Since 2007, the Tones on the Stones Festival has played host to performances which combine music, theatre and dance with the geometry and solidness of the quarry. For the last two years, the festival has been able to count on an exceptional partner: Clay Paky.
Clay Paky provided a wide range of lights this year: Alpha Wash 1500s, Alpha Profile 1500s, A. leda B-Eye K20s, Sharpys, GlowUp Strips and GlowUps. The Festival lighting designer Nevio Cavina was therefore able to take advantage of all the effects he needed to create well-lit sets. He reports, "it is indeed a privilege to have a natural stage of this type. The quarries offer incredible opportunities for lighting, and having the most advanced technology on the market in terms of lights allowed me to enhance them in the best possible way."
Nevio Cavina explains how the lights were used in detail: "The Sharpys were placed on the ground - some of them close to the rock face - to cut through the skies of Val D'Ossola with their powerful concentrated light beams. I used the Profile 1500s as side and front beam shapers on the stage in order not to disturb the video projections, when present, and for geometric effects on the rock faces to highlight their shapes. I used the new A.leda B-EYEs as soft accent lighting to floodlight the quarry, and as scenic elements with their effects. They are extremely versatile and creative LED moving heads, which I am sure will be a great success."
STS Communication provided a 35,000 ANSI lumen Christie projector for a 60x33m maxi-projection. For the evening's Tosca, two Christie 35K projectors were employed. The video contribution and achievement of Tosca, including all the projection mapping, was provided by Areaoden.
Nevio Cavina also makes a special mention of the Clay Paky GlowUps and Glow Up Strips, the innovative battery-operated IP65-rated colour changers. "The GlowUps illuminated a series of photographs, but most importantly I placed them on the floor of the podium pointing upwards to illuminate the arms of the conductor so that the singers and musicians could see them.
"I used the GlowUp Strips to light some 'selected' quarry slabs, since they were found close to the guest seating. Since both the GlowUps and GlowUp Strips are battery-operated, I did not have to lay any cables, and - most importantly - I was able to illuminate otherwise inaccessible areas. The usefulness and flexibility of this kind of light in this type of setting is crucial because it saves a lot of time and, at the same time, it means I can use high quality lights."
Nevio Cavina praised Clay Paky's lights for the great reliability they showed: "They turned out to be absolutely accurate and reliable despite the difficult working conditions with dust, high humidity and a large temperature difference between day and night."
Ziogiorgio.it, the sound, video and lighting network, was media partner for Tones on the Stones. The event was also sponsored and promoted by many local and regional authorities, as well as foundations, press and private companies.
A contest for lighting designers was held during the Tones on the Stones Festival, in cooperation with Clay Paky. The six contestants, who had already passed a round of selections held two weeks earlier at the company's showrooms, competed with each other using the lighting equipment set up at the quarries.
The jury consisted of the chairman Giancarlo Toscani, Nevio Cavina, the all-round lighting expert Fulvio Michelazzi, Maddalena Calderoni and Clay Paky marketing manager Davide Barbetta. The winner, Edoardo Falasco, r
