21 May 2013

The Week in Lighting & Sound

Band Aid - The PRS for Music Foundation and the Arts Council England have announced a new grant to help new bands and artists. The Momentum Music Fund is a two-year programme which launched last Friday. It will award grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 to help develop careers. Musicians are expected to come up with a business plan and to also have progressed to a certain point in their career before they will be considered for the award. Vanessa Reed, chief executive of the PRS for Music Foundation, says this is not a "cash ... More >>

Robe LEDWash 600 for Skövde Stadsteater

Sweden - Robe Robin LEDWash series fixtures continue to prove a popular choice for theatre installations in Sweden. The 503 seat Skövde Stadsteater is another venue that has invested in LEDWashes, taking delivery of eight Robin 600 LEDWashes that were supplied by Swedish distributor Bellalite via locally based rental company, Sound Star. The decision to purchase the latest fixtures for the theatre - an integral part of the first purpose built Cultural Centre (Kulturhus) in Sweden in 1964 - was made by head of lighting Fredrik ... More >>

Tait elements for 2013 Eurovision Song Contest

Sweden - Working closely with technical director Ola Melzig, as well as production designers Frida Arvidsson and Viktor Brattstrom, Tait's European division supplied elements for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo. The design concept was to bring the audience and artists physically closer together and bring an intimate live experience to the next level. A three dimensional environment was created on stage, with impressive depth and multiple layers creating interesting landscapes for the live audience and televised broadcast. Tait ... More >>

ETC for Lisbon's Museum of Electricity

Portugal - ETC has proved that Source Four fixtures aren't just for theatres - by supplying Source Four HID luminaires to Museu da Eletricidade (Museuem of Electricity) in Lisbon. "We first worked with the museum's managers about two years ago," says Vitor Paiva, commercial director at ETC dealer Luzeiro, "when they bought tungsten ETC Source Four luminaires. They were impressed, and asked to look at other models in the Source Four range. Key to their specification was that they need low maintenance and high light output." So at the end ... More >>

DiGiCo's Tatabánya trio

Hungary - For the past two years, the Hungarian government has been funding a special project to bring regional theatres up to date and into greater community use. The town of Tatabánya has been one beneficiary, where three DiGiCo SD9 consoles have ensured that further capital investment will not be needed for many years. Titled Agora, the project aims to modernise the venues and help them to stage a greater range of multicultural events. In Tatabánya it has included a complete technical refit of the town's theatre, which has ... More >>

Rock Our World awards nominations open

USA - The nomination period for the 6th Annual Rock Our World awards, presented by PLASA, is open from 20 May 2013 through 21 June 2013. An opportunity for industry members to celebrate what makes them proud to be a part of this industry - the Rock Our World awards recognize the genius of creators, designers and integrators. These awards focus on what makes new products, product applications or projects revolutionary, not just evolutionary. As in previous years, anyone may nominate a project, product or product application with a PLASA ... More >>

The Aloud Brand ends 2012 with Christmas Extravaganza Concert

UK - Only Men Aloud came to prominence back in 2008 when they won the BBC's Last Choir Standing competition. Formed by conductor and musical director Tim Rhys-Evans, the 15-strong choir have re-invented the old Welsh Male Voice Choir tradition, by adding choreography, showmanship and humour to what was traditionally a very static art form. In 2012, Rhys-Evans became equally as successful with Only Boys Aloud, comprising of over 180 boys on ITV1's Britain's Got Talent winning a respectable 3rd place on the talent, and off ... More >>

Theatre Projects celebrates Lennox Suite opening

UK - The Lennox Suite, an extension to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), celebrated a star-studded grand opening on 2 May 2013, unveiling flexible staging solutions designed and specified by Theatre Projects in collaboration with The Right Solution and architects BDP. Built in the heart of Edinburgh's West End and surrounded by some of Scotland's most prestigious financial institutions, space for this events space was at a premium. Added to this challenge, the design team were required to make the new space fully ... More >>

Clay Paky on X Factor Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan - An impressive range of Clay Paky fixtures, including the Alpha Spot QWO 800s, Sharpys, A.Leda Wash K10 and K20s, and Alpha Profile 800 STs are lighting up the X Factor as it debuts in Kazakhstan. Lighting designer Andrey Kuznetsov is utlising 16 Alpha Spot QWO 800s, 32 Sharpys, eight A.Leda K10s, eight A.Leda K20s, 16 Alpha Profile 800s and two Shadow QS-LTs to create a winning combination for the launch of Kazakh X Factor, which follows a similar format to the UK show. "I was impressed by Alpha Profile 800 - ... More >>

DPA microphones in desert adventure

Italy - An Italian touring production of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical has arrived at the Politeama Rossetti theatre in Trieste, where audiences are enjoying quality sound thanks to the extensive use of DPA Microphone's 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones and 4060 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones. DPA's Italian distributor M. Casale Bauer has supplied the production with a total of 34 DPA Headset Microphones, which are being used for every member of the cast (plus a few spares). The ... More >>

LSC Clarity on The Biggest Loser

Australia - The new Clarity LX series consoles have proved invaluable for Sydney broadcast lighting director Grant 'Doc' Watson and his operation Strauss Productions. Up until the final series of 2011, Watson was lighting the Australian productions of The Biggest Loser and My Kitchen Rules on a series of LSC maXim consoles. With the shows growing in size, The Biggest Loser saw the largest maXim XXLP console loaded to its limits with moving lights and dimmers. With the need for a platform upgrade in mind, Watson was ... More >>

Jands Vista consoles move it for Sir Cliff

Australia - Sir Cliff Richard OBE returned to Australia earlier this year with his hit-packed Still Reelin' and A-Rockin' tour and with him was his long-time lighting designer Derek Jones who was touring an impressive rig that held close to 90 moving lights. Jones has been a champion of Jands Vista consoles for many years and so it was no surprise to see him travel here with his own Vista S3 and Vista M1, part of a larger family of Vista consoles that he owns. "The Vista consoles are easy to operate and easy to programme," he ... More >>

Renkus-Heinz powers Tierp race track

Sweden - The sound is ear-splitting: the howl of race tuned engines vying with each other to strip paint by SPL alone from the concrete walls of the long U-shaped arena at Tierp, purpose-built on an old military airfield in central Sweden. The brainchild of Lief Andréasson, this derelict patch of perfectly level wasteland has been turned into one of the most modern drag racing arenas in the world - with a host of other purposes planned - 2.51km (1.56 miles) of motorsport racetrack just 120 km (75 miles) north of Stockholm with ... More >>