Ner Orre Opening
The Event
Mill Hill Synagogue in North West London has grown over the last three decades to be one of the ten biggest Jewish communities in the UK serving more than 1,200 members. The opening of the new Ner Orre Community Centre, a £3.2 million project to replace the outgrown Annie and Samuel Levy Hall built in the 1950s, was a momentous event.
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. The opening ceremony was a star-studded event with a variety of national and international performers.
Production Services
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.
Audio
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 subs linked to a further pair of satellite E8s 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 C414XLs for the choir and a DPA 4099 for the grand piano. Audio control and management was handled by a Yamaha LS9 32-channel digital mixing desk.
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 uplighting 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 Varilight moving head wash and spotlights 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.
End Game
Among a number of notable speeches, Synagogue Chair Michael Goldstein offered a huge thank you to everyone who made the Centre possible. 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. Indeed, today, Ner Orre is recognised as one of northwest London’s premier function venues for formal celebrations, business and cultural events and performances.
“It was a logical decision for David’s team to manage the technical production for the opening ceremony having designed and installed the AV system into the hall, and I have to say that on both counts they have done an excellent job for us.” — Michael Goldstein, Chair of Mill Hill Synagogue
Ner Orre Opening
