The next date and location for Marvin Ayres’ Sacred Spaces project will be on Friday February 24th, 2012 in Winchester Cathedral.

Marvin Ayres’s latest project is Sacred Spaces. The idea behind Sacred Spaces is to use incongruous places for composition and performance and reawaken the inherent and/or dormant spirit residing in these unlikely locations. “Pilgrims in search of sonic beauty”. These include anything from derelict industrial sites to historical places of interest, (incorporating National Trust and English Heritage) and re appropriating them for musical purposes.

Sacred Spaces is an ongoing and evolving project. The instruments will be randomly tuned to compliment the environments and microphones will be used to pick up and record the full ambience of the spaces once excited by the cellos, violins and violas. One element which will link all the locations will be the same series of notes which will be assembled to create one collective piece composed from the overtones, sustains and reverberations recorded in each environment.

The intention is to return at a later date to the Cathedral and to stage and exhibit a 3D surround sound installation of the compositions that were inspired by, and recorded there. To accompany these journeys the project will be documented with a film diary.

Other locations planned or underway for “Sacred Spaces” are: Bretton Chapel in Yorkshire Sculpture Park, H.M.S Alliance submarine, Fleet Air Arm museum including Concorde, Tate art gallery store, Royal Observatory, The Atomic testing site at Orford Ness, and others.

Graeme Clark

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Press Release February 2012:

The next date and location for Marvin Ayres’ Sacred Spaces project will be on Thursday February 9^th, 2012 on the island of “Orford Ness National Nature Reserve”, the old M.O.D Atomatic Weapons Research site used during the Cold War for environmental testing, taken over by the National Trust in 1993.

Duncan Kent, the National Trust’s Countryside & Visitor Experience Warden at Orford Ness, said: “Orford Ness has attracted many artists using different mediums over the years as it is often a thought-provoking and inspiring place, including iconic buildings and internationally important wildlife.”

Other locations planned or underway for “Sacred Spaces” are: Winchester Cathedral, Bretton Chapel in Yorkshire Sculpture Park, H.M.S Alliance submarine, Fleet Air Arm museum including Concorde, Tate art gallery store, Royal Observatory, and others.

Marvin Ayres is a British modern-classical composer, cellist, violinist, pianist and producer. He has composed and recorded a diverse selection of minimalist albums, incorporating spatial soundscapes and psycho-acoustics, in his 5.1 surround sound and latterly 9.1 surround sound Wall of Waves Studio. Sound engineer Alex Siddall will assist Marvin on the project.

Marvin’s latest work ‘Harmogram Suite’ is due for release in spring 2012.

www.marvinayres.com

http://thesacredspaces.tumblr.com/

Submarine HMS Alliance used by composer Marvin Ayres

Marvin Ayres recorded sounds, echoes and reverberations on board HMS Alliance, based at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, in Gosport.

The session was part of his Sacred Spaces project, making recordings in historical environments with different sonic characteristics.

Mr Ayres said: “It’s ethereal and beautiful – beyond my expectations.”

During his career as a composer, cellist and pianist, Mr Ayres has contributed to albums by bands including Culture Club, Simply Red, Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

‘Tight space’The Gosport recording saw the submarine wired with microphones to record Mr Ayres playing cellos, violins and violas.

Sound engineer Alex Sidell said: “It’s fantastic and particularly unique because of the tight space and all the metal.”

Classical composer Marvin Ayres plays on board HMS Alliance

The team plans to record in other historical or derelict venues around the country, including Cornish tin mines and the former Orford Ness atomic weapons research site in Suffolk.

Mr Ayres said: “The idea is just to go into a space and to try to extract the spirituality and resonances inherent in the building.”

It is hoped a piece of music will be compiled from the instruments and the echoes recorded in each environment, with an album available by the end of next year.

HMS Alliance is being restored as a memorial to submariners who gave their lives in military service.

It is listed in the UK’s historic ship’s register, alongside the Cutty Sark, the Mary Rose, and HMS Victory.

Marvin Ayres’s latest project is ‘Sacred Spaces’. The idea behind ‘Sacred Spaces’ is to use incongruous places for composition and performance and reawaken the inherent and/or dormant spirit residing in these unlikely locations. “Pilgrims in search of sonic beauty”. These include anything from derelict industrial sites to historical places of interest, (incorporating National Trust and English Heritage) and re-appropriating them for musical purposes. Marvin will be  assisted by his sound engineer Alex Siddall.

‘Sacred Spaces’ is an ongoing and evolving project with recordings in different environments. The instruments will be randomly tuned to compliment the environments, and microphones will be used to pick up the full ambience of the spaces once excited by the cellos, violins and violas.

One element which will link all the locations will be the same series of notes which will be assembled to create one collective piece composed from the overtones, sustains and reverberations recorded in each environment.

The intention is to return to some of the locations at a later stage and exhibit “TRUE 3D”  surround sound installations of the compositions that were inspired by, and recorded there with possible live performance as appropriate.

To accompany these journeys, the project will be documented with a film diary.

Marvin Ayres is a British modern-classical composer, cellist, violinist, pianist and producer. He has composed and recorded a diverse selection of minimalist albums, incorporating spatial soundscapes and psycho-acoustics and latterly 5.1 Surround Sound in his “TRUE 3D” Audio Wall of Waves Studio.

Marvin’s latest work ‘Harmogram Suite’ is due for release in February 2012.

www.marvinayres.com

For all enquiries and to arrange interviews, contact: 07727 126645

Marvin and his sound engineer Alex Siddall, spent an excellent day at Bretton. “This place is fantastic and the people so helpful and friendly” said Marvin.

The intention is to return to some of the locations at a later stage and exhibit “TRUE 3D” sound installations of the compositions that were inspired by, and recorded there with possible live performance as appropriate.

Bretton Chapel