Waterworks

WATERWORKS

FUSING CONTEMPORARY AND CLASSICAL MUSIC WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART LIGHTING, SOUND DESIGN AND PROJECTION, SUNBEAM PRODUCTIONS AND THE BALTIC SEA PHILHARMONIC EMBARKED ON THEIR FIRST MIDDLE EAST OFFERING, AS TPMEA DISCOVERS…

The Baltic Sea Philharmonic and Sunbeam Productions took to the Dubai Opera and the Emirates Palace, located in Abu Dhabi, to stage a two-date tour which transported attendees in each region on a journey through the different facets and forms of water; from the dramatic power of the Amazonas in South America to the gentle, soft springs in the North.

Tasked with ensuring this unique vision was delivered to the best possible standard was Production Manager, Ricarda-Selina Reichert, of Sunbeam Productions. She took up the story: “The search for suppliers was complicated by long negotiations, which led to many design changes and new budget calculations. In the end, our audio supplier, Delta Sound, was a vendor which was highly recommended to me several times over, and with whom our sound designer had already worked. For our audio needs, it of course made the decision easier. Another advantage was that they knew both the venues.”

Led by Project Manager Jaco Saaiman, PRG Gearhouse was also brought on board to supply projection, lighting and rigging across both shows. Reichert continued: “I knew PRG before, from other collaborations, so we already had a certain relationship of trust. Their German team had conducted the negotiations closely with the Middle Eastern team, which made the work a bit easier from my POV. Due to the tight install and

load out times, it was very important that we had a partner which was available at all times. My expectations were not disappointed.”

Saaiman commented: “PRG thoroughly enjoyed working on such a unique show with Sunbeam Productions. The organisation was fantastic, enabling a seamless effort to deliver a unique and spectacular event. The audience reaction to the show was fantastic and our client was very happy. We look forward to working with the production again when it visits this region.”

Dubbed by Saaiman as a ‘magazine-style artistic picture story that is designed to immerse the audience’, both of the Middle Eastern venues became the canvas for large-scale projection with lighting and audio creating a multi-sensory experience. Reichert recounted the potentially tricky pre-production process. “My relationship with this project is very special because it was [Creative Director and Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor] Kristjan Järvi who started this orchestra 10 years ago, with the idea to create an orchestra that is able to adapt to all of the situations the kind of productions ask from musicians these days.”

The Baltic Sea Philharmonic comprises a community of musicians from the 10 countries that the Baltic Sea transcends. Reichert articulated: “The Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra has been developed into a group

of excited musicians who are ready to play in new concert formats and are always motivated to make the impossible possible. I have never seen an orchestra that can adapt so flexibly in such a short period of time without losing its motivation and ambition. Each time they perform, they seem to find new places and technical implementations. You can’t rely on the concert being played the same way today as tomorrow because Kristjan Järvi likes to try out new things, and that alone is always a challenge!” she exclaimed. “The orchestra is not only incredibly talented but also very young. They are also part of the stage effects and must not be disturbed. This requires a lot of concentration, but also a willingness to play under these demanding circumstances.”

Järvi explained: “Waterworks creates an overall immersion into our shared Baltic Sea cultures, unifying the world from the Baltic Sea into the world’s oceans, rivers, streams and lakes. A spiritual, emotional and musical journey from its own Nordic roots, spreading to the southern parts of our world.”

He furthered: “This new approach of having a personal and emotional experience in a concert engages participation, connects to the ‘here and now’ and brings together ideas, people, emotions, cultures, and our own intuitive connection to nature. It shows that the orchestra

as an ambassador of goodwill among people, where true harmony is achieved through the spiritual power of music. We create a platform for resolving and exploring the frontiers humanity has to offer: a new force for positive change and a sense of longing for a better world.”

Sunbeam Productions developed Waterworks in 2017, bringing together a worldclass creative team in Lighting Designer Bertil Mark, Sound Designer Chris Ekers and Projection Designer, Philipp Geist. The team collaborated with the orchestra in real time to reimagine the concert experience, which immerses audiences in a world of sound, light and imagery.

Renowned for his creative flare, Järvi expressed his inspiration: “With this show, we are not only communicating the importance of this element, reminding us of the necessity of water as a source of life and making clean water sources available for everyone, but its sustainable element functions as a role model for the possibility to adapt to outer circumstances. Water is capable to adapt and transform into all shapes to find a new way of presenting itself.

