Photo by David Merritt
“MELIOR Opus Griot”, written and composed by Carleen Anderson, is about a little girl, Cassie, who was thought to be lost at sea. An Alkebulan Water Spirit rescues and ushers Cassie to the ocean floor society of MELIOR. For centuries, she time-travels, ranging in Earth years from age three to sixty-three, applying the Merpeople teachings of harmony to offer as uplift to land dwellers living in a world deep in chaos.
Music Storytelling Art - Concept and Purpose
Click link for ways to: Support MELIOR Opus Griot
MELIOR Opus Griot Promo Collage digital design by Tim Walton. Inset Images: Top Left ‘Cover Artwork’ by Lella Russo; Top Right and Bottom Left ‘Storyline Visuals’ by Sandra Whetham; Bottom Right photo by Hugh Hastings of the November 2022 Hall for Cornwall Preview Production Dress Rehearsal. MELIOR Opus Griot Logo by Jon Fletcher.
Carleen Anderson is a US American born/UK Resident Music Artist respected for her singing and songwriting. Her professional career began in 1990 as the vocalist, composer, arranger and recording artist for the Young Disciples. After six acclaimed solo albums and a multitude of collaborations she began developing her style of dramatic music storytelling for the theatre. This long-held creative passion of hers was supported by Arts Council England for her first theatre production, CAGE STREET MEMORIAL, in 2014, which was nominated for an Innovation Award. Since 2020, Arts Council England supported her most recent work she labels as a blended-roots Opera, MELIOR Opus Griot, which had a preview produced by Hall for Cornwall in November 2022. Current plans are in the making for further music and theatre production developments, as financial provisions surface.
The outlook of this aquatic-themed fantasy is to extend the creative space for artistic vision in the world of music art for the stage.
Cover Artwork by Lella Russo
The Story of MELIOR Opus Griot
MELIOR Opus Griot is an ocean-floor, time-travel fantasy conceived, written and composed by Carleen Anderson. Performed in the dramatic theatre format of an Opera, it blends Gospel, Soul, Jazz, and Classical music for a fresh staging of theatrical storytelling.
A little girl is thought to be lost at sea. She is rescued by a mystical water spirit and guided to the seafloor society of MELIOR. It is a tale of surrealistic humans who use their gifts to advocate people choosing to behave better with each other in the midst of chaos and global destruction.
To help reach the goals of covering the costs of studio recordings for a Double Album release of the MELIOR Opus Griot music, as well as the expenses for staging a theatre production premiere, a variety of fundraising events are being considered. Updates will follow as they surface.
So far, the £4K+ monies raised by this crowdfunding website campaign has paid for the studio recordings of three MELIOR Opus Griot music scenes. To studio record the remaining nine music scenes would cost upwards from £12K, (Twelve-thousand British Sterling Pounds/GBP).
Further expenses, such as marketing and distribution, are in addition to visual media film projection and audio equipment hires to coordinate the music storyline and soundscapes within the narrative of this blended-roots Opera, to be expressed in the performances of a Chamber Music Quintet, an Opera Chorus and Interpretive Dancers, alongside Carleen in the leading role.
This Folk Opera style is rooted in Carleen’s early childhood memories of her Grandfather’s theatrical productions. His church members created costumes from rags and scraps to actualise Biblical themes he directed for their performance participation. From the age of seven Carleen would composed music for her Grandfather’s adult choir. Influenced by the combined-genre vocal stylings she listened to from the voice of her classically-trained Juilliard Scholar Aunt, Bettye Faye Anderson, who was also a much sought after Gospel singer during the 1960s Civil Rights movement before her death in 1970, this work blends generations of music art and literature.
Fast forward to now, she brings to life her vision of a fresh approach to dramatic music storytelling.
The ultimate goal of this work is to expand upon traditional music genres to create a combinational platform that existing and future music storytellers can use to express their creative artistry.
A New Music Storytelling Genre
Photo by Hugh Hastings
Carleen Anderson has a goal of establishing a ‘blended-roots’ Opera genre for existing and future music artists to express their styles on a broader dramatic storytelling platform. She aims to build upon the traditional Opera format with an eclectic unit of musicians, an Opera Chorus, digital imagery projection and interpretive dancers for audiences to enjoy this aquatic-themed fantasy.
The results from this crowdfunding campaign so far has financed the studio recordings of three MELIOR Opus Griot music scenes. The remaining nine music scenes and the delivery of a theatre premiere is what this fundraising promotion is for.
Explore the many gift rewards on this portal to support this new music artwork to be realised.
Photo by Hugh Hastings
Promo Video by Manchester Art Factory/Sandra Whetham
Clip of Carleen swimming in the Sea at sunrise by Neil Salter @DawlishBeachCam
MOBOCRACY single recorded at Sorting Room Studio, Dartington Trust, Dartmouth, England. Engineered and mixed by Tommy Williams, August 2022.
Carleen Anderson on all Vocals and Piano. Orphy Robinson on Vibraphone and Percussion. Sam Burgess on Bass.
All Hand Claps by Carleen Anderson, Orphy Robinson and Sam Burgess
The Futuristic Vision for MELIOR Opus Griot
Photo by @hannahmentz
Fundraiser Target & Progress
Listed here are the contributions of MELIOR Patrons as of 11th October 2023.
MELIOR Opus Griot - A Blended Roots Opera
Describing the MELIOR Opus Griot concept Anderson said: “Opus refers to the collection of compositions I wrote for this theatre production. Griot represents the African (ALKEBULAN), storyteller, a Diasporic style of melodic narration. In this fantasy, Cassie is cleansed from oppression and brings uplift gained from MELIOR to the land dwellers upon her every return to shore.”
Anderson aims to cultivate a futuristic approach to traditional Opera.
A UK resident since 1990 she was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 1992 with her Young Disciples band mates, Marco Nelson and Femi Williams. She was nominated for a Solo Independent Artist Brit Award in 1995 and named Jazz FM’s UK Vocalist of 2013. In 2017 musicologist Gilles Peterson presented her with a Worldwide FM Lifetime Achievement Award. Her CAGE STREET MEMORIAL album was nominated in 2018 for Jazz FM’s Innovation of the Year.
Having studied music on a scholarship at University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, was the vocalist and songwriter for a variety of collaborations and solo music releases, Carleen is focused on broadening the pastures of creativity in the theatre world.
Photo by Hugh Hastings at the Hall For Cornwall Playhouse MELIOR Opus Griot Preview Dress Rehearsal in November 2022: MELIOR Chamber Quintet (MCQ), Cornwall Choir and Carleen at the piano.
Supporters of MELIOR Opus Griot
Lella Russo Artworks
Jon Fletcher Design
Louise Bowen Watercolour Art
Diverse Arts HQ
James Brown, Godfather of Soul
“She’s not just good. She’s phenomenal. Carleen Anderson is one of a kind.”
As an Independent Music Artist, Composer, Lyricist, and Storyteller, I am humbled by the support from Arts Council England, Hall for Cornwall and Falmouth University’s Academy of Music and Theatre Arts that enabled the preview performance of MELIOR Opus Griot. Tremendous thankfulness to all who have helped in any way, as well as those who plan to contribute towards the future development of this new style of dramatic music theatre.
Carleen Anderson
Website built by Carleen Anderson ©2023