Germany - The Voice in a Million charity concert drew 10,000 schoolchildren to London’s SSE Wembley Arena in mid-March for two nights of performances by the UK’s most gifted children’s choirs.
With technical production on a tight timescale, an Electro-Voice X2 line array system (part of the X-Line Advance family) delivered punchy, even coverage across the arena, while Electro-Voice ND86 dynamic supercardioid vocal microphones ensured each child’s voice was captured in perfect detail.
Founded in 2006 by Robert and Jo Garofalo, Voice in a Million is a charitable organisation dedicated to helping children who have been orphaned, abandoned or separated from their families at birth.
Handling technical production for this year’s event was Birmingham-base

Poland - As one of Poland’s leading live production companies, Wroclaw-based PogoArt works on some of the country’s highest profile live events, from star-studded festivals and high art opera, to traditional music recitals and corporate conventions. It is also the first Polish company to invest in Yamaha’s new Rivage PM7 digital mixing system.
PogoArt’s history with Yamaha goes back 20 years, when the company invested in the 02R console. Since then the company has regularly updated its inventory of Yamaha digital mixers and currently has PM5D, CL5, CL3, QL5, QL1, M7CL, 01v96 and DM2000 consoles in continual use by clients. The latest investment in a RIVAGE PM7 system brings the inventory up to date.
“One of the great thing about Yamaha consoles for rental companies is that, from the 01v right through the range, they all have a very similar workflow,” says P

Jordan - Nearly 400 Robe ParFect S1s LED luminaires have been deployed at the newly-opened Royal Tank Museum in Amman, Jordan, illuminating 110 x battle-worn tanks from a century of wars in the Middle East and other more distant conflicts.
The lighting was specified by Amman-based AV and IT integration solutions specialist AKTCO. The project was led by Nidal Khalifeh (CEO), George Boury (project manager), and Duaa’ Khraim (design engineer) from AKTCO who worked closely with Elie Battah, from Robe Middle East, to coordinate the supply of ParFects to this high-profile installation.
The futuristic museum building was designed by Zaid Daoud Architects. The 20,000sq.m space is divided into 12 halls showcasing the exhibits, which include illustrations of historic battles in Syria, Jerusalem and Jordan, complete with an audioscape of gunfire, roaring diesel engines and emot

UK - The world premiere of the new musical Tina - The Tina Turner Musical had its official opening night in the West End on 17 April at the Aldwych Theatre.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the production charts Turner's journey from humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global queen of rock'n'roll. Production manager Sacha Milroy knew that rigging the show successfully required a sound knowledge of the theatre and so turned to Unusual Rigging to handle the project.
"This is actually the first time I've worked with Unusual," said Sacha. "Of course, I've known of them for many years and Simon Stone, who is senior project manager at Unusual, has a great reputation which precedes him. I was also aware of all the amazing work they'd done to transform the grid of the Aldwych Theatre for Beautiful - The Carole King Musical.

USA - Global design and BIM software solutions provider Vectorworks has invited professionals, educators and students in the AEC, landscape and entertainment industries to attend the fourth annual Vectorworks Design Summit from 4-6 November 2018 at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona.
The conference includes industry sessions, tech support, networking events, inspiring keynotes and hands-on training. Multiple sessions will offer continuing education credits.
Vectorworks CEO Biplab Sarkar, comments: “The Summit is the most cost-effective way for designers to maximise their investment in Vectorworks and improve their company’s bottom line. It is my hope that all attendees will leave Arizona with inspiration and valuable experience to strengthen their career in the design industry.”
There will be two keynotes and 50 sessions led by 35 ind
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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

USA - Adam Hall North America has expanded its operations by merging with its New Jersey-based North America distributor Musical Distributors Group (MDG).
The deal is hoped to enhance the Group’s presence in the USA and Canada and strengthen the presence of its brands, including LD Systems, Cameo Lighting, Gravity Stands, Palmer and Defender Cable Protection, as well as MDG’s exclusive distribution brands, such as Höfner, Ultrasone, EBS, Mad Professor and Lock-It Straps.
Steven Savvides, president of the new Adam Hall North America, comments: “We are joining forces in order to further drive this growth for all the Adam Hall brands and for our other exclusively distributed brands. It will also allow us to expand into additional market segments. Combining our strategic New Jersey-based location, 32 years of industry experience, substantial resources, expert staff,

Devastating Impact - Theatres around the UK face a total bill of £1bn - more than five times the cost initially feared - if new European Union regulations come into effect. This is the warning from the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre and is much higher than the amount initially estimated.
The theatre membership bodies issued a joint statement warning of the devastating impact that proposed restrictions on lighting would have on the industry to their members, which include all West End Theatres and regional theatres around the UK.
Due to concerns over energy efficiency, the EU is considering banning the sale of most lighting fixtures that are currently in use in theatres from 2020.
UK Theatre and SOLT, along with industry leaders including West End theatre owner Nica Burns, are campaigning for an exemption for theatre lighting to be included in the new r
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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

