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THE FAIRY TALE
"The one thing that matters is the effort. It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning." — Saint Exupéry.
My name is Alain Amouyal. I am a dental surgeon, a composer and the originator of The Orpheus Project. Let me tell you about this Fairy Tale I am involved in, as the protagonist of this story. The pain of others has always brought about a great empathy in me. Perhaps this is the reason why I entered the field of healing, as a dental surgeon. You may be wondering why talk about a dental practice here? Many people have found themselves attracted to interests throughout their professional life, only to have that activity become their main career focus. I should know because it happened to me ! After years of dividing my time between dentistry, music composition, music therapy, and much more, I decided on music and different forms of artistic expression as my main occupation in 1999.
BLANK SPACE Fairy Tale Competition In 2013, I participated in a contest with BlankSpace, an online architecture platform (http://blankspaceproject.com/). The competition Fairy Tales is an open, international, ideas competition that challenges creatives from all professional realms to develop visionary, narrative- based design proposals. The competition is an extension of Blank Space’s mission to uncover the true power of architecture by creating new opportunities for design to engage the public. We’d like you to invent a story for your design. We’d like you to rewrite the way architecture communicates itself to the world, and to do so in the most unconventional way.
Immediately, I felt attracted by this competition because I myself was living a fairy tale and was wondering if my story would fit with the subject. When I first started on this journey, I realized that although I worked for many years on the development of The Orpheus Project, that as the originator I hadn’t thought about sharing my "Fairy Tale" until now. So, I took the challenge with the idea that, winner or not, it would be a wonderful opportunity to revisit my adventure from a different perspective, to chronicle it which led to the creation of The Orpheus Project. 5 images were required to present this Fairy Tale…
First Image — A Profound Transformation
 Centuries ago, ancient Greeks erected spectacular sites to stage great classical dramas. As early as 350 BC, thousands of people flocked to these amphitheaters, which were connected to highly developed healthcare centers. Their shared desire was to be restored to health through cathartic theatrical spectacles, spas, and dream incubation. Today, people around the world continue to seek catharsis and transformation in a supportive and therapeutic environment. But integrating the grand spectacle of music, art and medicine into the framework of a singular, comprehensive facility is a feat not attempted in more than 2500 years—until now.
Fairy Tale
 This “Fairy Tale” begins as I, the protagonist, am transported into a universe filled with imagination and possibilities. Within the deep layers of my psyche, I envisioned a magnificent amphitheatre and healing venue where a splendid sphenoid bone stands, its shape resembling that of a butterfly with its wings extended. As this vision evolves, I rise to the challenge of applying my talents and following my dreams. In the process, a profound transformation takes place. Why a sphenoid bone? At one point, as I wrote a reinterpretation of the Orpheus Myth, my hero is transported to a fairy universe. In the profound layers of his psyche, inside his own brain, he reaches a luminous region: the sella turcica – seat of the pituitary gland. There, Orpheus is confronted to the true origin of the separation with Eurydice and he understands that without transforming himself he would never find Eurydice again.
Our quest to become fully realized beings requires a journey of transformation
Transformation
All transformations within us involve the brain. In studying human beings and their behavioral spectrum, we discover that their cells — mentally, emotionally, and physically — have an incredible mixture of engrams. These memories are superimposed over each other from the most primal to the avant-garde. Transformation requires an In-Depth understanding of our Inner Psychological Terrains. Altering our inner terrain is needed to create a unity of understanding wich prepares us to accept the changes in vibration necessary for this transformational growth. Many techniques can provide us with a blueprint to gain awareness of the obstacles on our evolutionary journey as well as of strategies for change.

 

Alchemy
"Know thyself and you will know the universe and the Gods" I met my Spiritual Mentor at the age 23. Thanks to her teachings, I entered the fantastic universe of my Dreams. Step by step, new horizons opened up to me. I accepted the long journey of passing beyond the stages of transformation, getting involved in the individuation process and the exploration of the unconscious through dream interpretation. Carl G. Jung discovered that many of the dreams and states of consciousness that his clients reported corresponded remarkably to the descriptions recorded in the alchemical texts. Jung subsequently felt that the knowledge of Alchemy could be used in understanding the process of psychological and spiritual transformation as a tool for use in psychotherapy.

