A Mozart classic performed by five members of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra and projected onto the windows of a downtown building is the latest local display being added to Lights On Stratford, the winter festival launching Friday.
A Mozart classic performed by five members of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra and projected onto the windows of a downtown building is the latest local display being added to Lights On Stratford, the winter festival launching Friday.
Esteban Vargas, Bruce Skelton, Joan Bidell, Gwendolyn Nguyen and John Sanderson recently formed a string quintet and were recorded performing the famous opening movement from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, or in English, A Little Night Music.
A creative team from Ballinran Entertainment, the Stratford-based film and TV production company, is using the footage to produce a unique sound and light experience that will be projected onto its Downie Street building every evening for the duration of the festival.
“We think it’s a real opportunity for experimentation,” said Craig Thompson, the president of Ballinran and the creator of what he’s called the Magic Windows experience. “Stratford is all about coming together as a community and creating new ideas. We’re having a lot of fun.”
The Ballinran technique is experimenting with is more sophisticated than simply projecting a recording onto the building.
Thompson’s team is using projection mapping technology and five projectors to sync each musicians’ individual performance, placing each one in its own window, which has been coated in a light-sensitive film. The same technology was used on Parliament Hill in Ottawa during Canada 150 celebrations and is more common overseas, Thompson said.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work with virtual reality and augmented reality content and, basically, we just thought, ‘Lets illuminate our storefront,’” Thompson said. “I’ve seen this before, but it isn’t really common in Canada. This is the first time we’ve done it … with sound. It’s also new in that we’re actually showing a performance.”
William Rowson, Stratford Symphony Orchestra’s conductor and music director, said he and the players were “thrilled” to be part of the project. The orchestra and Ballinran have teamed up in the past, most recently to broadcast performances during the pandemic, part of a push from Rowson to expand access to the group’s work.
“I find Craig and his team at Ballinran keep coming up with new innovative ideas all the time, and they have the team and the technology to make it work. They really respect live music,” said Rowson, also the assistant conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
“It’s the kind of thing I’m already thinking of bringing to the Vancouver symphony,” Rowson added. “It’s just nice that a small town that has a strong arts and culture sector and is creative … incubates that kind of idea.”
Mozart’s A Little Night Music was a carefully considered choice.
“It’s a very famous piece of music. It comes from a serenade in G major that he wrote,” Rowson said. “Serenades were usually written for parties or evening gatherings, and they have various little movements and a dance, that sort of thing. Because you can see the projection … for Lights On Stratford at night, we thought that would be our little offering, a little night music for your evening. That ticked all the boxes for us.”
Stratford-area politicians and tourism officials kicked off the third annual Lights On Stratford festival in Market Square on Friday.
In an opening ceremony, Zac Gribble, executive director of Destination Stratford, thanked colleagues, funders, and artists.
“Your work brightens our lives,” he said, “and it’s an honor for Stratford to be the Canadian premiere for several installations.”
Six main displays and over 15 additional “shareable moments” throughout the downtown core are part of this year’s festival, which will take place in Stratford over the next six weeks.