Montreux Jazz Festival
Lake Geneva, Switzerland
Now in its 39th year, the Montreux Jazz Festival is Switzerland’s oldest festival and the highlight of the country’s summer concert calendar. Held on the shores of Lake  Geneva, the event draws musical talent from around the globe with more than 250 artists appearing. Each year, over 200,000 flock to the Montreux region during the festival, and 2005 was no exception.
Scenetec & Co is a global entertainment lighting company, based in Vevey and Zurich, Switzerland. For the past 16 years, Scenetec has worked closely with festival organizers to develop stunning entertainment lighting solutions to enhance the festival atmosphere. They have developed a close relationship, with organizers now allowing Scenetec the full choice of design for stage and venue lighting. Scenetec’s challenge is to search out lighting products which can offer the right balance between entertainment and architectural applications. TIR’s Destiny® Series can meet both needs.
What the Customer Wanted
 Situated in downtown Montreux, along the shore of Lake Geneva, Montreux Palace is a jewel of classical Belle Époque architecture. Built in 1906, the palace has long been a place of luxury and elegance. It is a founding member of the famous "Leading Hotels of the World" group that today includes the some of the most prestigious establishments from across the globe.
Because the palace is situated in the heart of the festival grounds, it features several temporary exterior lighting installations each year, bringing another dimension to the festival atmosphere while demonstrating the latest in lighting technology. The designers’ challenge was to achieve a proper balance between emphasizing the detail in the architecture, without overpowering the building with light.
TIR and Scenetec worked jointly to achieve the desired lighting effects, ensuring the festival enjoyed the benefit of the best solid state lighting (SSL) solutions available, along with Scenetec’s experienced installation crew. This also gave Scenetec the opportunity to experience first hand the performance of TIR’s Destiny® Series when used for specific ‘architainment’ applications.
Solution & Implementation
 To create the desired atmosphere, Scenetec’s designers selected products from TIR’s Destiny® Series to illuminate several key festival venues. They liked the ability of the Destiny® Series to seamlessly transition from cool to warm colours created a dynamic and exciting lighting display for festival goers.
Twelve Destiny® CG units washed the palace façade with an intensive and vivid multi-coloured display. Destiny® CG was chosen for being a very powerful yet compact luminaire. Elsewhere, 16 Destiny® CG and five Destiny® SL units illuminated three different areas of the nearby concert venues, including a steel rooftop structure that was visible throughout the festival grounds. Destiny ® SL is the most powerful product in the Destiny® Series, with a projection distance of 25m/80’.
Results/Benefits Achieved
TIR’s product participation reinforced that its Destiny® Series is an ideal option to light both classical and modern European architecture. The distribution of light and control flexibility offered by Destiny® CG enabled the perfect amount of light to accentuate the palace architecture, while not distracting from its natural elegance.
The Montreux project was also a fantastic opportunity for TIR to further its movement into the European market and to showcase the Destiny® Series in a perfect ‘architainment’ setting.
As guests of TIR, close to 30 architects and specifiers from around Europe were able to experience this lighting spectacle and see how TIR’s products can be adapted to fit unique and different settings.
Customer Quotes
Laurent Zumofen, Director of Scenetec and Co, said, “All Scenetec members were very happy with the result. The TIR product achieved exactly what we wanted.”
For those guests of TIR who attended, witnessing first hand the performance of the Destiny® Series and meeting with TIR representatives was the ultimate way to gain knowledge and inspiration as to how SSL luminaires can add a new and more appealing dimension to both classical and modern European architecture.
“As an architect and designer, it was great to get the newest information on these professional products directly from the persons who developed them,” said Andreas Ramseier, CEO of Ramseier & Associates Ltd. in Zurich. “With this direct input, I am capable of integrating these systems into my projects, and convincing my clients about the high standard of TIR products.”
Kevin Theobald, Senior Lighting Designer with NDYLIGHT, also left Montreux with lasting impressions of TIR. “The highlight of the event was the illumination of the Palace Hotel using the TIR Destiny® range. I was considering using Destiny® CG for a project but had gone off the idea, not being convinced of their ability to light high enough up the building. But on seeing the installation in Montreux, my mind was changed. I was also impressed with the range of colours available.”
“The products of TIR were well located and created a huge impression especially on the hotel front. On top of the concert hall the light was excellent,” said Jürgen Müller, who represented Zumtobel Staff of Frankfurt/Main.
Jürgen Nientied from SL Licht and Andrea Nusser of Andrea Nusser Lighting and Interior Design were both equally impressed with the display. “The illumination of the hotel was really impressive regarding the efficiency and the power of the TIR LED technique,” said Nusser. “The structure was very good and effective, (and) it was a convincing show of the power of TIR products,” added Nientied.
Future Opportunities/Call to Action
The overall impression from those who witnessed TIR’s products in action was highly favorable. Those who attended were able to learn the potential of the Destiny® Series, and how it performs to create a dazzling ‘architainment’ environment.
The company can now pursue various leads and interest from the European market, and several key stakeholders.
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