“Water is capable of adapting and transform into all shapes to find a new way of presenting itself. When I developed Waterworks together with my team at Sunbeam Productions, we all were inspired by Bruce Lee’s mantra: ‘Be soft like

water, be strong like water, no boarders to come... Be like water my friend.’ We want to remind the audience about the necessity of water as a source of life.”

Conducted by Järvi and with solo violin performances from Mikhail Simonyan, the music score was accompanied by lighting effects and projection art, taking the audience on a spectacular sensory journey. “There are a lot of productions which make the visual a primary focus without a real focus on music to supplement it. Whereas this is a multimedia production with lighting, projection and an orchestra.”

Embarking on the orchestra’s first venture outside of Europe, Järvi reflected on the UAE encounters: “The Dubai and Abu Dhabi venues have been extremely accommodating and are well-equipped. They’re some of the most modern opera houses in terms of technical capacity.

“Over the last past few years, Waterworks has become one of the most important productions on the Sunbeam calendar – therefore, I’m really happy that the audience in the Middle East has given us such a great feedback,” said Järvi.

Waterworks presented Philip Glass’ Aguas da Amazonia with an orchestral score arranged by Charles Coleman. It offered a dazzling portrayal of the beauty of nature and all the colours of the Amazon River.

Dubai Opera’s Chief Executive, Jasper Hope, commented: “From a contemporary take on Handel’s Water Music to pieces by the incredibly talented American Composer, Philip Glass, the Waterworks tour is not only inspired by water and its power but has almost literally been making waves around the world in offering audiences an incredible sensory experience for both the ears and the eyes.”

The Baltic Philharmonic offered a new experience for music and culture lovers as it pushes the traditional orchestral model to new heights and is fast-becoming a new social movement for the Nordic region which celebrates the relationships between society, culture and the environment. With members from all 10 of the countries which surrounds the Baltic Sea, individuals are all united through their connection to the incredible body of water. Hope concluded: “I’ve been telling everybody that we should rename ourselves the ‘Baltic Sea non-Philharmonic’ because in a way we are everything that a normal orchestra should not be. I draw influence from hip-hop and everything in-between.”

LIGHTING Bertil Mark is synonymous within the German live touring circuit through his show and lighting designs and his collaboration with Rammstein,

Production Manager, Ricarda-Selina Reichert; Projection Designer, Philipp Geist; Lighting Designer, Bertil Mark Creative Director and The Baltic Sea Philharmonic Conductor, Kristjan Järvi.

Helene Fischer (among others) and more recently, Kristjan Järvi. “I started working with Kristjan Järvi over two years ago and it was very spontaneous. Initially, he got in contact because he was curious about the fact that I was a musician who also designs lighting for music. We arranged to meet in Vienna and we jammed to some classical music. Despite being untrained in that field and without any notes, it worked and was a really free and gratifying experience. Philipp also jammed with us, creating a visual atmosphere for the music.”

A touring box of tricks, Mark recited his transition into the field of lighting design. “I started early playing drums in a band with my older brother. He began working as an audio engineer for other bands we toured with. I noticed lights were missing during their shows, so I used to manually control the visuals with old school cables and plugs, essentially flicking lights on and off. I remember having six channels and a proper desk at some point. It was while touring with friends that I gained experience working with different gear. It was definitely a learning process. Nowadays, I always try to incorporate

new technology in my work.

“At the very core of my lighting design, I want to illuminate the architectural elements of the hall as much as possible. From my experience designing in the classical and philharmonic venues, it’s beneficial to make it as simple and minimal as possible to achieve my aesthetic goals. Every venue and night are different and interesting. However, for the Middle Eastern shows, I tried to use a lot of lights on the floor and the mid-range towers to light the venue and orchestra spaces. Waterworks is like a new field of combining old structures and routines of touring with new technology. The great thing, and I believe a lot of us forget this, is that in smaller rooms you get more impact with the light.”

