Sound Division project manages technical production for opening of Mill Hill Ner Orre Community Centre
Mill Hill Synagogue in North West London has grown over the last two decades to be one of the ten biggest Jewish communities in the UK serving more than 1,000 members.
A pledge to construct the Ner Orre Community Centre, a £3.2 million project to replace the outgrown Annie and Samuel Levy Hall built in the 1950s, was made by principal donors, Stanley and Rita Davis, in 2003. Their contribution, among the 300 community donors, is honoured in the naming of the centre, the letters of which, are formed from their parents' initials.
Ner Orre also translates as “the lamp of light” and references a custom made chandelier at the heart of a striking, wood panelled dome, which gently unfurls across a unique octagonal space.
Modern community hub
The centre, designed by Mill Hill based architects, Farrow Silverton to serve as a modern community hub, comprises a 280 seater, split level main function hall, multi-purpose ground floor meeting rooms, lounges, classrooms and state-of-the art kitchen and catering facilities. Ner Orre, together with the new Annie and Samuel Levy Hall – dedicated to the memory of Lord Levy’s mother and father, received its much anticipated inauguration on 10th March 2013.
Key guest speakers at the opening ceremony, attended by a packed house of community members, were former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Cherie Blair and the Israeli Ambassador Daniel Taub who were joined by Lord Levy, Stanley Davis, Chief Rabbi-Elect Mirvis and Mill Hill Synagogue Chairman Michael Goldstein and Rabbi Schochet.
A number of inaugural events were scheduled to take place at the opening ceremony including performances by piano and violin, and internationally acclaimed 15 piece male voice choir, the Ne’imah Singers. A special evening concert which was recorded, would also feature hymns sung by the Mathilda Marks Kennedy school choir, plus performances and solo recitals from renowned Cantors, Simon Cohen, Michael Azogui and Shloime Gertner.
Audio-visual infrastructure
Sound Division was asked to produce and project manage all technical requirements in a joint collaboration with Banana Split who provided video and lighting for the production. Both companies have close links with the synagogue and the Mill Hill community.
Sound Division had also designed and installed the audio-visual infrastructure for the new centre so they were a natural choice to specify and provide sound, lighting and video for the venue opening.
Sound
A full house of more than 400 seated members and guests were confirmed to attend, which meant that additional sound reinforcement was required for both the day and evening events.
A pristine white D&B ‘E’ Series sound reinforcement system was installed front of house in the main function hall, comprising a pair of pole mounted E8 mid/high speakers and E12 sub speakers linked to a further pair of satellite E8’s to cover the rear sections of the audience, all driven by D&B amplification and processing.
AKG C747 lectern mics and a Perspex lectern were provided for the guest speakers together with Shure ULX Lapel mics and UHF handhelds for the inauguration and evening concert choirs and solo singers.
A range of specialist condenser microphones were used to record the event with six overhead AKG C414XL for the choir and a DPA 4099 for the grand piano. A Yamaha LS9 32 Channel digital mixing desk was specified to control all sound levels.
Lighting
Stage illumination for both the day and evening events was provided by four Selecon Source 4 profile spots, and 36 GDS wireless Led RGB uplighters strategically positioned around the new Annie & Samuel Levy Hall and Entrance Foyer to provide atmospheric up lighting for the walls, pillars and stage.
All uplighters were wirelessly controlled from an Avolites Tiger lighting desk to change colour for the various presentations and hall performances during the opening ceremony and evening concert.
A further eight Robe and Vari light moving head wash and spot lights were fixed to the installed rigging bars to provide coloured light movement and patterns for added effect when required for the evening concert.
Video
The newly installed 3M wide electric roll down projection screen and twin Samsung 55” Led screens were used to display the Ner Orre logo and a time-lapsed history showreel of the evolving construction of the centre.
A powerful Panasonic 10,000 Ansi Lumen DLP projector was set up on the Gallery level to project onto the main screen.
Sound Division Director David Graham said: “It is always an honour to be asked to provide a service to the community and even more so for this very special event.”
“Inspiration to the wider community”
Ner Orre was formally inaugurated by Stanley Davis with the tradition ritual fixing of the mezuzah – a small piece of parchment inscribed with Hebrew verses from the Torah within a decorative case - to the front door of the Centre, and Lord Levy fixed a mezuzah to the new Annie and Samuel Levy Hall.
Among a number of notable speeches, Synagogue Chairman Michael Goldstein offered a “huge thank you to everyone who made the Centre possible” and Tony Blair said he was “proud” to have been part of the opening ceremony.
Founder Stanley Davis expressed the hope that Ner Orre would “stand as a beacon and will be an inspiration” beyond Mill Hill to the wider London community.
In the two years since the words were spoken, Ner Orre is recognised as “fast becoming one of north west London’s premier function venues” for formal celebrations, business and cultural events and performances.
March 2013