All posts by Conical Sphere Media

 
Posted by in Volunteer Work on | , , , , , , , , ,

Creating and installing The Light art installation for Salisbury Cathedral was a brilliant challenge for 6 young volunteers in Poole.

Travers, Toby, Erween, Elliott, Zach & Sam are Conical Sphere Music volunteers who have worked alongside artist Richard McLester to create the art installation THE LIGHT. Last year saw them install their creation in Salisbury Cathedral where it was suspended from November 2018 to January 2019. THE LIGHT is a 4m illuminating globe which has the ability to produce a display of light and film across it’s surface. Inside the globe are 80 strips of LEDs and 4 projectors all of which can be controlled wirelessly from up to 50 metres away. The volunteers worked with artist Richard McLester to create the entire installation from scratch. “I have learnt so many new skills on this project” says Toby. “Everything from engineering to Agile project management!” “It was amazing to think how many thousands of people saw our work” says Sam. “Creating something for such an important building was very rewarding.”
Help us create more opportunities like this…
 
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Artist & CEO Richard McLester is inspiring the future of creativity in Dorset…

Musician, artist, web-designer, film-maker, photographer & all round creative. His art installations & performances have been held in major UK venues including most recently Salisbury Cathedral. He’s the CEO of a media company and of a non-profit CIC that gives local volunteers opportunities in the arts. Richard McLester is the spark lighting the way for Dorset’s creative future… Q You do everything from IT, film & design to art installations and concerts. What inspires it and how does it work together? A All of the media work we do for clients as well as the art projects and concerts are essentially about communication. By doing more experimental and open ended art projects alongside our media work we have a safe space to try new things and push our boundaries – which gives us an edge in both fields. Q Why are you helping to upskill young people in Dorset? A I’m passionate about art, music and technology and the ways these can bring people together, but I also want to help people in a more direct, immediate way. By getting volunteers involved on the art projects we’re able to teach them new skills, give them experience using industry standard tools and have them work directly alongside professionals. We have now created the infrastructure so that any volunteer can join in on any art project and learn the right skills for their future careers. Q You use the same project management systems as Google & Barclays. How does it help you realise your creative visions? A A key part of bringing any project to life is managing the people and time needed to make it happen. Working in an Agile framework and using Atlassian software such as Jira and Confluence are essential for us to do this. It makes communication between teams as quick and efficient as possible. This helps us to keep our costs down for clients and focus on being as creative as possible. Q What drove you to start experimenting with art & technology? AThe exciting thing about technology is that you can always do more with less. Traditionally projections on multiple screens, or lighting up large venues such as cathedrals would be very expensive. But by using simulation software and lean project management, we can pre-plan and focus our resources on specific areas of the project. This means that rather than being held back by budget constraints, we can afford to be creative and push boundaries. This translates into our volunteers achieving things they wouldn’t have thought possible. Q Your recent art installation in Salisbury was dubbed “a beacon of hope” by Sky News. How did you achieve this? A When creating a project it’s important to create a spectacular visual that captures the imagination. If you can link that with a story that resonates with people then you are halfway there. The other half is knowing how to present the project in such a way to the press that they can also see the importance of the work. Again it’s through our experience in both art and professional media work that we are really able to hone down and communicate these messages correctly to people. Q What are your plans for the future? A We are currently looking at which locations we should take our project ‘One City One Light’ to next. The project involves hanging our huge illuminating globe as a focal point, then reaching out and connecting with the surrounding community to make the project relevant to them. It all culminates in a big multimedia concert underneath the globe featuring local singers from the area.
Find out more about Richard’s work with local volunteers…
 
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Zach is only 16 years old, but last year saw his transformation to a creative professional, through an internship with Conical Sphere.

Last year Zach broke up for his summer holidays and decided to take up the opportunity of joining our team as a creative intern. He had previously volunteered with us as a chorister, singing alongside Richard McLester for songs such as The Lowly Candle Flame. This time he decided to get stuck in and try his hand at some new skills. “…I’ve had a fantastic experience” says Zach. “I’ve learnt a ridiculous amount of new skills, including most importantly the day to day management of bringing a project to life! I’ve learnt how to use software tools that Google & Barclays use, as well as discovering a new passion for photography. I’m very excited for my future – having a taste of so many different disciplines has really given me a sense of what’s possible and I’ve added tons of new skills to my CV…” Zach began the summer creating a virtual lighting desk that would be used in our live concert at Salisbury Cathedral later that year. He then moved on to the camera, capturing content for the marketing department and helping us film interviews of choral director Kate Edgar. He finished the year as a vital member of our team, helping to organise the stewarding for our live concert and installing THE LIGHT art installation.
Help us support more volunteers like Zach…
 
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On Tuesday 2nd April, we celebrated the incredible achievements of our young volunteers whose recent art installation and concert in Salisbury Cathedral received nation-wide, positive recognition. Over 100k people came and saw their project, it was dubbed “a beacon of hope” by Sky News and a single image of the art installation engaged over 18k people on social media.
Read more about their art installation and concert in Salisbury Cathedral…

For helping to create a project with such positive influence each of our volunteers was awarded with a Golden Cow Award and was acknowledged for the amazing amount of work they put in.

