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Saudi Arabia - Noor Riyadh is a citywide annual festival of light and art that showcases individual artists and talent and promotes creativity. The event produced by Balich Worldwide Shows (BWS) brings together artists from all over the world.
Star in Motion by renowned lighting designer Koert Vermeulen, is a powerful focal point in the middle of the city of Riyadh - a shining star, suspended from the top of the famous Kingdom Tower more than 300m in the air. Balich Worldwide Shows has worked with Unusual Rigging on other events in the past, and as such they were the natural choice when it came to rigging this spectacular installation.
Steve Porter, director at Unusual, explains: “Having worked with BWS on several projects in the past, when they approached us to hang

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Spain - Optocore has appointed RMS Proaudio as its new Spanish distributor.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez, CEO of the Seville-based company, comments: “We have known Optocore particularly from the relationship with DiGiCo, which we have distributed for more than 15 years, and we consider their technology to be excellent. For that reason we approached them, and it is an honour to now be able to provide solutions based around their advanced technology in our Spanish market. We know their products to be extremely reliable, and offer flexible audio communication solutions.”
Optocore sales distribution manager, Dawid Somló, is equally upbeat. “It is gratifying that such a serious and experienced company as RMS Proaudio has entered into this cooperation with us, and an honour for us to be an important part of their high level portfolio,” he says. “With Optocore solutions

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UK - The National Theatre’s production of Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ Death of England was performed at the Dorfman Theatre in spring 2020 before the venue closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The one-man show was an intense study of grief and identity in Britain, performed in-the-round on a cross-shaped stage by Rafe Spall in an explosively energetic performance. Dyer’s direction, and Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ’s stark set demanded equally dramatic lighting from the outset, which was provided by dance and theatre lighting designer, and NT regular, Jackie Shemesh.
Shemesh chose four Ayrton Diablo 300W LED profile fixtures as central features of his design, which he mainly deployed as followspots to track Spall’s every move.
The Diablo fixtures were rigged above the four inner corners of the cross stage, side-mounted and droppe
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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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Italy - Outline has announced that its FPGA-based Newton processor has been awarded an Italian Patent. The company has also filed the appropriate application for an international patent.
Newton was introduced to the global pro-audio industry at Frankfurt MusikMesse in 2017. It has subsequently been adopted by a number of leading audio hire operations and system engineers
“It’s well-known that our company has been making a name for itself since the 1970s as a manufacturer of innovative audio electronics including modular mixers, parametric equalisers, encoders, tuners, crossovers, limiters, amplifiers and more,” says the company. “Latterly we have developed DSP and digital matrices, as well as futuristic embedded solutions connected with signal processing, including the outstanding ‘iMode’ technology that won a PLASA Award for Innovation at the London show i

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Italy - The Lucca region has given birth to many of the greatest voices in opera, but every spring and summer, Tuscany’s historic piazzas resonate with the impassioned sound of another kind of music, as they play host to world famous blues festivals.
In 2015, Lucca joined the list of Tuscan cities celebrating the musical genre by starting a blues festival of its own. Given the city’s evocative charm and rich musical tradition, the Lucca Blues Festival was an overnight success, attracting internationally acclaimed artists and legions of fans.
This year, because of the pandemic, the live event was cancelled, but the Lucca Blues festival continued its robust celebration of all things blues with a series of livestreams from Amandla Productions Studios, a versatile broadcast facility set up inside the city’s 1,500sq.m event centre by locally-based Amandla Productions

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USA - Towards the end of 2020, the new leadership at Houston’s Sagemont Church, which was established in 1966 and is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, introduced a contemporary worship music service to appeal to a younger congregation.
To meet the demands of the new modern service, the church upgraded the aging sound system in its 2,500-seat sanctuary, installing a SSL Live L350 digital mixing console and replacing the PA speakers.
Lead audio engineer Evan Warren says, “We have a new pastor, a new worship leader and a whole new direction, and we wanted to do modern contemporary rock ‘n’ roll-style worship music. But our PA and console were pushing 10 years old and falling apart. The faders on our old console were moving on their own and the old PA just wasn’t cutting it.”
Having already spent a lot of time dreaming about equipment as a

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USA - Altman Lighting has announced the promotion of lighting designer, and former vice president of product innovation Pete Borchetta to lead the company as general manager.
"We are thrilled to announce that Pete Borchetta has been promoted to the role of general manager,” says Russell Altman, president of Altman Lighting. “His expertise, communication skills and leadership ability have been a tremendous asset to Altman and the lighting industry as a whole.”
Borchetta led the effort to move Altman headquarters from Yonkers, NY to Denver during the pandemic summer of 2020. Russell Altman cites his collaborative management style as having been integral in attracting and retaining strong teams committed towards the common goal of ‘bringing imagination to light’.
“Since our move, we are reorganising around the concept of a ‘collaborative collective’.