 

Musical Course
« …The first improviser was obviously Orpheus… … and no one will contradict this evidence which takes us back to the history of Myth. Music and improvisation are so linked with one another, so interrelated that they are characterized as the favored moments of creative activity… Each composer, from the most prolific, to the most talented, in whatever the composition which he engages in on a second level, begins with improvising. One is not consciously aware of when the inspiration of a melodic phrase or rythm will emerge. Improvising is to ride on an adventure in a region of the spirit as yet unexplored, discovering true sounds that will arise spontaneously and will find their place in the passage of time." — Translated from "La '3ème oreille' et la pensée musicale" - J. Verdeau-Paillès, B. Luban-Pozzla, M. Delli Ponti - Ed.J.M. Fuzeau - 1995
Musical Course
Recounting a buried personal history through my spontaneous compositions While I was pursuing my interest of the world of medicine, I also enrolled in a non-academic musical course in music. This attraction was probably a holdover of my years as a lead guitarist and bassist in a band. My mentor suggested that I buy an organ and improvise. After years of rock and roll and jazz, I discovered a completely different universe. My musical world expanded: through this instrument, and the synthesizers that followed. I also realized that "music" was coming from a buried longing deep in my soul. I became aware that I was expressing the loss of an ancient love, like a wound reopened. Actually, I reconnected to my core essence, recounting a buried personal history through my spontaneous compositions.
Musical Course
I didn’t know at the time that the archetypes which were being activated in me would have an impact on others Although I didn’t understand the meaning of it all, my family and friends felt a great resonance with my music. As a dentist, I was curious to observe its effects on my patients. Many appreciated the music’s ability to release tension, as well as the relaxation it brought to them. Just as an archeologist digs through the layers of the Earth, I explored the deep layers of my own cerebral earth. I recorded my musical improvisations day after day. I gave a title to each composition as soon as it was born, and each title encapsulated a chapter of the special story that was coming forth. Because of this special connection with this musical vibration, I became more and more convinced that I was not alone. I don’t mean to imply that I experienced any great trance or exaltation; just a great joy and a certainty. It felt like a release from something that I couldn’t define at the beginning, but which became clearer as time went on: I had lost my “Eurydice” and she was now coming back to inspire me. The music was the link for our reunion… and sometimes it was stormy! I was living a transformation — a true self-healing process through music. The music activated my subconscious and its driving archetypes and revealing different steps of awakening and consciousness. But I didn’t know at the time until what point the archetypes activated in myself could have an impact on others…
As a practicing dental surgeon, I never considered the therapeutic aspects of my music until a medical colleague asked if he could use my recordings in his work with psychiatric patients. As we began observing a form of catharsis in this medical environment, I came to understand why people dealing with emotional and mental issues felt such a strong connection to my music. This began my journey on a pioneering path toward creating an innovative form of entertainment emulating these legendary Greek healing venues.
Dynamic Evolving Impulse Unknowingly, I had uncovered an organic manner of inducing catharsis through music that seemed like a natural process.
The impact on others was revealed at a party, in 1981. I shared a tape of my music with Dr Michel G. Mouret, a friend and psychiatrist. He took the music to his clinic. A month later, I received a call from a psychologist in my friend’s clinic and asked: “Could you please record more music for us because, although our musical library is very large, our patients continue to ask for yours.” I was very surprised, but I prepared it for him, nevertheless. My psychiatrist friend discovered that my music stimulates particular zones of the brain and makes it possible to mobilize archetypes in his patients. When a patient creates drawings while listening to the music, it brings to the surface past traumatic experiences, and serves as a means of releasing the emotional baggage tied to them. Unknowingly, I had uncovered an organic manner of inducing catharsis through music that seemed like a natural process. A 5-hour musical program was created and intended to be used with his patients. What a surprise when he presented a series of drawings made under my musical induction, and what a surprise for him: although the themes of the music were not communicated to patients, there was a striking correlation between the titles of the themes assigned by me, and the symbols appearing in the drawings. He called my musical process; «Dynamic Evolving Impulse»
Musical Course
Until then, I wasn't focused on the use of music in a therapeutic environment to help patients What was fascinating is that consciously I chose a medical profession, yet I was pursuing a passion that I never considered to be of professional worth. My mentor also asked if one path couldn’t serve the other. I felt encouraged to explore those concerns while pursuing my practice. This led me to go beyond my formal training and blaze new musical trails. One evening, while at a small gathering, I entertained the group by improvising on the host’s organ. Several people asked what I was playing. This question triggered a consciousness within me that, like the psychiatrist’s observation about my music, it is more than a form of entertainment but a means to allow one to elevate to a consciousness of awareness.
Serendipity
A passion for research Along the way, I met Chantal Desmoulins, who had a passion for research. Her intellectual curiosity, and the originality of her university studies — foreign and French literature, linguistics, comparative literature and the study of the organized system of images particularly interested me. We both entered then in a research period, with a group of about 15 people of diverse specialties, studying thousands and thousands of drawings made under musical induction of my music creations and supporting hundreds of professionals ranging from the small private medical practice to large healthcare institutions (psychiatric clinics, hospitals, retirement homes, rehabilitation centers) all of them pioneers in the field of art and music therapy. Our passion to study the effects of the music grew with the years, supported by remarkable psychiatrists who brought honor to their profession by their dedication and resourcefulness in introducing music as a viable therapy.
Catharsis "I was able to express myself outside of words, outside of others, to yell, to scream, to be happy and to feel all of that… … I was able to speak to myself in total security (even if it was painful)." — Lucienne
The cathartic function of music brings to the surface past traumatic experiences and serves as a means of releasing the emotional baggage tied to them In 1983 another psychiatrist implemented our method in his inpatient After Care Psychiatric Clinic. A few months after implementing the music in the clinic, he expressed clearly that, in his opinion, my music was particularly cathartic, allowing for the mobilization of emotional experiences by associating it with patient memories. Catharsis, which is derived from the Greek word katarsis, means purification or purgation of the emotions (such as pity or fear) primarily through art. This purification brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension. Catharsis is also a psychoanalytic method which consists of eliminating a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) At that time, I totally ignored the origin of catharsis".
 Photo by Ronny Siegel: http://www.ploync.de/reisen/5041-epidauros-peloponnes.html Epidaurus
Restoring health through cathartic theatrical spectacles After some research, I discovered how centuries ago, the ancient Greeks erected spectacular sites to stage great classical dramas connected to highly developed healthcare centers. Their shared desire was to be restored to health through cathartic theatrical spectacles. Spas were part of a healing system that included elements like kurparks (celebrating nature), and theaters (expressing community). This began my journey on a pioneering a path toward creating an innovative form of entertainment emulating these legendary Greek healing venues. But who, in a world where the cry of Roman barbarism still echoes through the five continents, would still embrace the Greek mottos: the True, the Good and the Beautiful and Know Thyself?
Greek Tragedy
Since the time of Aristotle, staged spectacles have been used to bring about great emotional change — catharsis — in the spectators. My mentor and muse was driven by the vision and the certainty that, in the future, Great Staged Spectacles, properly designed — blending art and technology — would heal the masses. This inspiration stirred a passion within me. Some great thinkers and visionaries have had the same certainty that, within 10-20 years in the world music and art, the most important evolution would be "the artist who is able to give meaning to the human condition; to show both the human tragedy and to make emerge the beautiful to suggest that humanity can excel."
Destiny arranged my rendezvous with this fabled figure