Here are some of the photos taken from our Red Carpet…
And some photos of the event itself…
And some more taken by Dave Taylor
Read more about their art installation and concert in Salisbury Cathedral…
 
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For the past 8 weeks, a giant illuminated globe called ‘The Light’ has been hanging from the spire of Salisbury Cathedral as part of the Darkness To Light illuminations. Succession Wealth are inviting you to a short, informative Ted-Style Talk by artist Richard McLester on how the project came to Salisbury and what was involved. FREE TO ATTEND – but places limited so make sure you sign up to avoid disappointment! Free glass of wine, canapes and refreshments will be provided.
Evening Itinerary Join us at Succession Wealth’s offices in Salisbury from 5.30pm. 5.45pm Introduction & Welcome by Succession Wealth 6.00pm – 6.30pm ‘Meet The Artist’ Talk with a chance for an open Question & Answer session 6.30pm – 7pm Networking with other local businesses
Please note, entry to the offices is via buzzer at front door. Tel. 01722 413348 Free car parking available. Succession Wealth are proud to be the headline sponsor behind the project The Light. A national wealth management advisory brand, which offers a truly differentiated advice service, Succession Wealth strive to deliver a richer and more rewarding experience, centered around achieving life goals for private clients and providing a bespoke solution for corporate clients. For more information about Succession Wealth, please visit their website here.

 
Posted by in Community Work on
On Wednesday 5th December, we put on a spectacular concert of Songs Of The Light underneath the art installation “The Light”. It was an amazing evening, with over 200 Salisbury singers of all ages from Kate Edgar’s community choirs (https://www.kateedgarmusic.com) joining together to sing with artist Richard McLester. Here are some of the photos by Salisbury photographer Mark Bastick And some photos by Salisbury Cathedral photographer Ash Mills
Full resolution photos by Ash Mills are available to buy online from his website; https://ashmills.zenfolio.com/songsofthelight

Click here to view all of the photos from the event, including the rehearsals here…
 
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Some of the photos from behind the scenes and the dress rehearsal with choirs in Salisbury Cathedral.

Click here to view all of the photos from the event, including the live show here…
 
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Fabulous first rehearsal for Songs Of The Light, Salisbury 2018 this week!

Over 100 singers from 5 local Wiltshire choirs came together in Downton Baptist Church to kick off rehearsals with artist Richard McLester. Huge thank you to Kate Edgar and her work in making this happen…

The Light Salisbury Choir Rehearsal

If you’d like to join one of Kate’s choirs and take part in this journey, do visit her website: www.kateedgarmusic.com and get in contact!

 
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On Tuesday 14th August artist Richard Mclester performed Songs of The Light at Greyfriars Community Centre, Ringwood. The performance was a preview of the concert coming to Salisbury Cathedral this Christmas.
Katie: “This performance really gripped me and inspired me. I really liked the videos and thought that the songs were written amazingly.” Eve: “Good to encourage people to talk about their hurt.” Sue: “Very professional and enjoyable. Will be amazing in the Cathedral!”
The whole performance was made possible thanks to the incredible amount of hard work from all of our volunteers and students. Morgan, a 15 year old student volunteering with us for his DofE, has written an article for us, about the performance:
Bringing a Light Into Our Lives ‘Light is all around us’ a common phrase known by many, but this vibrant performance by Conical Sphere Music gives a fresh insight into the true importance of peoples perception of the light amongst us. This new and innovative way of understanding what light means to different people, began as a community project run by Richard McLester, founder of Conical Sphere, and a variety of volunteers from Poole and Bournemouth. This musical eye opener delivers some truly inspiring stories and a sensational display projected onto three screens. A captivated audience of 48 people watched these projections of inspiring true stories from individuals about what the light means to them. These provoking displays were adjoined with live musical interludes throughout the evening, creating an exciting environment for all viewers of a variety of ages in an intimate setting. Throughout the evening people were offered promotional CDs of the performance music and wine, gifted to the project by their sponsors The Village Vine, a local independent wine merchant. The evening was most enjoyable for all people of any age and was seen by many as ‘something very new, very different, yet amazing’
A huge thank you to everyone who took part and came to the event. We really value your support!
 
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Songs of The Light Performance

On Tuesday 14th August 2018 7:30pm, we’ll be putting on an exciting and immersive performance of Songs of the Light at Greyfriars Community Centre in Ringwood, Hampshire!

This December, we’ll be installing ‘The Light’, a giant illuminated globe in Salisbury Cathedral. To launch the art installation, we’ll be performing an immersive concert of pop and choral music called Songs Of The Light.

Ahead of the performance, we’re putting on an open rehearsal of the music and projections. It’s a free event and we’d love to showcase our plans for the project in Salisbury.

CREATED BY THE COMMUNITY Everything that you will see; the music, the film, the giant screens, the technology that links the film and the music, has all been created by local volunteers who have given their time to create something special. THE MUSIC Songs Of The Light has been especially written for the project by composer Richard McLester. In Salisbury, he’ll be joined by a choir of over 150 singers to perform the songs.