A Night to Remember: Ruth Sahanaya Celebrated with grandMA2

posted:

22/12/2011

Staging a night to remember in the Plenary Hall of the famous Kuala Lumpur Convention Center

Only a few artists can claim a career spanning 25 years and still be relevant and Indonesian singer Ruth Sahanaya is just such an performer. When her 25th anniversary came to be celebrated, lighting designer Bernard Chew from Jakarta, was challenged with creating a lighting design for the landmark event, which he faced with a grandMA2 full-size control console on his side.

Staging a night to remember in the Plenary Hall of the famous Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Malasia, right underneath the Petronas Twin Towers, Sahanaya was easily able to convince her audience that there are many more years to come. Best known for her ballads, Sahanaya has won several national awards and is well recognised internationally, frequently touring and playing music festivals as far afield as Finland and the Netherlands, in the process winning many fans across the globe.

Working together with Jeffry Waworuntu, Ruth Sahanaya’s husband and manager, Chew came up with a lighting design fitting for the occasion. He chose to pre-program and present the show using grandMA 3D software, due to its ease of use and free license! With limited time available, Chew didn’t want any integration issues with third party softwares. He wanted to put the client’s needs first and come up with a presentable design - quickly.

He therefore pre-programmed the palettes and positions and added cues using his grandMA onPC software. Unfortunately during rehearsals, it became apparent that he would not be able to attend the one night concert himself, so he also taught Waworuntu the basics of the console to enable him to operate the show.

With local support from the rental company Show Gear Malaysia, the MA showfile was updated onsite, and Waworuntu became the ad hoc operator of the console offering a very special moment to put his wife ‘into the right light’.