Waddesdon Imaginarium

Watch as the Manor comes to life both inside and out, in a new light and sound show created by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Celebrating the art objects, architecture, gardens and history of Waddesdon, be enchanted by roaming porcelain animals, dancing musical clocks, cascades of blooming flowers, fluttering clouds of butterflies and spirited 18^th-century portraits.

Waddesdon Imaginarium, a fantastical visual story of Waddesdon, has been created by 111 video design and music students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London.

The show has been created by seven students on the BA (Hons) Video Design for Live Performance at the Guildhall School who have worked on this project and visited the Manor over a period of six months. In collaboration with the curatorial team, they have scanned in 3D no less than 50 objects from Waddesdon’s collection, as well as mapped the front elevation of the building to enable the projection, and calculated the projection requirements (14 large format projectors) necessary for the enormous 1,700 square metre facade. Inspired by objects in the collections, they have transformed the scanned images into detailed animations for the 11 minute long light show.

Performances will be accompanied by an original sountrack created by 20 composition students and performed in a recording by over 90 orchestral and jazz music students. Uniquely, Waddesdon will be using seven musical interpretations to accompany the 3D video projection performances, offering visitors different experiences of the Imaginarium.

Performances run every 15 minutes from dusk until 6pm, the different soundtracks will be played consecutively.

* The light show looks better the darker it is, so we suggest you make this the last thing you do during your visit. Please note that the quality of the projection can be compromised by heavy rain and fog.