GROUND BREAKING RESEARCH AND POWERFUL MUSICALITY
Usher Hall
Edinburgh
The Harmonium Project was a free, outdoor, projection mapping event marking the opening of the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival and the 50th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus. Created by 59 Productions, the piece combined John Adams’s mesmerising choral work Harmonium with a series of spectacular animations, projected onto the outside of the Usher Hall, with an audience of almost 20,000 people gathering on Festival Square to view the transformation of this much loved Festival venue.
Working with the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics, the project examined the effects singing has on both the performer and the listener. Gathering data from musicians and singers and using it to guide and inform the animations that blanketed the facade of Usher hall, this project marked a unique approach to visualising music.
A recording of Harmonium formed the soundtrack to this spectacular event, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus conducted by Peter Oundjian. Combined, these elements formed a spectacular show informed by both groundbreaking research and a powerful sense of musicality, delighting and amazing festival audiences.
Selected Press
CREDITS
Creative Director
Animation Director
Nicol Scott
Developer
Chris Plant
Animation
Aaron Brady
Lawrence Watson
Marco Sandeman
Peter Dobes
Junior Animator & Data Wrangler
Raphael Pimlott
Assistants
Ciaran Smith
Oliver Salonen
George Mikrogiannakis
Lighting Design
Leo Woolcock
Production Manager
James Roxburgh
Programmer
Max Spielbichler
Line Producer
Akhila Krishnan
Assistant Designer
Betsy Dadd
Documentary Camera
Dougie Walker
Produced by
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
The Royal Scottish National Opera
University of Edinburgh