tiny
orchestral
moments

continuous
improvisation

Tiny Orchestral Moments
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In Production: Tiny Orchestral Moments Box Set
240+ tracks on twenty discs in an unlikely, unusual box | coming post-COVID

Listen to Exclusive Pre-release Previews Here

2016
Peak Week I

Songs
2016
Peak Week I

Producers Sessions
2016
Peak Week I

Improvisations
2017
Peak Week II

Songs
CD1 CD2 CD3 CD4 CD5
Tiny Orchestral Moments - Songtiles

2018
Peak Week III

Songs
2018
Peak Week III

Producers Sessions
2018
Peak Week I - IV

Moments
2019
Peak Week IV

Songs
CD6 CD7 CD8 CD9 CD10
Tiny Orchestral Moments - Songtiles

2016 - 2019
Peak Week I - IV

Soundtrack
2016 - 2019
Peak Week I - IV

Electric Gauchos
2018
Peak Week III

Immersive CD
2019
Peak Week IV

BigTime
2020
Scaling the Whales

COVID Collaboration
CD11 CD12 CD13 CD14 CD15
Tiny Orchestral Moments - Songtiles

2022
Peak Week V

Simple Songs
2022
Peak Week V

Anthems
2022
Peak Week V

Improvisations
2022
Electric Gauchos

Live at CCK v1
2022
Electric Gauchos

Live at CCK v2
CD16 CD17 CD18 CD19 CD20
Tiny Orchestral Moments - Songtiles



Tiny Orchestral Moments

is a series of residential workshops
bringing together musicians from all over the globe
to perform collaborative repertoire for
layered guitars, voices, violins, winds, percussion and drums
including structured improvisation that sounds composed,
and composed collaboration that sounds improvised.

We are actively preparing our story via a post-COVID
12-part documentary series, sharing stories and songs,
the unique people, performances and processes
of this gigantic geo & gender-diverse group
of masterful musicians
working to change the world
one Tiny Moment at a time
via music.

The music is built on the bones of an orchestra of precise guitarists,
members of Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists
also including the internationally-acclaimed California Guitar Trio
and Argentina's Electric Gauchos, BigTime Trio and Japan's Zum.

This gender-balanced orchestra is always
joined by special guests such as
prog Bass legend Julie Slick (Adrian Belew/EchoTest)
and Seattle music legends Beth Fleenor and Amy Denio.

TOM also features a dizzying array of internationally renowned specialists
including LA-based violinist Nora Germain,
New Zealand-based guitarist Nigel Gavin,
and NY Composer, Patrick Grant.



Performances


Peak Week IV: Tiny Orchestral Moments Performance
Wednesday August 28th 2019 @ Kirkland Performance Center ( details here )
Tiny Orchestral Moments Performance: Peak Week IV
If you find something resonant in this work,
we invite you to DONATE to support these people and processes
directly via PayPal:


Donations are made through Seattle Circle,
our non-profit arts umbrella organization which supports
ongoing Tiny Orchestral Moments workshops,
projects, people, performances and events.



Workshops

Tiny Orchestral Moments Workshop: Peak Week IV

Building on four+ years of Tiny Orchestral Moments Peak Week residential workshops,
TOM V Peak Week was held in the Seattle area
on Sunday August 28th - Sunday September 3rd 2022.


Peak Week 2022
as usual, featured an international array of collaborators including:

Pat and Deborah Mastelotto (special guest 'wild cards')
Electric Gauchos
(Fernando Kabusacki, Steve Ball, Julie Slick)
Zum Trio
(Luciano Pietrafesa, Shinkuro Matsuura, Fumihito Hatano)
Gitbox (Nigel Gavin)

In addition, we hosted our returning professionals from the TOM core team including:

Amy Denio (all known instruments + a few unknown)
Oscar Mander (guitar, piano)
Brad Hogg (guitar, bread, facilitation)


Peak Week 2019
also featured an international array of collaborators including:

California Guitar Trio (Paul Richards, Hideyo Moriya, Bert Lams)
Bigtime Trio (Horacio Pozzo, Claudio Lafalce, Martin de Aguirre)
Zum Trio (Luciano Pietrafesa, Shinkuro Matsuura, Fumihito Hatano)
Gitbox (Nigel Gavin, Sonia Wilson)
Electric Gauchos (Fernando Kabusacki, Fernando Samalea, Steve Ball, Alex Anthony Faide, Julie Slick)

In addition, we hosted our returning professionals from the TOM core team including:

Nora Germain (violin, voice, information movement)
Amy Denio (all known instruments + a few unknown)
Aileen Bunch (piano, voice)
Carl Germain
(guitar, live sound, recording)
Brad Hogg (guitar, bread, facilitation)

...as well as a number of local and international special guests.

