Kuehne + Nagel manages entire transportation of BEN HUR LIVE musical to 14 European venues

JOC Staff |
Munich, September 21, 2009 - Art Concerts has awarded KN Expo Service, Kuehne + Nagel's business segment for fairs, exhibitions and events logistics, a contract for the transportation of its newest musical highlight BEN HUR LIVE® to the world premiere and for its subsequent European tour.

The idea emerged 15 years ago - now, after only one year of preparation, Art Concerts GmbH, a market leader in the production and marketing of spectacular musical events, brings BEN HUR LIVE® to the international stage. Set to music composed by Stewart Copeland, founder and drummer of The Police, the flair of a Roman arena is created on modern venues' stages. Some 400 actors in marvellous costumes, 46 horses, pigeons, birds of prey, galleys, antique buildings and magical lighting spellbind the audience. The show which, like the 1950's classic movie, is based on Lew Wallace's novel from 1880 leads to the showdown of the legendary race of five horse chariots.

Kuehne + Nagel is managing and executing the transportation of all stage materials to and from the different venues utilising 36 tractors with mega trailers. Due to the tight timeslots, the logistics company partly deploys triple driver crews using bus shuttles to ensure a smooth change-over at predefined control points.

After London, where the successful world premiere took place on September 17, further shows are planned in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Milano, Zurich, Lisbon, Gelsenkirchen, Vienna, Budapest, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Manchester. The current European tour will run until the end of January 2010. As of March 2010, further tours are planned for Australia and Europe as well as for North and South America in 2011. The special challenge with BEN HUR LIVE® is to transport the extensive tour material between the venues in often very narrow time slots and in exact sequence with the stage construction works, says Georg Nork, Director of KN Expo Service. This interesting contract is a great opportunity to demonstrate our attractive integrated customer solutions in the field of events and concerts logistics as well as the efficiency of our European overland transport network.

About Art Concerts
Art Concerts is the international market leader in production and sales of musical events. The company, founded in 1986 by Franz Abraham together with Robert Langer, brings music events of the highest standard to stages worldwide. These events are characterised by innovation, high-concept creative ideas, top quality production values, design and direction - as well as excellent value for money. The company generates 90 per cent of its business in foreign countries, 40 per cent of it outside Europe.

Further information can be found at www.art-concerts.de

About BEN HUR LIVE
Further information can be found at www.benhurlive.com

About Kuehne + Nagel
With more than 55,000 employees at 900 locations in over 100 countries, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world's leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in the seafreight, airfreight, contract logistics and overland businesses, with a clear focus on providing IT-based supply chain management services.

Further information can be found at www.kuehne-nagel.com