Vari*Lites light systems were used by lighting designers, Mandylights for the Grand Finale concert of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011.
101 musicians from 33 countries uploaded videos to YouTube while auditioning for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011.
Chosen with the help of leading orchestras around the world and the YouTube community, the musicians performed in an extraordinary concert conducted by Grammy-award winning YouTube Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor, Michael Tilson Thomas.
The week-long festival came to a close with the Grand Finale concert streamed live on YouTube from Sydney Opera House.
The Grand Finale was a multimedia extravaganza of soaring music accompanied by extraordinary projections on the interior Concert Hall and the exterior sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Richard Neville of Mandylights was the Lighting Designer for the event. In addition to the Grand Finale, the Mandylights team was involved in the lighting direction for all the live sites and events in the week leading up to the main event.
With a brief to create the equivalent of the MTV Awards show, he chose 51 x VL5 Wash, 14 x VL1000TS Spot, 26 x VL3000 Spot and 230 x Mandylights LED tubes.
The intention was to create a spectacular show while satisfying the normal requirements of a classical orchestra by ensuring participants had enough light to be able to read music.
The lighting design team also had to consider the projection and design a low profile rig that would fit in with these specifications.
Other limitations included not being able to get enough fixtures into the conventional side light ports at the Opera House or replace seats to accommodate lighting.
The Mandylights team created a design that consisted of two angled trusses hugging the walls all the way down the venue to create a spectacular effect without intruding into or blocking any camera shots within the venue.
In addition to numerous VL5 washes that offered unmatched quality of light, Richard also used Vari*Lite VL3000 and VL1000 spots with their zoom feature.
He appreciates the reliability of the Vari*Lites to the extent of using a 15-year-old VL5 fixture.
YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 was the most watched live stream in YouTube's history with nearly 30 million people logging in from around the world.
Vari*Lites lighting fixtures are available from Jands, a leading Australian distributor of professional sound equipment, lighting systems and staging equipment.