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USA - Meyer Sound will be offering hands-on, interactive demos of its Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool at FILO Chicago, a hybrid in-person and live-streamed event for technical artists serving local churches on 11-12 May. The demo sessions will take place between breakout sessions in the spacious lobby area at the host venue, Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois.
“Spacemap Go is the perfect spatial and immersive sound solution for churches,” says Meyer Sound sales manager, west Daniel Rivera. “It is adaptable and flexible and it’s highly intuitive with a short learning curve. It’s also extremely cost-effective, particularly for churches with newer Meyer Sound systems as it leverages the power of their existing Galaxy processors. All they need is an iPad loaded with the Spacemap Go app.”
FILO

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Israel - The Weizmann Institute of Science is a renowned public research university in Rehovot which offers graduate and postgraduate degrees in the natural and exact sciences and hosts an annual event honouring the work of Israeli scientists and their contributions to an assortment of projects.
This year for the first time, the format went fully digital in delivery and was still staged at the Weizmann Institute campus’s Sela Auditorium, without a live audience but with as much ‘live’ presentational content as was possible which included lectures, seminars, presentations, Q&A sessions and the bestowing of honorary doctorates and other awards.
Lighting designer Eran Klein of Cochavi&Klein was asked to create lighting for the event and chose an all-Robe moving light rig to provide the flexibility needed to deliver this high-profile broadcast which was co-

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USA - The Illuminate Cities Project recently incorporated Martin VC-Grid LED video tiles supplied by Hayden Production Services into an ‘information-as-art installation’ called Illuminate: COVID-19.
Co-founded by architect Domingo Abrusci and urban planner Alexandra Payne, the Illuminate Cities Project is dedicated to improving cities through data exploration, art, design and engagement. Its pilot project, Illuminate: COVID-19, is an art installation that combines data mapping and lighting design to visually display COVID-19 infection and death rates alongside racial and economic demographic data, highlighting how the pandemic has affected specific communities in New York City.
Brought to life in collaboration with fabrication and design specialist Robyn Squires of RYSQ LLC and lighting designer Elisa Forlini, a RIBA-certified architect, the installat

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UK - Leisuretec, distributor of professional and commercial audio, lighting and video equipment, has unveiled a new corporate brand identity that consists of a new logo, website and style.
The new logo is at the core of the transformation, the company opting for one with a modern look and feel to replace the old emblem. The logo device represents the ‘L’ from Leisuretec, with the levels and waves within it reflecting the company’s passion for audio, lighting and video technology. Meanwhile, the four bars stand for the company’s core values of experience, choice, value and service.
“We are very excited to launch our new logo and corporate brand identity, which consists of a refreshed style, website and refined summary of our company vision, mission and value proposition,” comments Charlie Henden, marketing manager at Leisuretec. “Our previous log

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UK - With a plan for continued business growth across North America and Europe, Ultratec Special Effects has announced two additions to its sales team. Young-Hoo (Aaron) Dengra Ju has joined as the European sales lead for both special effects and pyrotechnics, while Kevin Allinder comes onboard as the newest sales representative serving the North American market, dedicated to special effects.
Dengra Ju is a seasoned event specialist with 15 years of experience in the industry, not only in sales and project management, but also from a strategic operations and process planning perspective. He has managed and executed an impressive list of events of all sizes within Europe and internationally, including Asia and the Middle East, spanning from major sporting events to local festivals. His ability to speak multiple languages fluently, including German, English, French, and Spani

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USA - Apogee Electronics has announced the appointment of Rich Nevens as vice-president of sales and customer success. In this role, Nevens will join the executive team to lead sales, channel marketing and customer success worldwide. This move comes as Apogee prepares for accelerated growth in their audio interface and microphone product categories, as well as new projects planned for the future.
Nevens joins Apogee with 30-years of experience leading worldwide sales and solutions teams at Euphonix, Avid and most recently, VP sales and marketing at Focusrite Pro.
“As an experienced and successful sales executive with a deep understanding of our industry, Rich has a balance of domain expertise, relationships and a proven track record for driving revenue to Apogee,” comments Betty Bennett, president and CEO of Apogee Electronics. “I’m confident that Rich’s lea

