CALENDAR EVENTS

 London launch of the first edition of the 
 International Festival of Scenic Arts

23 September at the Victoria & Albert Museum 
a day in the company of scenographers, costume designers & lighting designers

London, 19 June 2009. The prestigious V&A museum in London has been chosen to host the launch of the first edition of the International Festival of Scenic Arts, an international event celebrating contemporary stage, set and costume design, organised by The Scenographer  magazine in collaboration with a number of leading European universities and their respective faculties of architecture and design. 

23 September: The world's largest museum of design and decorative arts plays host to  a series of talks and presentations by world-class design practitioners the calibre of William Dudley, British stage designer, costume designer, video designer and 3D animator, who has most recently designed the sets and costumes for the Broadway musical The Woman in White, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. He is joined by  lighting designer Rick Fisher, Tony Award winner for Billy Elliot: The Musical.  From Italy, we are proud to welcome the multi award winning scenographer Ezio Frigerio and the Academy Award winning costume designer, Franca Squarciapino.

DESIGNING FOR OPERA AND MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: LINKING MEMORY AND INNOVATION

is the theme chosen by the Festival organisers: "We wanted to focus on opera and musical performance, drawing creative and technical realities with  the  day dedicated to examining the fusion of traditional methods of a purely classical bent with those orientated towards experimentation, that make broad use of multimedia and computerised technologies. A day in the company of a group of award-winning professionals of international acclaim: scenographers, costume designers and lighting designers. An event at the forefront of the developing dialogue between conventional and modern approaches to design, addressed by highly experienced designers and technicians who will present audio-visual examples of recent projects. 

The setting is the world renowned Victoria & Albert Museum, hosting the London Design Festival, a major event celebrating design from around the globe.

  from left: William Dudley, Rick Fisher, Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino

Part of the day will be devoted to Maria Bjornson, stage and costume designer for theatre and opera. Her career will be discussed by her friend and authority on her work, the impresario and designer Adam Pollock. Widely considered by critics to be one of the most important contemporary stage and costume designers at an international level before her untimely demise in December 2002, at the age of 53. She is best known for her  iconic sets and costumes for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera. The production has been running for over 20 years and has been seen by over 100 million people in 21 countries worldwide. 

Cover design of the special issue dedicated to Maria Bjornson 
that The Scenographer magazine will present at the Festival launch

an unmissable diary date
Victoria & Albert Museum  - London
23 September 10.00am - 5.00pm
free admission

The International Festival of Scenic Arts  launches in London, on 23 September, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, before migrating to Rome  (27-30 October), at the University "La Sapienza", then Milan (9-13 November) at the Polytechnic's Faculty of Architecture & Society, completing its itinerary at SIB in Rimini, (18-20 April 2010) - Europe's leading Expo on lighting, audio, video and installations for the entertainment industry - with the second edition of the International Contemporary Scenography Days. 
for further information: www.scenic-fest.com