The event is attended by the King and Queen of Sweden and the other members of the Royal Family, plus approximately 1300 guests, including Nobel Laureates, politicians, dignitaries and other VIPs, as well as seen by the viewing audience of a High Definition television broadcast by Swedish Television (SVT). No tickets can be bought; all guests are invited by the Nobel foundation.
Lighting designer Per Sundin integrated 18 Clay Paky Alpha Profile 800 ST fixtures for the event, supplied by Woodlite. He knows the layout of Stockholm City Hall well, having designed for the event many times in the past. "These were my first choice - the event is not one full of hundreds of movers. The lighting must be subtle and beautiful and the Alphas were perfect."
Sundin has been a lighting designer since 1989 and has designed for some of the world's largest TV shows including the Eurovision Song Contest (five times), Nobel Prize Foundation since 1996, royal events in Sweden and Saudi Arabia and world-renowned film director Ingmar Bergman, plus architectural installations worldwide and commercial clients including Formula One and Coca Cola.
Sundin comments, "Lighting design for the Nobel banquet and the architecture of Stockholm City Hall demands discrete rigging and compact, silent and efficient tools so this year have I chosen Clay Paky Alpha Profile 800 ST as the main tool to 'paint' the hall with, a powerful and silent fixture which blended perfectly into the scene.
"It was appropriate to have Italian lighting present, which thrived along with the wonderful and thousands of flowers, which since the 1970s, been delivered by the Italian city of Sanremo, where Alfred Nobel lived the final years until his death. The lighting was also designed to be an elegant compliment to the entertainment, which featured excerpts of works performed by The Royal Swedish Ballet. I've done this event for 18 years now and we're able to create a completely new atmosphere each year through lighting. Alfred Nobel would be proud."
(Jim Evans)
