Michael Stearns Productions 40 Apache Ridge Road Santa Fe, NM 87505 Michael Stearns Technical Bio: Michael Stearns is one of the originators of a new genre of music that emerged in the 1970's. This music has been described as space music, contemporay instrumental music, new age music, electronic music, and so on. Its' primary instrument is the synthesizer. Or, the human as synthesizer. Michael weaves into his music instruments and sounds from other cultures, newly developed instruments, the human voice, and the sounds of nature. Michael began playing classical guitar in the early 1960's. He performed in bands playing rock and jazz, and at the age of 16 played concerts before audiences of over 7000 people, backing up artists such as The Lovin Spoonful and Paul Revere and the Raiders. In 1968 he created and performed his first electronic, musique concrete piece while studying at the University of the Pacific. He spent the next four years studying electronic music synthesis, the physics of musical instruments, and accumulating equipment for his first studio. The studio opened in Tucson, Arizona in 1972 where he produced his own music along with jingles and commercials for local radio and television, and nationally released jingles for Schlitz Beer and Greyhound Bus Lines. In 1975 Michael moved to Los Angeles to become a resident musician/composer at Emily Conrad's Continuum Studio. He also co- founded the innovative free jazz trio Alivity with Fred Stofflet and Craig Hundley and over the next two years played clubs and performed concerts. In 1977 he recorded his first solo album Ancient Leaves on the Continuum Montage label which he and his former wife, dancer/ choreographer Susan Harper, co-founded. Solo albums Sustaining Cylinders 1978, Morning Jewel 1979, Planetary Unfolding 1981, Light Play 1983, all followed on the Continuum Montage label. In 1982 both NASA and Laserium began featuring Michael's music in their productions. Michael built his version of The Beam, a 12 foot long instrument strung with 24 piano strings, that he has since used in many of his solo albums. live performances, and in his film scores. 1983 found Michael working with composer Maurice Jarre on the films Fire Fox and Dreamscape. Then, with Craig Hundley, working on Motel Hell, Schizoid, Alligator, The Disappearance, and other genre films. He also co-scored the World of Explorers television series with Hundley for ABC TV. Michael released his 5th solo album, Lyra, composed and performed on George Landry's gigantic Lyra Sound Constellation. Lyra consisted of 156 strings tuned micro tonally and stretching up to 20 feet in length from ceiling to floor. One of Michael's concert performances with the instrument was filmed and featured on ABC's Ripley's Believe It or Not. 1984 began with Michael being selected from entrants representing 25 countries as both grand prize and first place winner of an international music composition competition. Later in the year he scored the IMAX film Chronos for Ron Fricke, and he founded his multi-track and multi-monitoring format M'Ocean studio in Santa Monica. He also signed with the Sonic Atmospheres label. Chronos opened in May of 1985 and on opening night the soundtrack was beamed via satellite to over 200 radio stations nationwide on Stephen Hill's prngram Music From the Hearts of Space. Michael's M'Ocean album was released in 1985 and his music was choreographed by the Berkshire Ballet. In 1986 Michael scored Ron Fricke's film Sacre Site, an astronomical short subject, filmed in time lapse cinematography, of the apparition of Haley's Comet over Ayer's Rock In Australia. He also released a new solo album, Plunge. In 1987 Michael released his album Floating Whispers and also created the soundtrack for Academy Award winning director Ben Shedd's IMAX feature Seasons. He also scored and produced the soundtrack to MacGillivray Freeman Films Time Concerto, another IMAX film. In the media, he received feature articles in Music Technology, Keyboard, and Electronic Musician magazines. 1988 found him producing the soundtrack to MacGillivray Freeman's To The Limit and finishing another solo album, Encounter, on the Hearts of Space label. In 1989 Michael produced the soundtrack to MacGillivray Freeman's IMAX film Race the Wind. He then traveled to Japan to record the Taiko Drum troop The Fire Drummers of Sakurajima and flew to Indonesia traveling across Java and Bali recording indigenous music and the spunds of erupting volcanoes. This was for the IMAX film Ring of Fire, which he was scoring and producing the soundtrack. He also performed a feature concert at the Harmonia Mundi festival in celebration of the Dalai Lama's receiving the Nobel Peace prize. And, he recorded an album with Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny titled Desert