About Ian Reith

My professional life has largely been spent behind the scenes, helping to create the lighting, imagery and atmosphere for live productions. However, my love of music, theatre, art and storytelling began many years before it became my career.

As a child, I was fascinated by the idea of creating my own shows. From around the age of seven, I would write and perform puppet shows for local children and members of my family. I made scenery from cardboard and created my own theatrical lighting by placing coloured sheets in front of my grandads torch. I would even add my mum’s talcum powder to the air to produce my own version of stage smoke. Even then, I loved the thought of bringing music, light, imagery and stories together to create something magical.

As a teenager, I developed an even greater love of music. I became—and remain—particularly inspired by the work of Peter Gabriel, not only because of his extraordinary music and visual imagination, but also because of his humanitarian work and his belief in the power of creativity to connect people.

During my teenage years, I became heavily involved with my school theatre group, which enjoyed considerable success at drama festivals around the country. The group was led by director Colin Snell, whose enthusiasm and guidance inspired many of its members to pursue careers at the highest levels of theatre, television and film. His influence helped me to understand that the world of theatre could become much more than an interest—it could become a life.

These experiences eventually led me to America, where I spent a summer teaching technical theatre at a summer camp. It was one of the happiest and most inspiring summers of my life. Many of the people I met there were talented musicians, and their creativity encouraged me to explore music for myself. When I returned home, I bought my first keyboard.

I quickly became fascinated by sound exploration. Inspired by Peter Gabriel’s albums and soundtrack work, I began experimenting and creating sounds of my own. Although my professional career would initially take me further into the technical and visual side of live production, the desire to create music never disappeared.

After completing theatre college, I joined Vari-Lite in London. I began as a lighting technician in the company’s warehouse and gradually worked my way up to become a member of its touring crew, operating lighting consoles for major tours, events and live productions.

I remained with Vari-Lite for approximately six years before leaving to establish my own company, Fractured Pictures Ltd. Since then, I have worked as a lighting designer, lighting operator, video screen operator, media-server programmer, content creator and visual director. This work has taken me around the world and allowed me to create and control lighting and screen content for some of the world’s largest live shows and events.

Throughout that journey, music, theatre, film, art and storytelling have continued to inspire me. Moments of Grace brings those influences together. It is a deeply personal creative project through which I can explore sound, emotion, imagery and the experiences that connect us.

For many years, writing music remained a hobby, but it was also an important form of emotional release. What inspired me as a child—and continues to inspire me as an adult—is the extraordinary connection that can exist between a stage and an audience.

People can enter a cinema, theatre, arena or stadium carrying the thoughts and pressures of everyday life, yet for a while they can be transported somewhere else. Their emotions can be stirred, their spirits lifted and their view of the world changed, even if only for a moment. That is something I have always loved experiencing as an audience member, and something I have felt privileged to help create throughout my career.

I believe I have always been a caring person who has had a great love and appreciation of animals and nature . Had my life taken a different direction, I might have pursued a career in psychology or counselling—something that would have allowed me to support people through difficult or emotional times.

In many ways, Moments of Grace is my attempt to bring together all the things that have made me who I am: my love of music, performance and art in its many forms, along with my desire to connect with people and offer something that may help them emotionally.

My hope is that, one day, people will walk into a theatre to experience Moments of Grace, feel genuinely moved by what they see and hear, and leave feeling uplifted, connected and emotionally stronger than when they arrived.

In many ways, the project is a return to the excitement I felt as a child—creating shows from whatever I could find and imagining worlds brought to life through music, light and story. The tools may have changed, but the sense of wonder remains the same.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please feel free to explore the Inspirations page to discover some of the people, music, art and experiences that have influenced me. You can also visit the Technical Information page to learn more about the musical technology and creative processes involved in writing and producing the songs and artwork .