Each year, we host special featured
"wild card" guests including

Petra Haden
(2016)
Janet Feder
(2017)
Beth Fleenor
(2018)
California Guitar Trio (2019)
Pat and Deborah Mastelotto (2022)

This year, our 2019 annual Peak Week event incorporate an inclusive workshop
designed for beginners and anyone new to the TOM team
embedded into the traditional week of TOM practices:

initiation: introductions, orientation
collaboration: group work, guided instruction
improvisation: principles and practices
writing: preparation for performance
performance: presentation of our work
recording: performance with the "red light" on
reflection: learning and recapitulation
productization: translation of this work into products
application: completion to enable continuation + expansion

Like previous years, events included focus on Continuous Improvisation applied to our interactions collaborations, writing, performing, recording, productization and monetization of our work together.

And, as in previous years, the Tiny Moments captured in this Peak Week
will be released in products: CD + streaming releases, videos and large and small format documentaries.

Interested?
More details are here.



Workshop History
quick glimpse of a previous Tiny Orchestral Moments workshop

Bass Camp II: June 7-9 2019 in Seattle -- COMPLETED!

Tiny Orchestral Moments Workshop: Bass Camp II

Featuring masterful Bass, Guitar, Clarinet and Music Instructors from
Italy, Philadelphia, Germany and Seattle including:

Julie Slick, Marco Machera, Alessandro Inolti and Steve Ball.

Also featuring Special Guest presenters: Beth Fleenor, Trey Gunn, Markus Reuter, Tony Levin
and a number of other surprise guests.

Some in person, some via remote connectivity.

This year, the event includes integration into the SeaProg festival
where TROOT, Trey Gunn & Markus Reuter , and EchoTest
are each playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday night (respectively).

The workshop included SeaProg show attendance as part of the tuition.

More details are here.




Tiny Orchestral Moments
2018 Indiegogo Campaign Completed Successfully!

T H A N K   Y O U  to everyone who donated.
If you missed your chance to DONATE to support the
completion of our documentary series, you can also donate directly via PayPal


These donations are made through Seattle Circle,
our non-profit arts umbrella organization which supports
ongoing Tiny Orchestral Moments workshops,
projects, people, performances and events.




Tiny Orchestral Moments: Documentary Trailer


Watch on YouTube


WHO
Tiny Orchestral Moments

is an international community of connected musicians who meet periodically to practice, perform, write, record, and improvise together.

We invite new Music into the world by collaborating across geographies, genres, genders and generations. The ensemble includes a gender-balanced core team of invited, masterful musicians who are already established in their work as internationally-recognized performers.

The core team is energized via contributions from guests, students, beginners, apprentices, organizers, instructors and experienced collaborators from in and outside the worldwide Guitar Craft and local Seattle Circle communities.



WHAT
Workshops

Tiny Orchestral Moments hosts weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly inclusive Workshops where we invite a full spectrum of aspiring, practicing and master musicians to come together to collaborate and participate in the act of bringing music to life.

The aim: develop practical skills to work in diverse groups, resolving (alleged) differences by practicing the act and art of Harmony. We actively develop structured improvisation that sounds composed, and composed collaboration that sounds improvised, including beginners and masters.

Recurring Workshops are open and designed to include existing local communities. Longer, quarterly and yearly Workshops are hosted as residential retreats where participants live and work together to invent, write, refine, present, perform and record collaborative repertoire for layered guitars, voices, violins, strings, wind, keys, bass, drums and percussion.

This work is designed to enable individuals to practice and experience effective group collaboration. While grounded in music, this work and these practices also apply to and are useful for groups building products, managing teams and/or working toward any common goal.





