Opus - German Stage Award - 2015 Goes to Marcus Mechelhoff

	The festivities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to Berlin on November 9, 2014.

Engineer and production manager Marcus Mechelhoff is the winner of the Opus -- German Stage Award -- 2015 in the Technical Realization category. He will be presented with the award during Prolight + Sound for planning and implementing the public festivities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the German capital in November 2014. Mechelhoff was responsible for the entire lighting, sound, video, and pyrotechnics of the spectacular open-air event with a wide-ranging program of music, entertainment and information embedded in an impressive choreography of light around the Brandenburg Gate. The presentation ceremony will be held in Frankfurt on April 16, 2015.

The jury was particularly impressed by the creative and uncompromising use of event technology that, in conjunction with the historical setting, ensured emotional and memorable impressions. Using the latest technologies, mediapool Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH under the direction of Mechelhoff showed the Berlin landmark in a completely new light and created a unique stage for artists covering the spectrum from Peter Gabriel and Udo Lindenberg to Silly and Paul Kalkbrenner. One of the special highlights was the appearance by the 'Staatskapelle Berlin' orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The event was preceded by a six-month planning phase and one and a half weeks' setting-up. The result was a perfect combination of light, sound, multi-media and effects, which has carved out a place for itself in the recent history of the German capital.

The festival was commissioned by the Press and Information Office of the German government. Phase 7, a Berlin-based network of artists, assumed responsibility for the direction, dramaturgy and programming of the event.