Solitaire, dedicated to Edward Abbey who had just passed away. In 1990 Michael traveled to Costa Rica to record location sounds for Shedd productions IMAX film Tropical Rain Forest, which he was scoring, sound designing, and producing the track to. He then produced the soundtrack for Universal Studio Tours' attraction Earthquake. He was also selected as one of the composers to bring to life through music a Salvador Dali painting on the compilation album Dali, The Endless Enigma. Later in the year, he produced the soundtrack to and mixed on location Universal Studio Tour's Back to the Future, The Ride. This ride/film features motion controlled DeLorean ride vehicles mounted inside an OMNIMAX theater and incorporates 12 channel surround sound. 1991 began with the completion of Graphic Films' Ring of Fire, followed by an extended trip to the Galapagos Islands and Brazil to record backgrounds and indigenous music for Ron Fricke's Baraka . The soundtrack to Tropical Rain Forest was completed in 1991 also. 1992 saw the completion of Fricke's Baraka and another IMAX film for MacGillivray Freeman Eureka!. Baraka won the Prix Du Fest, the highest award, at the Montreal Film Festival and Eureka! was the feature film in the main pavilion at the 1992 Worlds Fair/Expo in Seville, Spain. In late '92 Michael moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and created Earth Turtle Studio. 1993 and the new studio began with a bang! An award winning video produced and scored for Lynette Kessler and an album produced for Canadian composer Donovan Reimer, titled A Matter of Heart. In addition, Michael has scored and produced both the soundtrack to Lucky Goldstar, the 70 mm ride/show for the main pavilion at the Korea `93 Worlds Fair/Expo and an HBO television special titled Paha Sapa, Seven Generations, the story of how the Lakota Indians lost their sacred land in the Black Hills. Two new albums have been released this year, Sacred Site and Baraka. Michael Stearns is a composer and soundtrack designer/producer who presently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His works include music for television, film, theme parks, and twelve solo albums. Previous credits include music for Disney Films, HBO, ABC's "The World of Explorers", 20/20, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and Ron Fricke's nonverbal masterpieces "Chronos" and "Baraka". His music has been used by NASA, Laserium, and choreographed by the Berkshire Ballet. In addition to composing and performing, Michael has produced and mixed the soundtracks to many of the IMAX/OMNIMAX films released in the last seven years. He has also produced the soundtracks to Universal Studio Tours new attractions "Earthquake", and "Back to the Future", the latter utilizing twelve channel surround sound and motion control vehicles in an ONINIMAX theater. For the 1992 Worlds Fair/Expo in Seville, he mixed the IMAX film "Eureka" for the Spanish pavilion. And, for the 1993 Worlds Fair/Expo in Korea he has scored the soundtrack to the motion controlled 70mm ride/film "Lucky Goldstar, Journey to Technopia". Michael owns Earth Turtle studio in Santa Fe. Earth Turtle is equipped with SMPTE video interlock, two inch 24 track Dolby SR and digital recording. mix-down and monitoring formats from stereo TV to discreet six channel surround (including IMAX/OMNIMAX and custom configurations), and the latest in analog and digital synthesizers, samplers, acoustic and unusual instruments (Beam, Waterphone, Tubulongs, Tibetan Bells, etc...). Michael's stylistically diverse and technically polished body of work moved one English music critic to write, "Michael Stearns is probably the best, and certainly the most consistently interesting and Intriguing American synthesist around." His recordings are available from Continuum Montage, Sonic Atmospheres, Music from the Hearts of Space, Fortuna, and Coriolis record labels. MICHAEL STEARNS PRODUCTIONS LARGE FORMAT CREDITS MUSIC, MIXING, SOUND DESIGN AND SOUNDTRACK PRODUCTION IMAX/OMNIMAX CLIENT Chronos Canticle Films Sacred Site Cantlcle Films Seasons Graphic Films Time Concerto MacGililvray Freeman Films To The Limit MacGiliivray Freeman Films Challenge MacGillivray Freeman Films Race the Wind MacGillivray Freeman Films Homeland MacGillivray Freeman Films Indonesia Indah 3 MacGillivray Freeman Films Mt. St. Helens Graphic Films Ring of Fire Graphic Films Tropical Rain Forrest Shedd Productions Eureka! La Pasion Por Conocer MarGillivray Freeman Films IMAX Slitscan logos Graphic Films REMIXES Behold Hawaii MacGillivray Freeman Films Island Child MacGillivray Freeman Films 8 PERF Gunma Graphic Films Shimane Graphic Films 5 PERF Baraka Magidson Films RIDE/SHOW CREDITS Earthquake Universal Studios Back To The Future Berkshire Motion Pictures Journey To Technopia Boss Films