Strand Lighting has worked closely with both the Opera Company and the Ballet for over 30 years, most recently at their current home at the Hummingbird Center in Toronto with opera technical director Julian Sleath and resident master electrician Tom Taylor. The lighting system for the theatre includes 500 series consoles with ShowNet nodes and is the largest Sinewave dimming system sold to date, with over 1000 SST Sinewave dimmers. In addition to their silent operation, the SST dimmers also provided an added bonus in the form savings on the building's power feeds from the heavily loaded downtown Toronto power grid. Designers and the electrical utility did not have to plan for the harmonic distortion present in a large conventional system which places additional loads on wiring and transformers. The unity power factor of the system will deliver ongoing savings to the facility.
The traditional, four-tiered European-style horseshoe-shaped auditorium will be lined with resonant wood and plaster. Seating configurations were designed to provide unparalleled intimacy between the audience and the stage, with every seat computer-tested by FDA for the best possible sightlines. A large, flexible orchestra pit will permit the presentation of the full range of opera repertoire, from chamber pieces to full-scale 19th and 20th century works. Full rear and side stages, generous dressing rooms, wardrobe and instrument storage all will allow three full productions to play in repertory.
Tim Burnham, president of Strand Lighting, comments: "We appreciate the confidence placed in our company by consultants Josh Dachs and Richard Hoyes of Fisher Dachs and Associates in New York City, who specified Strand Lighting for this flagship project."
Richard Goode, national sales manager for Canada adds: "We worked closely with the Canadian engineering team at Mulvey & Banani, along with Salex Marnik, our representative, to insure that the electrical design meshed with the theatre consultants' vision of the project. The result will be a wonderful building to work in."
(Lee Baldock)
