What a performance- Jean michelle Jarre

Jean-Michel André Jarre (August 24, 1948, Lyon, France) is a French composer of electronic music. Also a composer of film music, he has written the scores to films such as Lawrence Of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago among many others. He is well-known for staging spectacular outdoor concerts of his music, which feature laser displays and fireworks, three of which appeared in the Guinness Book of Records for their large audiences.

What I personally like about his work is how he transforms a space into a themed musical where the space becomes a part of the music and all this is achieved with just lights, projections and fireworks. Simple yet jaw dropping!

Some of his works that inspire me:

Houston - A City In Concert - 1986

The concert in Houston April 5 1986 is often considered a milestone in Jean Michel Jarre’s career. The concert took place in the shadow of the deaths of the seven astronauts who had exploded along with the Challenger space shuttle, one of them, Ron McNair, a friend of Jarre’s. The event was broadcast on TV all over the world and made Jarre a concert legend.

The occasion for the concert was the 150th anniversary of the city of Houston and the 25th anniversary of NASA, and the entire skyline of Houston formed the backdrop for the gigantic show. Huge sheets of canvas covered the skyscrapers which were used as screens for laser and light projections synchronised to the music and fireworks displays. The concert attracted an audience of around 1.3 million people.

Concert For Tolerance - 1995

In 1993, Jarre was appointed by the UN, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, for his ongoing contribution to the Arts & Entertainment and for his energy and talent in highlighting various local cultural aspects in his performances around the globe. On Bastille Day 1995, in front of the Eiffel Tower, in the centre of Paris, he conceived and performed his “Concert for Tolerance”, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. The concert began with a flyover of the concert area, Champs de Mars, by French Army’s prestigious Patrouille de France. The Eiffel Tower had never been so artistically lit : this incited the French Government to give the capital’s landmark a permanent new lighting effect for the Millennium and which contiues today.

The concert offered many of Jarre’s greatest hits, but also some less well-known work, such as Industrial Revolution. The general theme, Tolerance, was clearly expressed in the giant visual projections, and also with the presence alongside Jarre of Khaled, a megastar in the Arab world.

Paris - La Défense - 1990

The French National Day 1990 celebration marked the closing of the festivities celebrating the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Jarre conceived a gigantic concert for Paris’ downtown, modern business quarters.

La Defense, it must be said, formed the perfect background, not simply because of its futuristic character, but also because of the tall skyscrapers, von Spreckelsen's new Arc de Triomphe and steel monoliths which line the horizon visible from the centre of the city. Jarre designed a pyramid-shaped stage to fit the geometrical architecture of the setting where he performed with his musicians, a classical Arab ensemble (France’s second largest community), and others including a choir, a steel-drum band and gigantic dancing puppets of various kinds. The entire show was synchronised and illuminated by 65 tons of fireworks, as well as laser and light projections on the tall buildings. For over two hours Jarre enchanted yet another record live audience of 2.5 million people, and most of Paris was replete with electronic sounds and a sea of light on this festive July summer evening.

The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun (Bells)- 2000

The Twelve Dreams Of The Sun was a concert held by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt starting on December 31, 1999 and carrying overnight to January 1, 2000. It was attended by 120,000 people. The concert consisted of two parts, the Main Concert and a Sunrise Concert. The concert cost approximately $9,500,000 and it originated when Jean-Michel Jarre was contacted by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with a special project to celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium at the foot of the only remaining monument of the original 7 Wonders of the World - the Great Pyramids.

Jarre's team had developed giant projections to be displayed on the faces of the Great Pyramids, however a heavy cloud of fog made the pyramids almost invisible, so most of the projections were discarded. Parts of the concert were broadcast live on TV stations around the world.

After all this research on artists who work with lights and projections and understanding how a space can change, maintaining its current atmosphere through Jean Michelle Jarre's work, I'd like to perform a few experiments of my own with laser's, lights and projections to see what I can achieve as individual pieces in themselves which may become a part of the site at a later stage.