Strand and The Sacred Ellington

Strand Lighting's 300 Series console has recently been turning up in some unusual venues - including controlling the lighting in the middle of a road between France and Italy, and in an aircraft hanger in Germany! These were the locations at which singer Jessye Norman performed The Sacred Ellington, her concert of the sacred music of Duke Ellington, during September. As well as the legendary opera singer, the production features a pianist, a four-piece jazz combo and six-piece brass section drawn from England and America, a string quartet from Russia and a 12-strong gospel choir - plus a highly theatrical lighting design from British lighting designer Jenny Kagan. Kagan's involvement began with a production at the Barbican Concert Hall in London during the summer of 1999. There she used a Strand 530 console to control the Barbican's conventional rig and additional Martin MAC500s and High End StudioColors, brought in for the production. For the show's European dates, lighting director Rob Halliday, re-creating the lighting on Kagan's behalf, was keen to use a Strand console once again so that the Barbican disk could form the basis of the touring show.

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