Denmark - Continuing its accelerating pace of expansion, Pascal, the provider of pro audio amplifier electronics, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Michael Munch to the newly created position of product manager.
Munch’s extensive and diverse career in professional audio spans more than 30 years, encompassing sound engineering and international touring, production management, product management and business development. He has held product management leadership roles at TC Electronics, Lab.gruppen, Tannoy, TC Group and Dynaudio, and brings a wealth of experience, industry knowledge and personal contacts to his new role at Pascal.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Lift Turn Move (LTM) has extended its Entertainment LP electric chain hoist series with the addition of the LP1000 Hoist. The LP1000 has up to 60% greater lifting capacity with a weather resistant IP65 rating as standard - a key feature for the theatre and live events marketplace.
With the D8 standard motor, the lifting capacity of the LP1000 is 1600kg in one fall operation, with an equivalent smaller weight chain for the same capacity in previous versions of the hoists.
The specific requirements of the entertainment industry, such as increased capacity in one fall operation, low dead weight, low noise emission and suitability for outdoor use, have been given priority throughout the design and manufacture of the LP1000 concept.
LP1000 has a robust construction, is simple in its assembly and does not contain any sensitive electronics. All shaft-hub connection

Germany - French lighting manufacturer Ayrton launched its new compact graphic strobe, the MiniBurst, at last month’s Prolight+Sound trade show in Frankfurt.
The fixture is a smaller version of the company’s MagicBurst, which was the first strobe fixture to be produced by Ayrton.
Equal in physical size to MiniPanel-FX (the compact version of Ayrton’s MagicPanel-FX), MiniBurst measures 192mm x 192mm and contains 960 mono-chip, daylight-white LED sources grouped into 16 pixels on a 4 x 4 matrix. Its dimensions makes it extremely easy to integrate into lighting rigs of all sizes, yet it is capable of emitting up to 60,000 lumens, with a flicker-free output that is perfect for all TV and video applications as well as live performance, says the company.
Exhibiting Ayrton’s continuous pan and tilt and accurate positioning, MiniBurst’s graphic capab

South Africa - The 12th Annual South African Film & Television Awards was hosted at Sun City’s Superbowl on 24 March with a further 2.3m viewers tuning in to watch the live SABC televised production. EPH Productions were appointed by ATTV to supply the full technical and the set for the show, as well as for the smaller Technical Awards held a couple of days prior to the main event.
EPH Production’s Danie Janse van Rensburg wore three hats namely as project manager, technical director and set designer. For the proposal, with a lot of support from Leon Pheiffer (CEO, EPH Group), they came up with an idea to use suspended LED screens as the main feature, knowing that when complimented with the graphic material supplied by ATTV (Andrew Thabo Television), diverse looks would take the audience on a journey from glamour to triggering emotions with bright and patriotic colou

Europe - Irish hip hop artist, rapper and music producer Rejjie Snow burst on the scene in 2013 and has just released his debut album Dear Annie. He has also just completed a 34-date UK and European tour, which was well received.
Creating the atmospheric lighting was LD Chris Yeomans, who for the three largest gigs on the tour - Dublin’s Olympia, The Roundhouse in London and La Trianon in Paris - he specified Robe moving lights as the main part of a striking design.
The core rig comprised 25 Pointes arranged upstage in a 5x5 grid; eight Spiiders were positioned between the columns of Pointes, and six LEDWash 600s on the floor at the sides for 'wing washes’. Lighting was supplied by London based Colour Sound Experiment.
The artist wanted to be silhouetted for much of the show so he could lurk in the shadows and play with the negative spaces, so Chris im

USA - The Bomb Factory, a 4,000-plus-capacity music club in Dallas’ hip downtown Deep Ellum district and site of shows by artists like Hardwell, Don Henley, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Jack White, has been through a few iterations.
Originally built as an automobile assembly plant for Henry Ford over a century ago, it later housed a WWII munitions factory, from which it derives its current name. As Dallas’ downtown grew into an arts district in recent years, the 48,000sq.ft brick building was the perfect home for a live music venue, which opened in 2015.
Only one thing might have held it back: a sound system that struggled to keep up with the needs of contemporary touring artists, many of whom brought in their own PA systems or rented them for shows. That’s all changed as of last October when The Bomb Factory joined the ranks of rider-ready leading venues globally with t

USA - The film La La Land was the surprise hit of 2016, swept the Golden Globes, won six Oscars, and made a net profit of about $65m. Starting in 2017 and heading into 2018, the film has emerged from the cinemas and hit the road for a series of events known as La La Land in Concert, encompassing screenings of the film that incorporate a live orchestra, jazz ensemble and choir.
The tour’s primary mix engineer, Troy Choi, has been “hands on faders” for 90 percent of the run, including shows on every continent, all using local orchestras and choirs as well as, in most cases, local musicians for the jazz band that is so crucial to the film’s sound and story. And when he has been in the FOH captain’s chair, he has insisted on having a DiGiCo SD7 or SD10 desk in front of him.
“Basically, we play the movie from the beginning, the same as a normal mov

