Kearsney College, situated on the edge of the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu-Natal, has an award-winning choir ensemble which was founded in 1994, and has picked up twelve gold medals since 2000 at the World Choir Games. The College is renowned for its arts and culture programs, as well as for numerous sporting accolades. When an opportunity arose to upgrade the school hall’s stage lighting system, this prestigious reputation and history was kept in mind and only world-class equipment was sourced to enhance the performance venue.
Nik Fairclough from Northwind Recording received the brief to supply a world class lighting system that was simple to control events ranging from a weekly assembly, all the way up to a major school production. Virtually the entire old system was replaced. Electrosonic KZN in conjunction with Bruce Schwartz from the JHB branch opted to integrate as many of the advances in LED based technology as possible. Apart from their energy-saving benefits, the LED fixtures are small and unobtrusive. The client did not want large fixtures cluttering the decor. Brand new cable-ways and new Electrosonic Pre-wired bars were installed. An Electron dimmer and a complete DMX network were also installed. The award-winning Martin Professional MAC Aura LED Wash was used as the workhorse fixture along with MAC 350 Entour LED Profiles. Versa-Light LED Parcans in both RGB and Amber White Versions were also used. Atmosphere was created with a JEM Compact Hazer Pro. All this was controlled by the versatile and popular Martin M1 control desk. Northwind Recording was appointed as the consultant by Kearsney, and project managed the complete installation. Evan Lyle from KZN Electrosonic branch handled the training and was also on hand for their first show, a school play festival which was a resounding success, much to the delight of a very happy Kearsney College.