WHERE
Performances


Tiny Orchestral Moments performances are immersive. We fill the room with movement and sound in 360-degrees as musicians play in and around the audience. Physical surround sound is often complemented by striking lights and multiple walls of ambient video, and supported by a mobile orchestra of guitarists from the extended Seattle and international Guitar Circle community.

In addition to hosting public performances as part of each project, workshop and retreat, the full team also invests energy working, writing, improvising and recording in world-class studios.



HOW
Products


TOM I Peak Week in 2016 resulted in 3 CDs of new music
recorded at London Bridge in Seattle.

TOM II Peak Week in 2017 resulted in 2 CDs new of music
recorded at Bear Creek in Woodinville.

TOM III Peak Week in 2018 resulted in 3 CDs new of music
recorded at London Bridge in Seattle and an immersive CD of music recorded at SkyMuse in Stanwood.

TOM IV Peak Week in 2019 resulted in 5 CDs new of music
recorded at Ronald House & Kirkland Performance Center.

TOM V Peak Week in 2022 will result in 3 CDs new of music
recorded at Avast Studio in Seattle.

* * *

Complementing these CDs emerging from the first five seasons of TOM, Seattle Director Louise Amandes is directing a
12-episode (~10 hours total!) Tiny Orchestral Moments documentary series
for official release post-COVID.

And, we are working on a separate short documentary feature
sharing the story of our recent immersive collaboration with
Ron Jones at SkyMuse studios.







TOM Peak Week IV
 August 25-September 2019

Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE
Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE
Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE Tiny Orchestral Moments LIVE
a. TOM I @ the Chapel, b. TOM @ RChain
c. TOM @ SeaProg, d. TOM III @Ballard Homestead
e. / f. TOM IV @ Kirkland Performance Center
photos a, b, d by Peter Dervin, c by Donna Van Buren, e by Louise Amandes, f by Danette Davis






Tiny Orchestral Moments
the Troupe

TOM Peak Week I
2016 Musicians

Special Guests
Petra Haden (Los Angeles)
Julie Slick (Philadelphia)
Patrick Grant (NYC)

Core Team
Paul Richards (Los Angeles)
Nora Germain (Los Angeles)
Nigel Gavin (Auckland)
Amy Denio (Seattle)
Steve Ball (Seattle)
Sonia Wilson (Paris)
Carl Marti Germain (Seattle)
Aileen Elizabeth Bunch (Philadelphia)
Erin Victoria Wigger (Los Angeles)

Seattle Guitar Circle
Jaxie Binder
Curt Golden
Bob Williams
Dean Jensen
Chris Gibson
Sandra Prow
Lucius Gregory Meredith
Bill Van Buren
Rob Taylor-Manning
Jane Mabry-Smith

Studio Guests
Trey Gunn (Warr guitar / bass / uke)
Igor Abuladze (guitar / bass)
Nathan Grigg (keyboards)
Dan Moore (drums)

Documentarians
Steven Perilloux (Los Angeles)
Louise Amandes (Seattle)
Ron Austin (Seattle)
Peter Dervin (Seattle)
Aileen Bunch (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

Chapel Engineer
Christian Heilman

London Bridge Engineers
Geoff Ott (Thurs / Fri engineer)
Shohei Ogami (Sat engineer)

All TOM I tracks recorded
Wed Aug 31st - Sat Sept 2nd, 2016
at London Bridge Studio, Seattle WA

Mixed by
Martin de Aguirre and Steve Ball
 
Produced by

Steve Ball

TOM Peak Week II
2017 Musicians

Special Guests
Janet Feder (Denver)
Julia Zenteno (Mexico City)
Martin de Aguirre (Madrid)

Core Team
Paul Richards (Los Angeles)
Nora Germain (Los Angeles)
Nigel Gavin (Auckland)
Amy Denio (Seattle)
Alex Anthony Faide (Buenos Aires)
Julie Slick (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)
Sonia Wilson (Paris)
Carl Marti Germain (Seattle)
Aileen Elizabeth Bunch (Philadelphia)

Seattle Guitar Circle
Jaxie Binder
Curt Golden
Bob Williams
JT Milhoan
Chris Gibson
Sandra Prow
Lucius Gregory Meredith
Bill Van Buren
Joel Palmer
Jane Mabry-Smith
Butter Boy
Sofie Ball

Studio Guests
Nathan Grigg (keyboards)
Dan Moore (drums)
Louise Amandes (drums/percussion)

