Directors of the Ashgabat 2017 Opening Ceremony: Three Interviews

Ahead of the Opening Ceremony for the Ashgabat 2017 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games we took the time to speak with a few of the key players from show producer Balich Worldwide Shows about the development of what promises to be a spectacular event. Below you can find excerpts from conversations with some key players, including Musical Director Pierre Mussche, Projection Designer Charles Darby, and Production Director Patrick Ledwith.

PIERRE MUSSCHE - Musical Director

Mussche and his company Musicom are in charge of all musical elements of the Ashgabat 2017 Opening Ceremony, including writing and performing scores, orchestral coordination, and collaboration for local Turkmen musicians.

On development:

“I have to adapt the music to the director’s ideas, but also to the performance. There’s choreography, props, there’s people flying the sky…The music has to work with everything that’s going on on stage. But my first principle with music is that it needs to powerful, and it needs to be touching.”

On the process:

“I think there are more than 200 musicians who are involved in this project. We did lots of orchestration in Budapest with Nicholas Dodd, who is one of the top conductors in the world. He does a lot of films in America and England. We mixed all the music at Air Studios in London, one of the top mixing studios in the world. And we brought a team from London here to Turkmenistan to record the local musicians and choirs. It’s been a massive adventure, traveling, finding the instruments, finding the people, putting it all together in one box…”

On creative surprises:

“The have been many surprises in composing the music for this show. It’s this mix of folk music, electronica, symphonic orchestras. And there are these, I call them ‘accidents,’ that make things really, really interesting. So there are a few things in the show that are a discovery - a real one. The piece ‘Energy’ is one of them, a mixture between electronic beats and local orchestras and choirs. I think those are the really exciting parts, the ones that are a mixture of electronica and choirs.”

On connecting with the Turkmen people:

“On my side, for the music, it’s been an incredible adventure, and it works. On the human side, we have connected with the Turkmen people, which for me is the start of everything. Everywhere we go in the world we want to connect with the people, which I think makes things very interesting and leads to discovery, music-wise. So I’m a very happy man.”

CHARLES DARBY - Projection Designer

Charles Darby and his company Clonwork are worldwide leaders in cutting edge digital projection technologies, pushing the envelop of what is possible in the field. He and his team are using their full expertise for the Ashgabat 2017 Opening and Closing Ceremonies..

On the scope of the projection work at Ashgabat 2017:

“There will be some remarkable moments in both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. I’ve said to some people that if you take both these shows and cut a ‘Best-of’ video from them, it will look like about 10 years worth events. And all the different segments are so different from each other, each one is a different thing. There are certain aesthetic connections, but not so many. So when you cut out the highlights it will be very hard to guess that it came from only two shows.”

On his personal satisfaction:

“I don’t think you can do this work and not take it personally, and not want to make something special. The only thing you hope for is that at the end of it people go, ‘Wow!’ You want them to feel something. I’ve always said that even if an image isn’t particularly memorable, if there’s something about it and it comes together with the music in a way that makes me smile in a rehearsal than I know it works. If I stand there with my arms folded looking serious, then I’m probably not digging it. If I have an involuntary smile, then I know it’s good.”

PATRICK LEDWITH - Production Director

When he’s not touring the world as production manager for heavy metal legends Iron Maiden, Patrick Ledwirth can be found acting as the organizing force and steadying hand for some of the biggest and most high-pressure event productions in the world for Balich Worldwide.

On the finished product expected of Balich Worldwide Shows:

“Our focus since day one has been to deliver those two moments, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and getting to that point has this combination of relief for us – the internationals working to make the shows a reality – and the joy of the nation of Turkmenistan. When that happens, it makes for quite a special moment.

We’re going to deliver something that people are going to love. We get a lot of pressure from the outside, because people know the scope of what we can deliver. But we have the confidence, we have the technical backing, we know the challenges and we know what we can bring together.”

On the pressures of delivering the Opening and Closing Ceremonies:

“There’s always a time constraint at the end and everyone feels that. It’s a one-off show that’s never been done before. The technical foundations are always there, but we’re applying them in completely different, new ways, trying to keep it original, just to match the production that we’re delivering. And that comes with its challenges. As much as we can make everything look perfect and engineered and safe on paper, the process of taking it from the design table to a real living show, with it’s own heart, presents challenges that sometimes go all the way up to a show day.