AO [èi-o]   n. ancient polynesian word;  1. pure light;   2. all colors;  3. alpha-omega

AO MUSIC is an extraordinary pan-cultural musical experience, composed, produced and performed by international recording artists Richard Gannaway, Miriam Stockley, Jay Oliver and Sandeep Chowta. We are primarily non-profit through our 501C3 AO Foundation International, which attends to children in need around the globe, many of whom we invite to sing on our album projects.

AO MUSIC is vibrant, cinematic and intoxicatingly rhythmic—described by critics as “astonishing”. The immediate freshness of this sound is vitalizing—a true universal expression. Key ingredients in AO MUSIC’s unique sound are deep rhythmic textures, the multi-layered vocal tracks of Miriam Stockley, and powerful vocal ensembles from children throughout the world. Refrain lyrics are often a variety of ancient languages or carefully crafted phonetics (vocalese). The impression is fresh and exotic from any place on the earth. AO MUSIC was invited to compose theme music for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Give Kids the World, and was awarded Best World Music Album from Zone Music Reporter‘s International community of Radio broadcasters in 2011 and 2017.

The opening tracks on AO Music’s 5th, 6th and 7th albums have each won Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for World Music.

The Four Tenets of AO

Youth – the vibrant, unguarded human presence

The present cycle of change

The singularity of Music, Color, Form and Movement

The understanding that any natural system, unobstructed, is UNITY, is MUSIC, is LOVE!