 

Orpheus
Orpheus breathing his last breath Marble by Alphonse Eugène Guilloux, 1882 Nestled within a park of my childhood village is a marble statue of Orpheus—a musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. But until recently, this sculpture was shrouded from my memory. In retrospect of the past six decades, it seems destiny arranged my rendezvous with this fabled figure—who moved the masses with the sweetness of his music, and inspired much of the literature, poetry, and drama through the ages. The breadth of this legend of a musician, separated from his wife, transcended my life as an ordinary man. Its essence crept into my being and forged many roads I traveled.
2nd Image — IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ORPHEUS

 

or when the gaze of Orpheus borrows the eyes of an ordinary man
As a young rocker, my music was influenced by a fabulous foursome that impacted my generation: The Beatles. As I matured, my desire to ease the pain of others inspired my professional studies in dental medicine. Later, I was drawn to music therapy and began creating powerful, evocative music capable of inducing catharsis. Eventually I found my muse, who in a wondrous pas de deux, lured the composer in me into an endless love story.
My music was influenced by a fabulous foursome that impacted my generation: The Beatles As a youth, rock music shaped my world. With musicians of the sixties as my inspiration, I began to entertain others with my talent. As a Young Rocker

An adventure in itself…

Recording Studio
Between 1977 and 1984, I built and directed several private recording studios where I conducted musical research on synthesizers, until this passion prompted me to create a professional recording studio in 1987 with Dominique Julliard, my best friend, and independent architect in Geneva (Switzerland). Conceived and constructed as a center for research and creation, it has become an internationally recognized professional facility. This was achieved in collaboration with renowned American acoustician Tom Hidley, and the electronic engineering genius David La Barre. The amazing main speakers from Shozo Kinoshita and the wonderful power amps from Jean-Marie Fusilier created an acoustics performance with a purity of sound that was tremendous. It was, sonically, one of the most accurate control rooms I have ever heard in my life. This experience helped me prepare for the "grand plan", a few years later.
Recording & Publishing 14 hours of music Composed & Published
I composed all the musical themes for The Orpheus Project. Some are released and some are still dormant, but are ready to be arranged and orchestrated to lead the staged spectacle I have in mind. The interesting thing in my journey is that the story came from the music itself. My spiritual mentor (we will call her Iane), told me one day: "Your music tells something… it is taking us somewhere… indeed, you are composing like a writer". And she was right. "I saw my entire life playing out in front of me: my childhood, my adolescence, all the years of my life going by; I saw the future before me...no other music has had this type of effect on me. Despite any negativity in my life, I saw the good, and I felt at peace. This music really helps you evaluate and assess your own life.", expressed a patient after completing the Catharsis Application Program. I recorded and published 14 hours of music for The Orpheus Project, including the ones for The Catharsis Technique and Catharsis Application Program, thanks to the faithful friendship of Dominique, Chantal and others. Their belief in the transformative power of art boosted us to prepare this project for the future and to stay strong in the face of all obstacles, at all stages down to the smallest details!
Testing the waters Piano Concerts
My main concern was expressive art therapy for the last several decades. It was, in fact, a time for incubation. In 1988, after a difficult — but always enriching — experience with a musical production team in my brand-new "attracting" recording facility, I decided to testing the waters with preparing musical pieces for the piano, after someone expressed to me: "When a melody is good, it works well at the piano". In 1991, I hired two talented concert pianists and prepare with their help two Etudes for piano. What is assuming about this story is that when both pianists heard about the music they immediately expressed that my "music" was not "music". This response made me smile… my music was not following conventional technique. In fact, other than my medical courses, my life had always been about the unconventional… following intuition not the rules! We recorded, mixed and edited these two Etudes for piano. Many piano concerts were performed, based on these arrangements.
First Breakthrough Concert Orchestra
In 1998, a Belgian pianist having heard of my Etudes for piano, and finding the melodies interesting, wanted to perform them. He visited me in early January. At first sight, he looked more like a sales person than the pianist that I was looking to perform my compositions. He asked me: "Do you want your music performed by a 75 piece Bielorussian symphonic orchestra?". A month later, I hired a talented young orchestrator and I tried to handle my dental office and the orchestration at the same time. Even when I tore my Achilles tendon in June, I managed to attend the first concert on crutches in Paris that September ! Although we were supposed to rehearse during seven hours we were only gvien an hour and a half! Despite not working well together and the pianist at one point being thrown off by half a bar (yes!), we received a standing ovation. That’s the magic of live performance. And while the performance was a success, the recording made during the event was a disaster! Concerts performing my first orchestral program "Orchestral suite for images" followed in France and Germany, with the 75-piece classical orchestra, solo piano and soprano accompaniment. The success of this and other ensuing concerts was a clear indicator that I should focus my time and talents on music. Six months later, I made the decision to close my dental practice and devote myself to music completely even though my patients were distressed and my family disapproved.

Imagine me… recording in the same studio that The Beatles made famous!

Abbey Road Studio One
 Moving forward into the magic, my path led me across the same white-striped crosswalk of a historic London street corner, straight through the gates of the famed Abbey Road Studios. My heart soared as I realized my adolescent dreams were coming true. My friends Chantal, Dominique, and Luc accompanied me on that first day, and to this day, we still reminisce about that crowd of tourists—as ubiquitous at the main gate as the writing on the wall. As they watched us pass through the Abbey Road Studio entrance, their gaze gave us the distinct impression that they thought we were VIPS. Truth be told, we actually imagined that we were very LUCKY people. Here I was — 35 years after starting my own first rock‘n roll group in France — a bona fide musical composer! So, in December, 1999, six of my musical themes were performed by the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra and recorded at Abbey Road Studio, the studio where the Beatles recorded! Shawn Murphy, a famous sound engineer, and Conrad Pope, an astounding orchestrator, both from LA, worked on the project.

 

Mourning
George Frederick Watts - Orpheus and Eurydice

 

