LEGENDARY AIRS

      Music tells its Story

Origins

               Musician for more than thirty years, I’ve always liked to take up the challenge offered by accompanying other artists:
musicians, of course, but also film makers, dancers, actors and story-tellers.
                And all the while, stories have been my quiet companions, thanks to the theatre and to  traditional raconteurs;
but, above all, it’s thanks to my father and his own adventures, freely told to feed my youthful  imagination.
                The third key to the origins of «Legendary Airs» is my training as a violin maker, which allows me to create the majority of the instruments that I need for the music and stories.
                 Inevitably, I felt the need to reunite these three comrades: music, stories and instruments.
The fruit of this peaceful "ménage à trois" is ...
                                "Legendary Airs"

Stories

                The legends spring from mythology and traditions, from real events, from personal writing; each is told by Music itself. The airs come from innumerable epochs and countries, and are  mixed with personal compositions and improvisations.

Music


                The Songs and Instrumentals, traditional and personal compositions, are accompanied by:               
~ Appalachian dulcimers* (acoustic and electric) + Dulcichord *
~ violins *        
~ Pan-pipes, transverse flutes, whistles *
~ unusual and original instruments *
(* of my making)
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 " without music, man is but a dissonant shadow;                   
without man, music evaporates ..."
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Scenario

                «Legendary Airs» is the Story of Music, of the ‘pas de deux’ that it leads with man since the creation of time.
                   Music itself takes the stage, with an infinitely compelling personality: a faithful lover of mankind; an impish rogue, ready to test us with humour black or light; a patient companion to sound our tragic knells; a frenzied leader of dervish whirls.
                  Infinitely powerful, too: a healer through the shaman’s chant; a dream-carrier, and messenger of all our great events; thirsting for our tears, greedy for our laughter.
                  Never banal, always eager to surprise...

Creation         

                   Researching the show began in early 1998; encyclopedias, ancient tomes, recordings, e-mails, and the rich memories of numerous friends have all contributed to the weaving of "Legendary Airs". Professors of Celtic languages and historians of concentration camps, raconteurs, comedians and curators have all joined in.

                    The show is destined to never stop evolving: new stories and their music will pursue the old over the years to come. The weaving will continue ...

Audiences

                  Several versions of the show can be presented, each in English or in French: 
~ General audience:  written for adults, «Legendary Airs» is also suitable for children of over 8yrs
~ Young audiences: the vocabulary is suitably adapted.
    For schools: class projects are proposed covering story writing and telling, and the use of music and sound effects.
~ Story-telling Festivals  or   Music Festivals: "Legendary Airs" can be played to favour either the story or the musical content to suit the occasion.