Documentarians
Louise Amandes (Seattle)
Ron Austin (Seattle)
JT Milhoan (Seattle)
Ingrid Pape-Sheldon (Seattle)
Frank Sheldon (Seattle)
Peter Dervin (Seattle)
Aileen Bunch (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

Chapel Engineer
Vance Galloway

Bear Creek Engineers
Jonathan Plum
Taylor Carroll

All TOM II tracks recorded
Wed Aug 17th - Sat Aug 20th at Bear Creek Studio, Woodinville WA
Mixed by Martin de Aguirre
Produced by: Steve Ball
TOM Peak Week III
2018 Musicians


Special Guests
Beth Fleenor (Seattle)
Heather Bentley (Seattle)
Oscar Mander (Stockholm)

Core Team
Paul Richards (Los Angeles)
Nora Germain (Los Angeles)
Nigel Gavin (Auckland)
Amy Denio (Seattle)
Alex Anthony Faide (Buenos Aires)
Julie Slick (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)
Sonia Wilson (Paris)
Carl Marti Germain (Seattle)
Rachael Beaver (Seattle)
Martin de Aguirre (Madrid)
Aileen Elizabeth Bunch (Philadelphia)
Brad Hogg (Los Angeles)

Electric Gauchos
Fernando Kabusacki (Buenos Aires)
Fernando Samalea (Buenos Aires)

Zum
Luciano Pietrafesa (Mendoza)
Shinkuro Matsuura (Osaka)
Fumihito Hatano (Osaka)

Seattle Guitar Circle
Jaxie Binder
Curt Golden
Chris Gibson
Lucius Gregory Meredith
Bill Van Buren

Studio Guests
Nathan Grigg (keyboards)
Igor Abuladze (bass)

Documentarians
Louise Amandes (Seattle)
Cristos Kotsovos (Stanwood)
Patrick Davis (Portland)
Peter Dervin (Seattle)
Aileen Bunch (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

Ballard Homestead Engineer
Carl Germain

London Bridge Engineers
Jonathan Plum
Taylor Carroll

SkyMuse Engineers
Will LeMaster
Ron Jones

Master Connector
Steve Turnidge

All TOM III tracks recorded
Mon Aug 25th - Sat Sept 1st 2018
at London Bridge, Seattle WA
and SkyMuse, Stanwood WA
Mixed by Martin de Aguirre and SkyMuse, Stanwood WA
Mixed by Martin de Aguirre
Produced by: Steve Ball

TOM Peak Week IV
2019 Musicians

Special Guests
Jenny Founds (Philadelphia)
Michelle Bliman (Buenos Aires)
Thione Diop (Seattle via Senegal)

California Guitar Trio
Paul Richards (Los Angeles)
Bert Lams (Brussels)
Hideyo Moriya (Tokyo)

Bigtime
Horacio Pozzo (Buenos Aires)
Martin de Aguirre (Madrid)
Claudio Lafalce (Buenos Aires)

Zum
Luciano Pietrafesa (Mendoza)
Shinkuro Matsuura (Osaka)
Fumihito Hatano (Osaka)

Electric Gauchos
Fernando Kabusacki (Buenos Aires)
Fernando Samalea (Buenos Aires)

2019 Core Team
Beth Fleenor (Seattle)
Alex Anthony Faide (Buenos Aires)
Nigel Gavin (Auckland)
Sonia Wilson (Paris)
Oscar Mander (Stockholm)
Julie Slick (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)
Nora Germain (Los Angeles)
Carl Marti Germain (Seattle)
Amy Denio (Seattle)
Rachel Beaver (Seattle)
Aileen Elizabeth Bunch (Philadelphia)

Studio Guests
Nathan Grigg (keyboards)
Roy Beaver (keyboards)
Sean Naughton (witness)
Kenan Whoever (witness)

Documentarians
Louise Amandes (Seattle)
Peter Dervin (Seattle)
Aileen Bunch (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

TOM Studio Engineers
Carl Germain
Martin de Aguirre

Executive Producers
Sandra Prow
Bill Van Buren
Steve Ball

TOM IV Peak Week recorded
Wed Aug 25th - Sat Aug 31st 2019
at Ronald House, Ronald WA
and at
Kirkland Performance Center
Wed August 28th, 2019

