The 30th anniversary of Prolight + Sound next year (8 – 11 April 2025) will be all about fresh impulses and ideas. The renowned ‘Opus – German Stage Award’ is also undergoing significant development. With a reorientation, including a name change and new categories, the award is becoming more international, more open and more diverse than ever before.
Formerly known as the ‘Opus – German Stage Award’, the prize will in future be awarded as the ‘Opus – International Stage Award’. This step marks an important development: it enables projects from abroad to be considered as well and underlines the international direction of Prolight + Sound.
New categories for more variety
In addition to a name change, the ‘Opus’ is also getting new categories. Alongside the main prize, the ‘Opus – International Stage Award’, the following awards will be presented for the first time in 2025:
· Opus Event Lighting
· Opus Immersive Sound
· Opus Camera & Image
Outstanding lighting and immersive sound experiences, as well as exceptional use of camera and image technology, are the focus of these awards. The ‘Opus Camera & Image’ is awarded in close cooperation with the German Federal Association of Television Cameramen (BVFK).
The new categories are intended, on the one hand, to optimise the comparability and well-founded evaluation of the submitted projects. On the other hand, they are designed to shed more light on and honour the diversity of event technology.
Application phase until 15 November 2024
Participants, as well as the professional audience, have the opportunity to submit or recommend projects at www.prolight-sound.com/opus until 15 November 2024.
The award ceremony will take place on the Thursday of the trade fair, 10 April 2025, as part of a festive gala evening celebrating the progressiveness and creativity of the international event industry.
Audience voting and a sense of responsibility in view
The ‘Opus – International Stage Award’ 2025 has yet another new feature in store: for the first time, audience voting will be integrated into the decision-making process.
The winners were previously chosen exclusively by a jury of experts, consisting of association members, representatives of Messe Frankfurt and other professionals. Now all interested industry experts can cast their votes for the most outstanding submissions.
In addition to technical and artistic aspects, criteria such as sustainability, inclusion and the experiential character of the projects are also included in the evaluation. In this way, the initiators of the award want to draw more attention to the innovative strength of the event industry and its sense of responsibility for the environment and society.
Mira Wölfel, Director Prolight + Sound, explains: ‘Prolight + Sound stands for the unique combination of innovative technology and emotions. And it is precisely these two elements that are also to be found in the impressive projects submitted for the Opus every year.
We hope that by internationalising the award and introducing the new categories, we will be able to focus even more attention on the unique and multi-faceted nature of our great industry. I am very much looking forward to many inspiring submissions!’
Creativity and progressiveness in the spotlight
Since 2002, the ‘Opus’ has been awarded to extraordinary projects and personalities.
The focus is on the technical implementation of theatre and musical productions, concerts, tours and corporate events. The award ceremony takes place during Prolight + Sound, one of the leading international trade fairs for event and entertainment technology. The initiators of the honorary award are the VPLT (The German Entertainment Technology Association), the EVVC (European Association of Event Centres) and Messe Frankfurt.
In 2024, the Grand Show ‘FALLING | IN LOVE’ at the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin received the coveted prize. It staged the story of a deaf poet in search of love as a breathtaking play of colours. By engaging two deaf dancers for the leading roles and using technology specifically designed for their performance, the show provided a prime example of inclusion and innovation.
In 2024, the jury awarded the special ‘Opus AVantgarde’ prize to the ‘walk-in sound body’ of the Ensemble Modern at the cresc Biennale 2023. With the help of a 3D audio installation, the progressive project impressively focused on the individual in relation to the community.
www.prolight-sound.com
