e x h i b i t i o n   c a t a l o g u e

The Firegarden - Pyrotechnic Celebration, Music & Dance Event.

Music for a Temperate House was premiered to 4500 people in October 1997, and was composed for two events:  to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ventnor Botanic Gardens and to celebrate the birthday of a special friend. The music however, remains an `underground’ work! The piece was performed by musicians of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta together with Dave Jackson from the band Van der Graaf Generator playing Soundbeams. Pyrotechnics were supplied by the brilliant Dave Chadwick & his company, PaBoom, from Warrington. (A field with one thousand candles was stunning!). Dancing was choeorgraphed by Vadya Thirunarayan. Two performance stages supported the music and dance. The main stage was dressed with two magnificent datura drawings by the artist Karen Quaintmere. Stages and lighting were by the technical genius, Clive Chinnick.The evening was a magical and memorable occasion. The weather was kind, the gardens were beautiful.

The Firegarden was a large scale production and `outdoor’ event, preparation and composition time was 18 months from conception. My heartfelt thanks go to the curator of the gardens Simon Goodenough, without whom, my outrageous event could not have taken place - to Deb Goodenough and her Latin `voiceover’ on the album - and especially to Pete & Mark from Auckland Studios.Coming in August 2001 / 2002 a new and exciting garden work ...watch this space!