Mixed by
Martin de Aguirre
Carl Germain
Steve Ball

Produced by
Steve Ball

  TOM Peak Week V
2022 Musicians


Special Guests
Deborah Mastelotto (Austin)
Pat Mastelotto (Austin)
Jenny Founds (Philadelphia)

Zum
Luciano Pietrafesa (Mendoza)
Shinkuro Matsuura (Osaka)
Fumihito Hatano (Osaka)

Electric Gauchos
Fernando Kabusacki (Buenos Aires)
Horacio Pozzo (Buenos Aires)
Julie Slick (Philadelphia)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

2019 Core Team
Nigel Gavin (Auckland)
Amy Denio (Seattle)
Oscar Mander (Stockholm)

Studio Guests
Kathy Moore (guitar, piano)
Curt Golden (guitar)
Jaxie Binder (guitar)
Carl Germain (guitar)
Nora Germain (violin, remote!)
Nathan Grigg (keyboards, voice)
Rachael Beaver (cello, voice)
Roy Beaver (keyboards)
Greg Meredith (guitar)

Contributing Space
Beth Fleenor (Seattle)
Alex Anthony Faide (Seattle)
Sonia Wilson (Paris)
Aileen Bunch (Philadelphia)
Sandra Prow (Seattle)

Documentarians
Louise Amandes (Seattle)
Steve Ball (Seattle)

TOM Studio Engineers
Matt Brown
Jay Follette
Cosmo

Executive Producers
Bill Van Buren
Steve Ball

TOM V Peak Week recorded
Wed Aug 31st - Fri Sep 2nd 2022
at Avast Studio, Seattle

Mixed by
Steve Ball
Jonathan Plum
Fernando Kabusacki

Produced by
Steve Ball




WHO
Meet the Team
details here
Tiny Orchestral Moments: Team Collage




WHY
Tiny Orchestral FAQ

Q: What is Tiny Orchestral Moments?

1. An open, public practice and performance incubator for music-based collaboration across geographies, genres, genders and generations.

2. A living school designed to provide opportunities for aspiring performers, producers, leaders, instructors, masters, organizers and audiences to experience and practice the art of Continuous Improvisation.

3. A sustainable series of weekly, monthly, quarterly collaborative community workshops designed to bring Music to life via development and presentation of world-class, transformational performances, products, and performers.

Q: Why is this work important?

We must invest in, discover, learn and practice effective techniques for sustainable collaboration, cohabitation, integration and harmonization, especially as the world around us appears to disintegrate.

We believe in and have directly experienced the power of Music to fuel, feed and foster connections across cultures and countries.

We mix and match beginners with mentors and masters to develop harmonization skills across alleged differences that might otherwise separate us.

Q: What is 'Continuous Improvisation'?

One Answer: A necessary skill required for transforming how we work, play and live together in harmony within a diverse, complex, global culture.

Continuous Improvisation requires listening before speaking (or playing or acting), then application of intelligent, intentional, unconditioned skill in delivering whatever is required in the moment to enable exceptional, harmonious and energizing experiences.

It is:

a. the mindset that enables us to transform a supposedly wrong note into a beautiful resolution.

b. a skillset that enables us to humbly recognize, reject and replace fixed, rigid, mechanical, formulaic reactions by receiving and applying improvised insights and innovations while integrating intentional, incremental improvements to deliver what is needed in the present moment.

c. a collaborative practice that enables us to transform seeming disadvantages into advantages that may be required to keep us alive and thriving. to advantages that may be required to keep us alive and thriving.

Q: What is a 'Tiny Orchestral Moment'?

One Answer: A brief, unpredictable, but reliably priceless moment when an ordinary, collaborative experience transcends time to become exceptional and significant. Stars align, insights appear, energies resonate and rise. Individuals spontaneously morph into coherent groups and perform unlikely and unplannable feats of synchronized magic. Improvisations vibrate with timeless inspiration, and improvisation sounds composed and feels alive.

Collaborators synchronize, harmonize and solve problems that, moments earlier, seemed impossible. ize and solve problems that, moments earlier, seemed impossible.


Tiny Orchestral Moments - Songtiles

Event History | FB | SeaProg Photos June 2018 | RChain Performance Photos Feb 2018 | TOM III | TOM IV | TOM V

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