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USA - Chauvet Professional has introduced the Maverick Force S Profile and Maverick Force S Spot. Complementing the Maverick Force 2 Profile and Force 1 Spot, the new ultra-compact fixtures are intended for smaller-scale projects that call for CMY colour consistency, advanced optics and other high-performance features.
“We have expanded our Force series so we can continue to address the needs of an evolving market as our industry emerges from the pandemic,” comments Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “With their limited footprint, the new Force S fixtures are ideally suited for smaller projects with limited crew sizes. Yet, at the same time, they deliver outstanding, very professional-level performance in terms of output, colour rendering, focus, and effects.”
Given their compact design, Maverick Force S fixtures will improve efficiencies by taking up less space i

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USA - The University of Houston recently updated the projection mapping content for its basketball team, the Houston Cougars, creating a dramatic, on-court pre-game show at the Fretitta Centre. The bright, 3D graphics were created by Quince Imaging, and enabled by a range of Christie solutions installed by Quince, including 3DLP projectors, Mystique, a Pandoras Box Server, and Terra, an AV-over-IP system.
The University sought to refresh the on-court projection mapping content to align with both in-person and broadcast viewing, says Eric Gazzillo, director of innovation, Quince Imaging. “What’s important now, during COVID, is being broadcast-centric, so we’re using the displays and technology to fill the arena with content, designs and projection mapping. We use the technology in a way to make the arena feel full, if they’re doing partial or limited seating, and to a

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UK - Stabal Media Group has expanded and has incorporated the live music legacy and global network of Artclub Live as a specialist division, led by newly appointed head of live music, Joe Clegg.
Clegg joins Stabal to extend its global reach and network of artists. Having founded Artclub Live to provide creative, musical and technical production support for artists worldwide, he has previously worked as live music producer on the Mumford & Sons Delta World Tour, and as musical director for artists including Ellie Goulding, Clean Bandit, and Aurora, featuring in performances with more than 100m combined views.
"With the return of live music on the horizon, I’m excited to be working with Stabal to create a division focussed on the integration of live music experiences and digital content,” says Clegg. “With a global network of musical directors and audio engine

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UK - Virtual production solution Vero is now fully operational in the UK, offering LED surround screen backdrop, realtime graphics and powerful in-sync camera tracking.
The project brings together content, technology and operations talent from multiple companies, who have joined forces to enable creatives and filmmakers far more on-set visual control.
Vero features Desay 2.6mm pixel density LED screen technology from Production AV and visual content by MadeWithVero. Utilising Production AV’s touring and events experience, the solution can be deployed across the UK as needed by the production.
The team says the set-up has ‘revolutionised’ traditional VFX workflows, which rely on combining physical footage captured in front of a green screen with digitally generated backgrounds in post-production. In addition, costly set builds, location shooting and visual

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UK - Advance, a digital advancing portal for festivals and events, has been launched by SC Productions.
The online tool will provide organisers detailed, realtime management over their site advancing, artist advancing, all accreditations, including crew, artists, guestlists and vehicles, along with health and safety inductions and COVID safety protocols. Each of these features can be used as a standalone entity or combined within a comprehensive package.
Sarah Hemsley-Cole, director of SC Productions, explains: “Advance is a valuable tool, providing events professionals with key data and information at the touch of a button. It has been developed to ensure pre-production and planning is a smooth process. Advance can be customised for each client, meaning the platform becomes bespoke to an organiser or production manager’s particular needs and can be accessed and u

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UK - Since it opened in 1899, the Town Bridge in Northwich has been a source of pride to local residents and tourist attraction. During the past year of the pandemic, it’s also served as rallying point, inspiring hope and reflecting determination by being illuminated in various colour schemes during holidays and on special occasions.
The visual and emotional impact of these colourful displays has been evident when CSP Audio Visual has illuminated Town Bridge with a collection of Chauvet Professional COLORado Panel Q40 rectangular wash fixtures and Ovation E-260WW IP ellipsoidal units.
“Northwich Town council contacted us to light Town Bridge for VE day celebrations,” says Alun Williams, director of CSP AV. “The bridge was to be lit in the red, white and blue colours of the Union Jack. After the success of that project, the council invited us back.”
Pos

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UK - To complement the technology on display at Samsung KX, