film produced for Laing O’Rourke by London-based communications firm Cheerful Scout.

“It’s quite a thrill to be able to use orchestral music—previously a luxury completely beyond my wildest imaginings,” said Cheerful Scout CEO Peter Litten, who also praised Smith’s music as “one of the best scores I have ever had composed for anything. Inspirational, clever, witty and altogether fabulous.”

“The Spirit Within” Creating an inspiring and unique film to generate a sense of pride among internal staff and showcase Laing O’Rourke’s exceptional portfolio of key projects to external audiences via the sales teams.

IVCA awards are recognized internationally as marks of excellence for effective business communication in corporate video, live events, multimedia projects, business television and websites. The awards set a standard of excellence and introduce clients to programs and projects which have made a significant impact on business.

Winners are presented before an audience of commissioners, government representatives, industry colleagues and the media at a Gala Awards Ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, held every spring.

Moon River, for strings arranged by Donald McDonnell

The Little Magic Flute, Mozart (clips)

Stefan Moseman of Kölner Opernkiste, a small opera troupe presenting musical theater for kids in and around Köln, Germany, asked us to create a short version of Mozart’s Magic Flute for their singers to perform with.

Barry J. Cohen’s “Ballet Waltz” is reminiscent of Ravel. Check out our just-completed recording!

Composer Barry Cohen says:

The Fauxharmonic produced amazing results. Far better than the one ‘analogue’ performance of the piece a couple of years ago. The musical sophistication of Paul Henry Smith and his staff allowed them to bring enormous intelligence and subtlety to their performance of Ballet Waltz.

Decade, by Tony Cheseaux performed by the Fauxharmonic Orchestra.

Decade, for concert band, was written in 1996 for the “Angelo Bearpark Brass Ensemble” on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

The music is based on the theme of the number “10,” which you can hear, for example, in the two quintuplets in the low brass at the end.

Score and parts are available from the publisher.

About Tony Cheseaux, composer.

Abenzoares, by Tony Cheseaux

Savvy commercial visualization specialists Cheerful Scout (London) recently hired The Fauxharmonic Orchestra to compose and produce an orchestral film score for one of their client’s major promotional efforts.

The full symphonic score accompanied a five-minute promotional film highlighting the firm’s impressive large-scale construction projects around the world. Heavy use of CG effects to bring blueprints, models and photos to life called for musical material to emphasize the magical act of creation.

Cheerful Scout CEO Peter Litten exclaimed “I absolutely love it! It’s one of the best scores I have ever had composed for anything. Inspirational, clever, witty and altogether fabulous.” The Fauxharmonic’s custom-composed score outperformed library music, which could never have closely and effectively matched the wordless story arch and vignettes in the film. Yet, as Mr. Litten noted, “to be able to use orchestral music [was] previously a luxury completely beyond my wildest imaginings!”

Excerpt
“The Spirit Within”
Composers – Ric Mills, Paul Henry Smith