Gary Stadler is an American

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...

pianist, composer, songwriter and producer, specializing in contemporary Celtic-influenced themes and atmospheres. Stadler's six albums generally focus on imaginative concepts loosely based in

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

, especially stories of

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

realm. His music combines melodic elements of rare world instruments, mastery of

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

orchestrations and studio techniques. He has collaborated with vocalists Singh Kaur and Wendy Rule. Stadler's third album, ''Fairy Heartmagic'' was listed on Billboard's New Age Top 25 chart for four weeks in year 2000.Billboard Magazine, April 28, 2001 through May 17, 2001, chart position # 24 on Top 25 New Age Albums Several of his songs have been featured on compilations on multiple record labels in the US and Europe. Stadler is the brother of professional golfer

Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...

Background and artistic development

Stadler grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In school, he learned to play the piano and most common orchestral instruments. Becoming an orchestra conductor was a childhood aspiration of his. In 1993 he wrote the songs "Dream Spell" and "Awakening" for a local play ''The Goblin's Bride'', based on Celtic fairy-realm myths. Those songs were the genesis of his first album, ''Fairy of the Woods'', released by Sequoia Records in 1996, and well received by the alternative market of independent

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

bookstores. As he garnered a loyal audience, Stadler added vocals and moved into a more acoustic direction on his second album released in 1998, ''Fairy NightSongs'', featuring the voice of Singh Kaur, known to New Age listeners for her ''Crimson Series'' of recordings with harpist Kim Robertson. Stadler's third record was ''Fairy HeartMagic'' in 2000, a collaboration with Celtic harpist

Lisa Lynne Lisa Lynne is a Celtic music, Celtic harpist, a composer and New-age music, new-age recording artist. She is a self-proclaimed multi-instrumentalist who has "spent the last eighteen years pursuing her passion for the Celtic harp." Lynne released ...

, and vocalist "Stephannie" the sister of a friend filling in for Singh Kaur after her death. Stephannie composed lyrics recalled from dreams in a form of

glossolalia Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...

she referred to as a new language of Celtic fantasy. It was released on Sequoia Records in October 2000 and recognized on Billboard's New Age Top 25. The song "Fairy NightSongs" from this album was awarded

JPF JPF may refer to one of the following *Judean pillar figure *Journeyman Pipefitter *Japonica Polonica Fantastica *Java Pathfinder, a system to verify executable Java bytecode programs *Jeunesse Populaire Française, a French youth fascist organizat ...

Best New Age/World song of 2004 following its appearance on a compilation. Stadler's fourth album, ''Reflections of Faerie'', in 2003 returned to instrumental pieces reminiscent of his first release, mostly on solo piano, and once again the harp of

. In 2004, for his fifth release ''Deep Within a Faerie Forest'', Stadler collaborated with singer and composer Wendy Rule of Australia. His sixth album, ''Faerie Lullabies'' was a retrospective produced in 2006 in which he chose the most peaceful and comforting pieces from his earlier releases and re-recorded them in the form of instrumental lullabies, intended for both children and their parents. Stadler's song "Fairy of the Woods" was featured on the soundtrack of ''A Magickal Life: Jeff McBride'', produced and broadcast by Canada's

VisionTV VisionTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Category A services, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is ...

, a one-hour episode of their series ''Enigma True-Life Stories'' in January 2006. His former wife Tamara contributed lyrics to his albums as well as the albums of fellow Vegas Vortex musical group Zingaia.

Album artwork

The artwork on the first two of Stadler's six albums was created by San Diego artist Scott Thom, known for his original airbrush paintings and New Age greeting cards. Las Vegas artist Katlyn Breene of Zingaia (who also wrote some of the lyrics on '' Fairy NightSongs'' and '' Fairy HeartMagic'') created the artwork for Stadler's remaining albums.

Other interests

Stadler has worked in

stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

and

laser art A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

(one of his first careers), producing "wet" light shows and laser light shows in the 1970s and 1980s, owning and operating an electronic design/manufacturing company from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, and winning a Technical Achievement Oscar in 1994 for innovations in the film lighting industry. He has used these skills for events produced by the Vegas Vortex, and stage magic productions of

Jeff McBride Jeff McBride (born September 11, 1959), also known as "Magnus", is an American magician and magic instructor. He is known for his sleight of hand skills and specializes in the manipulation of playing cards, coins, and other small objects. His s ...

, as well as the creation of temporary

art installation Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often cal ...

s at the

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

festivals. Stadler has also specialized in technical and historical

glassblowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

, particularly the manufacture of distillation equipment for

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

Discography

Solo instrumental albums

* ''Fairy of the Woods'' (1996, Sequoia Records) * ''Reflections of Faerie'' (2003, Sequoia Records) * ''Faerie Lullabies'' (2006, Sequoia Records)

Album collaborations with vocalists

* '' Fairy NightSongs'' with Singh Kaur (1998, Sequoia Records) * '' Fairy HeartMagic'' with Stephannie (2000, Sequoia Records) * ''Deep within a Faerie Forest'' with Wendy Rule (2005, Sequoia Records)

Album producer

* '' This Universe'' by Singh Kaur (2005, Sequoia Records)

Compilations including recordings by Gary Stadler

* ''Musical Healing'' (2001, Sequoia Records) * ''Mystic Celtic'' (2002, BSC Music GmbH) * ''Buddha-Lounge'' (2002, Sequoia Records) * ''Qi Gong'' (2003, BSC Music GmbH) * ''Celticum Mysticum'' (2004, Prudence Recordings) * ''Perfect Balance, Musical Healing Vol 2'' (2005, Sequoia Records) * ''Celtic Lounge'' (2005, Sequoia Records) * ''Celtic Lounge II'' (2007, Sequoia Records)

References

External links

* Gary Stadler on Allmusicbr>Gary Stadler artist websiteAlternate website for Gary Stadler's Essential Oil Distillation Equipment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadler, Gary American new-age musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners