Choreographed by FlightShows from the UK, 150 drones will launch from North Beach for the show.
States marketing manager Jo Ferguson has been working with the drone company and asked Jean Owen to complement the 10-minute show with a selection of compelling musical pieces.
‘I tried to make some of the pieces recognisable and get the right mood that works outdoors,’ said Mrs Owen.
‘At first they thought about doing one piece, but that won’t work. There’s a storyline, a timeline for the images shown and the music has to work holistically to fit them. I thought of a number of pieces quite quickly.’
Having played music at the Proms, the Edinburgh Festival and Olympic Games – Mrs Owen has been a professional musician in an orchestra for 25 years and has been involved in memorable performances all over the world.
She has conducted the Guernsey Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, including the first Guernsey Photography Festival concert four years ago, and has spent the past three weeks compiling music from four larger pieces to enhance the impact of the special display that celebrates the island’s history, resilience and liberation.
‘It’s exciting,’ she said.
‘It was great to be asked and I was given a free reign, though they wanted a classical approach.
‘The show will open with Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and as the drones go into the sky, I’ve got the opening of Holst’s Jupiter to create the excitement.
‘I wanted to try and capture what I thought the feeling might be and I got a bit excited and have hidden some Morse code messages above the music.’
Provoking goosebumps across the community, the score will include the poignant melody of I Vow to Thee my Country and finish with Stravinsky’s Firebird.
‘It might not be on everyone’s playlist but the drama and excitement of the music makes a fitting conclusion for the final images,’ said Mrs Owen.
‘It celebrates freedom and is complemented by the symbolism of a firebird, which is set free at the end of the ballet and is widely thought to symbolise hope to common people after suffering trials first.’
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