Mark’s lighting rig included PRG Gearhouse’s brand-new Martin by Harman MAC Viper Performances, Robe BMFL Spots, Claypaky A.leda Wash K20 moving heads, amongst others. “I chose the Claypaky A.leda Wash K20 fixtures because of the animation and the kaleidoscope feature with a little bit of hazer. It’s a great scenic element and displaying it on the roof and wall, in combination with Philip Geist’s projections, it’s

a great colourful fixture to use. While I used the Martin by Harman MAC Viper Performances in a theatrical way with a lot of gobo work and big textures, often during heavily musical parts of the show to pan over to the audience, using the room, while making movements.”

When it came to the economy of light, Mark was wary of utilising bright, warm and blinding fixtures by the orchestra, choosing instead, for LED-based lighting instruments. “Dubai Opera is well equipped, they’ve added brand new in-house fixtures to their rig, so it was very easy to work with them and achieve this type of performance. I used small lightbulbs on microphone stands during both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi shows to create a soft, white glow which evokes a lot of emotion from the audience during the epic parts of the soundscape. It’s like a big palette of things and then we start to flow with the music. Over the last two years, there’s been a huge step forward in LED spotlight fixtures and they’re perfect for building a ‘lightroom’ around the orchestra.”

Overlooking a traditional lighting desk, Mark instead opted for a PC with MIDI Controllers.

“It’s like a DJ controller for the lights and I’m only using one page. It’s all on the programmer and it’s all got lots of knobs and faders but they’re all unlabeled. It’s all intuitive. My process involves flowing with the music. Recently, I’ve stopped using the MIDIA feedback, so I’m always aware of what I’m adjusting visually in-order to deliver a show actively, in a stream of consciousness. Philip Geist and I are immersed in the performance together and people feel it, which is why it’s a very passionate and special production. It’s important to make sure no show is the same every night, because of my musical background,

being able to improvise helps my creative flow.”

Mark summed up: “Waterworks is like a journey. Kristjan is an entertaining conductor and actively involves the audience, encouraging them to clap and get involved with the show. I’ve found that many of the audience members are overwhelmed and shy to clap in such beautiful spaces. Kristjan’s new way of conducting creates for great moments of immersive classical production. He tries to show younger generations that classical music is trippy, inviting younger generations classical concerts,” he concluded: “Overall, it’s a very beautiful production. The

great thing about Waterworks is the fact that it’s a compilation of music with different composers and locations. Our primary focus is to bring people together and connect.”

PROJECTION Berlin-based artist, Geist, experiments with mediums of video and light installation, photography and painting. For Waterworks, the multimedia creative was tasked with developing site-specific light and video mapping installations during the performance. He recounted: “It’s interesting to utilise a contemporary setup in a

classical environment with light, projection and music. I really like the idea of bringing music and art into a classical, orchestral concert hall. My objective is to develop a completely new mindset for the audience members, which reflects how we purpose lighting in a classic environment. From pop to rock music, stage design is contemporary but projection in the classical world is something completely new. Utilising the conventions of modern technology also allows us to attract newer generations and bring young people into classical settings.”

Mark remarked: “Philipp is a unique artist and he does a lot of analogue work with the projectors. He comes from the world of live mapping so it’s a beautiful skill to purpose the roof in the Middle East shows. Surprisingly, working in the Middle East feels like touring elsewhere in terms of utilising trucks, equipment and the entire space to make it atmospheric. It’s interesting how the audience reacts.”

In true DIY style, the projectionist used a handheld camera to gauge visuals and his hands to create shapes through projection. “Everything is live, and I use view cameras to get an input. I get interesting views and detail. Its material which I can integrate into my artistic installation, so you can see the music, the strings of the players and tiny details of Kristjän hands while

conducting. I turn the visuals into abstract fields and integrate the material through the feed of the camera to give a view of the details and bring a different dynamic. As soon as I hear the music, I sit next to the stage and act on different situations and go further with it, I prefer that workflow because it allows me to react with the lights and creative a difference experience every show.”

Geist specified 2 x Panasonic Dz21 20.000 Lumen Video Projectors alongside 4 x Panasonic PT-DZ6710E WUXGA DLP Projectors, controlled via an Apple Mac Pro Computer System, and supplied by PRG Gearhouse. “The Panasonic media projectors allow me to create site specific visuals and movement in the venue. I use 2 x 20k projectors and smaller projectors for the sides to fill the whole concert hall. Different venues require a different setup, so its site specific. Before the show it’s essential to develop and adapt to venue locations with the equipment. I’ve used Panasonic projectors a lot and they’re very reliable.”