Like Orpheus, I lost the other half that made me complete… With great love, there may come a time of devastating loss, and seemingly two souls become one. Mourning the death of my loving muse, I found myself in a dark, wretched place. During this time, I re-read a book she wrote during her lifetime. In one passage, she mused about a strange dream she once had, whose end was a drama…
The cruel Prince's Islands, Black Sea… “I saw a nine year old girl arriving at a door unable to breath. Dreadfully pale and double over, she rested against the door… Instinctually I understood that in order to reach me, to punish me, I lived the wave of destrcution inflicted upon her — the rape and wild beating she endured from her father… She collapsed on my couch, because she could not stand it any more… With horror my eyes were opened on my unforgivable error…“  3000 Years Before
“…I was given a task in my prison… This child of my flesh, the product of her mother and her own evolution, was neither fully realized nor a product of her past in the harem. I have given her up instead of loving her and helping her grow. My cultivated selfishness was the culprit for this drama without a solution. Overcome by a feeling of suffocation, I opened my arms, closing them again on the condemned child, in one sole embrace because death was eminent. In spite of the mad love which suddenly penetrated me… I felt weakening at the same time as I held the young girl collapsed in my arms. With it despair, inundated us from every direction, and made us lose the breath… It was dawning when I awoke… Tired and ravaged from the head to foot, I hardly recognizing the familiar objects surrounding me… My face, in the mirror, was not completely mine any more. It merged with that one of the young Scandinavian girl… For almost a week, I was tormented by the feeling to sail between the millennia. Then, one morning, I opened my eyes, and was released by listening to an orchestra of a new opera. While the opening nourished all my being, I saw a splendid curtain slowly rise onto a scene of an immense theatre. The astonishing music connected the threads of time and made everything comprehensible, digestible, and enriched. I felt readjusted, well balanced in the present, and this feeling was at the same time projected into the future. All that had crushed me in the past had disappeared. It became the material which will inspire and transform others and expressing at the same time beauties, forms…“ — Eliane Fontaine - Devine ou je te dévore
The liberation she experienced through her dream was a Revelation to me… As if my Muse left a hidden message waiting to be decoded… As she gave me the seed that contained all the elements of a Great Staged Spectacle, just waiting to be planted. Breaking the Code
To decode the meaning, I was compelled to delve further into the Monteverdi's Orfeo. Consequently, I was inspired to reinterpret the myth as "The Orpheus Experience"—a profound exploration of the human existence. As my vision unfolded, I was overcome by a desire to create a venue for grand spectacles that bring significant meaning to the human condition. Daring to dream big, I embraced artful concepts to demonstrate how tragedy, goodness and beauty, can transform humanity to greater levels of excellence.
3rd Image — THE ORPHEUS EXPERIENCE
A reinterpretation of the Orpheus Myth adapted to the 21c
I reconnected to those legendary couples who inspired great composers to create some of the greatest operatic master pieces: Orfeo by Monteverdi… Romeo and Juliet… the "Dramatic" fate of those couples called out to me. Romeo & Juliet — Franck Dicksee (1853 -1928) • Ary Scheffer (1795-1858) — La mort d'Eurydice Great Operas
The Dream Comes Alive
I found in the Orpheus Myth a deep resonance with my own story. The challenge I faced was to be able to superimpose the Orpheus Myth with my own life. In time, it was clear that I was creating what appeared to be a meta-narrative spectacle — looking at the story beyond the story.
A New Kind of Opera
As my vision unfolded, I was overcome by a desire to create a venue for grand spectacles that bring significant meaning to the human condition Daring to dream big, I embraced artful concepts to demonstrate how tragedy, goodness and beauty, can transform humanity to greater levels of excellence: a new multimedia staged spectacle for the future depicting a reinterpretation of the Orpheus Myth — adapted for the 21century — showing how Orpheus could succeed in reviving Eurydice… Through such an endeavor my Muse will live on.
A Total Immersion
In this new multimedia-staged spectacle, the audience becomes immersed in a powerful cathartic experience. I envisioned exceptional acoustics in this state-of-the-art amphitheater — meticulously designed and balanced to support the performers, while compelling spectators on every perceptible level. The seats are disposed in an arc to resemble the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus. The core of the performance comprises live orchestral music with elements of the story played out on stage by actors and dancers, much like an opera. Overhead, the realism of cinema delivers additional narrative elements, including 3D images, sound and holograms — further immersing the audience in total multi-sensory experience.
FRED CARUSO, producer in Los Angeles Flashback to an auspicious event in spring 2000, when I had the privilege of meeting Los Angeles producer Fred C. Caruso, during the filming of Deuces Wild. Personally and professionally, this was an auspicious meeting, one of these special encounters that occur only very rarely in a lifetime! His friendly voice is still beckoning me: " No place exists right now that will house such a fantastic experience. You must build it! ". The Breakthrough
Alain Fred Dominique
" Every Myth is a human drama in a condensed form. That’s why every myth can so easily serve as a symbol for a dramatic situation today. " — Gaston Bachelard
I hope this presentation helped you better understand the origin(s) of this large endeavor. I invite you now to Step Inside the World of The Orpheus Project! Alain Amouyal, composer and originator of the project, CEO of The Orpheus Institute

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