Italy - The Primo Maggio Concert is an all-day music festival organised annually on the 1 May to celebrate Italy's Labour Day.
Set in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome and broadcast live on public television, this popular national event is also referred to as the Concertone or Big Concert due to the duration of the musical marathon which begins in the afternoon and ends late at night due to the sheer number of artists and audience.
For its 28th edition, stage managers Antonio Soddu and Alessio Martino from ALTO Stage Management entrusted the audio domain entirely to K-array to provide high quality sound for the 50-plus performances, including international artist Fat Boy Slim, and the 500,000 people present.
Product specialist and system designer Klaus Hausherr, together with Roberto Marchesi from distributor Exhibo, developed a powerful, versatile main s

UK - With a capacity of 4,000 guests and two stories of nonstop action, it’s easy to see why the Cardiff University Students’ Union is clearly the largest nightclub in its city. The popular venue attracts some of the best international acts on a regular basis, as was evidenced recently by an event featuring top UK DJs Chase & Status.
Tasked with providing energetic visual support to this event, local production specialists SR Production Services specified a selection of six Rogue R1 Beams and 10 Rogue R1 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Positioned on top of stage truss towers to provide sweeping beam looks over the audience, the Rogue fixtures also filled the void between the stage’s large video wall backdrop and its DJ booth.
“The R1 Beams are an absolute workhorse of a beam light,” comments LD Matthew Dunford. “The small size and punchy sourc

UK - MDG and PRG XL Video have praised lighting designer Howell Binkley and the cast and crew of the London production of Hamilton: An American Musical on winning seven Olivier Awards, including that of Best Lighting Design, at the awards ceremony in April at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
PRG XL Video supplied three of its ATMe haze machines to this much-anticipated London production when it opened in December 2017.
Hamilton, which had already taken Broadway by storm with 11 Tony Awards, made its UK debut at the newly refurbished Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End, and received a standing ovation on the very first preview.
Howell Binkley says: “We use the ATMe units constantly throughout the show. There is no real scenery for this show, so the lighting has to create the different spaces required. We just wanted a very fine haze in the

USA - The University of North Georgia (UNG) recently built a 3,600-seat Convocation Centre with the goal of making it the focal point of campus life for the community. When it came to sound reinforcement, the university called upon Dallas-based Idibri who designed an Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) system that would be suitable for the various ways the venue would be used.
“The convocation centre is a multi-purpose facility that hosts student and community activities and academics while also being home to UNG Nighthawk basketball games,” explains Ben Boeshans, consultant for Idibri. “The EAW QX 300 Series loudspeakers are superb for speech and music and offer exceptional control. The distributed system works extremely well in an arena setting.”
The seating area is covered by 14 clusters hung in a ring around the edge of the basketball court. Twelve of the two-box

UK - Burnley-based Bates Box has received its first major order following the company’s recent launch. This order from Inverness-based I-Light will see Bates Box supply two bespoke power distribution units for a catering event.
Bates Box offers a lightweight and efficient power distribution solution, compliant with all UK and European regulations, for a variety of applications across many sectors, including TV & film, catering, oil & gas and theatre. Their weather resistant and stackable boxes provide up to 16 power outlets in a single unit, made from recycled material.
Bates Box founder Paul Bates says: “We’re excited to be fulfilling our first order, especially since the units will provide safe, robust and effective power distribution for the caterers.”
Stephen Leslie, owner, I-Light, adds: “We’re delighted to be dealing with Bates Box. Th

UK - Northern Stage Theatrical Productions in Newcastle recently invested in Spotlight FresneLED 150RGBW luminaires for a touring production requiring a versatile and low-energy LED Fresnel - and after being so impressed with their performance, has now made them a regular fixture in their Stage 3.
Northern Stage is the one of the largest producing theatre companies in the North of England, presenting new and dynamic original work as well as up-and-coming, innovative theatre makers.
With a recent tour taking in some smaller community venues, Northern Stage production manager, Chris Durant and lighting designer, Richard Flood needed a low-power LED lighting rig featuring a multi-purpose Fresnel solution, to keep the overall power needs down. At the same time, it needed to match the quality and output of conventional Fresnels and have the option to create coloured light

USA - Magic Gives Back is an organisation that stages pro-bono magic shows at schools across the US to raise money for education projects. Started by celebrity magician and illusionist Rick Smith Jr, the organisation transforms school facilities into magical entertainment showcases. Key to setting the mood at these events is a versatile, compact and easily transportable lighting rig created by Brent Schmidt that features a collection of Rogue and Ovation fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
“Rick Smith Jr. approached me three years ago about designing, building and running the production for this show,” said Schmidt, the owner of B Productions. “Since the shows often take place in schools, they are not your typical theatrical production. I’ve taken theatrical elements, magic show looks and rock concert effects from my other projects and blended them into a creation th

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