18 October 2018
An epic journey of light, space and sound
LIGHTPOOL FESTIVAL PRESENTS
BBC PHILHARMONIC (logo)
LIGHT ODYSSEY
AN EPIC JOURNEY OF LIGHT, SPACE, AND SOUND
7pm, 18 October
Empress Ballroom
Blackpool Winter Gardens
90 musicians – 20 international animators – a one-off, spectacular, live experience to transform the ballroom’s magnificent interior in jaw-dropping 3D.
Debussy | Barber | Saint-Saëns | Bernstein | Copland | Vaughan Williams | Britten
On Thursday 18 October, Light Odyssey will bring the iconic Empress Ballroom in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens to life with 3D animation, to push the boundaries of light, space and sound. Partnering with BBC Philharmonic, this spectacular and one-off performance will transform the ballroom’s magnificent interior with an explosion of light, as international teams of animators project bespoke visuals onto the stage, sides, and ceiling.
The 90-minute performance will include 90 musicians, led by acclaimed Norwegian conductor Eivind Aadland, in his first UK engagement with BBC Philharmonic. Live performances of Copland, Britten and Saint-Saëns, and classical favourites such as Barber’s Adagio for Strings, will fill the air with music that invokes the sea and a sense of place, experienced anew with light.
A 3D model of the ballroom has been especially created to enable tailor-made projection visuals that will interpret the music and the architecture in a new way. And following an international call-out with close to 50 applications, we have selected 6 artists to each create sections of the visual show, all choreographed to music chosen by BBC Philharmonic. In partnership with London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the next generation of animators complete this epic journey.
The jaw-dropping building transformation will require extraordinary technical vision, made possible by utilising the very latest in laser projection technology. Technical partner QED Productions, as pioneers of the use of projection-mapping technology, are uniquely placed to deliver the enormous challenge that Light Odyssey presents.
Light Odyssey launches the Lightpool Festival 2018, an international showcase of light and fire celebrating the world-famous Blackpool illuminations. It has been made possible with public funding from Arts Council England.
Eivind Aadland is one of Norway’s most respected conductors. He was Chief Conductor and Artistic Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons from 2004, during which time he conducted the complete Beethoven and Mahler symphony cycles. His extensive work with Scandinavian orchestras includes regular guest engagements with the Oslo and Bergen Philharmonics, the Stavanger Symphony, the Gothenburg Symphony and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In addition Aadland has conducted critically acclaimed productions of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Die Fledermaus for Den Norske Opera, Oslo.
Aadland has also worked extensively in the Far East and Australia. In 2010 he led the Trondheim Symphony on a seven-concert tour to China and made his debut with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul. In 2011 he launched his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane.
Appointments
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Illuminos are brothers Matt and Rob Vale, creating visually inventive, memorable artworks and experiences. Across all projects and scales they seek to create work unique to location and viewer, with a particular interest in early animation techniques reimagined for contemporary mapping technologies. Blending elements of installation, dance, movement and music through film and architecture, they explore the emotions of an environment, aiming to capture the essence of a place, space or feeling as a shared moment of time. They have exhibited internationally in France, Cyprus, USA and Ireland, recently with Les Troyens for Lyric Opera of Chicago, and for the European Capital of Culture closing ceremony in Paphos.
Nick Azidis and Rose Staff – a collaborative duo creating digital projection art, with a shared passion for optical illusions, art and technology, experimentation and working within the field of public art. The two artists came together early in 2016 to create an installation for White Night Melbourne.
Over the last two years, they have worked on many major events and projects throughout Australia and in Europe.
Nick Azidis
NICK AZIDIS is an Australian born new media artist and illusionist specialising in large-scale projections, in both digital and analogue mediums. He has compiled a diverse body of work over nearly three decades as a producer, content developer / creator and technician. Nick is interested in storytelling and creating eternal memories and changing viewer’s perceptions through his works using image and light. Nick has delivered projections for many projection festival in Australia, including the Geelong Christmas program, the Melbourne Biennale, Australian Open tennis championships, State Library of Victoria for White Night Melbourne, and the Australian ANZAC centenary / NGV building façade. Based in Melbourne, Nick has worked throughout Australia; including Europe.
Rose Staff
Rose Staff, sometimes known under the alias of Radiance, she is a new media visual artist, VJ and graphic designer. She works with moving image and live video performance in a range of settings around the world, from contemporary art installations to large-scale vibrant projections at festivals. Her projections have been shown at the Geneva Mapping Festival, Glastonbury Festival UK, VIVID Sydney, White Night Melbourne andat some of Australia’s largest music festivals including Splendour in the Grass Stereosonic, Rainbow Serpent, Strawberry Fields and Let Them Eat Cake.
Joe Mason is an independent artist, designer and creative director, specialising in animation and interaction design. With over 15 years’ experience in the creative and digital industries, his personal practice helps clients realise ideas, through consultation and hands-on design, whilst also developing art projects that explore new technologies and formats for storytelling.
Based at Duke Studios, Leeds, he collaborates locally and remotely with international colleagues and clients
Dan Shorten is an award-winning multimedia designer specialising in projection-based artworks. He has created many large-scale projection artworks for a range of clients including: The Rothschild Foundation, City of London, Tower Bridge, Guildhall Yard, Barbican Centre, Tower of London, Oxford City Council, The British Museum, BIPAF Busan, CSU Summer Arts (USA), Glastonbury Festival, Blackpool Illuminations, GLOW Festival (Italy) and LUX Helsinki (Finland). He works extensively as a freelance artist and consultant and is the Creative Director for the Live Events Unit at the prestigious Guildhall School for whom he also wrote the Video Design for Live Performance degree programme.
Florian Rabl is the owner of one of Germanys foremost creative design, animation, VFX and film production companies, ‘Ice Space Studios’ based in Munich, Germany. Together with his team of talented artists they visualise, create and produce ground breaking and visually spectacular film and animation content from classical 2D VFX shots to immersive virtual reality solutions for various high-profile brands, corporate clients and cinemas worldwide.
With an impressive portfolio of global companies including, Audi, Coca-Cola, Amazon, L’Oréal and Renault, their goal is to always push the boundaries to achieve something new and amazing that has never been seen before.
Florian and his innovative team are lighting the way within the global film technology industry with their breath-taking 360 Virtual Reality and Simulation projects. Florian and the team at Ice Space Studios are thrilled to create and develop a truly unique and out of this world, state of the art projection mapping performance exclusively for the Lightpool festival.
Ruth Taylor is an animator and illustrator based in Amsterdam, specialized in bringing her self-designed characters to life.
Ruth studied animation at Art Academy St. Joost in Breda, and graduated in 2011. After working for a video agency focussed on TV commercials, Ruth decided to focus more on her artistic skills and went on an around the world trip staying at six artist residencies. She now works as a freelance animator for commercials, animated series and films like “Kop-Op” directed by Job Joris & Marieke.
Whenever possible, she works on her own projects, like the music video “Read Between the Lines” for the band Alaska Pollock which was selected and won several prizes at animation and film festivals.