Projecting onto the grand canvas of classical opera houses provided Geist with a litany of challenges. “Bringing something visual to the architectural elements of the concert hall was often challenging. Traditionally, they’re very dark spaces so it can be tricky. It’s similar to

when I work on projection mapping in outside locations and overcoming the familiar challenges of darkness. My role is all about scouting the locations and overcoming challenges.”

Geist praised the tour’s visual supplier. “PRG have been great. I’ve worked with the German operation in Hamburg and Berlin on a number of concerts together. The Dubai operation are very accommodating, helpful and friendly. It was super nice to work with them. I was also taken aback with their enthusiasm and professionalism. Their operators arrived two days before the show at Abu Dhabi to set up and cater the show’s needs, which was amazing.”

AUDIO Naturally, when the Middle East tour was conceived, Reichert sought the advice of Ekers, who only had one audio supplier in mind, Dubaibased Delta Sound. “We had to come up with the approach fairly early on, so I contact Delta Sound’s Director of Engineering Al Woods at Delta and as he knew it would be an incredibly busy time, he was onto it and all over the details very quickly.”

Ekers explained how the planning for the Emirates Palace show had to factor in the additional Dubai gig. “As the tour was also headed to Dubai Opera (following the Abu Dhabi

show) where there is scope for the surround sound systems at that venue, Emirate Palace does not have the permanent infrastructure like that. We had to amalgamate the two projects into one, so we weren’t reinventing it all over again.”

However, the production came with its fair share of challenges. “With a very tight set up time we were under pressure, but happily, Al has just taken it all on and prepped the venue in advance where possible.”

Mark added: “There was a technical problem during the Abu Dhabi show, so Chris lost all of his snapshots and everything he had worked on that day. In the meantime, he had to set up his desk 10 minutes before doors opened. Thankfully, he was able to recover, and it was still incredibly sounding. It was so punk rock despite being in a really high profile, classical environment.”

Woods expanded: “The audio was really natural, the effects of the audio, video and lighting elevated the music and overall concept to a different immersive level. I personally really enjoyed the show and thought my old friend Chris did a great job.”

Ekers offered insight into the maiden Middle East performance. “Working with Kristjan’s team including Sound Designer Ruben Ferdinand has been a wonderful experience. Ruben uses Ableton Live to playback clips and process audio

on the fly to manipulate it by using various pitch shifting techniques and other effects such as freezing he then plays it back through performance.

“Essentially, he is DJ-ing his own orchestra, but what makes the Abu Dhabi show a bit special is that Kristjan has the musicians standing and they are planning to play the whole show by memory, so we have no sheet music on stage,” he continued. “I think the music is really fantastic, so I am excited to hear the whole thing in performance, sound checks and rehearsals are never quite the same thing.”

While the musicians achieved Järvi’s aim of playing the entire performance by memory, the audience were immersed into the performance with the audio in the venue comprising of a selection of Delta Sound’s inventory of L-Acoustics boxes, including a PA system comprising Kara for the main hangs and SB18s with X8 front fills for the stage, and a surround sound system made up of a selection of MTD108s and X8s, which were positioned in the roof portals of the auditorium and at the rear sections of the space.

The orchestra was mixed by Ekers on a DiGiCo SD7 console with the help of Delta’s extensive stock of high-end microphones. While a Sennheiser 9000 Series Digital Wireless system

was used to enable string players to roam freely in the orchestra.

In Waterworks, Järvi has broken the conventions of contemporary orchestral performances. The Creative Director’s approach of having a personal and emotional experience in a concert engages participation, connects to the here and now, combining the use of ideas, people, emotions, cultures, and human’s intuitive connection to nature.

Fundamentally, from its talented crew of creatives onsite to those in the supplier warehouses, Waterworks created a platform for resolving and exploring the frontiers that humanity has to offer: a new force for positive change and a sense of longing for an inclusive world, such is the inclusiveness of water, which connects us all. In this vein, it was perhaps fitting, that the same evening as the Waterworks performance commenced in Abu Dhabi, the area was lashed by a major storm, and the performers claimed they, indeed, ‘made it rain’. Photos: Paul Gärtner, Christian Mai & Fred Pacífico www.deltalive.com www.prg.com/ae/en www.dubaiopera.com www.sunbeamprods.com www.bertilmark.com www.videogeist.de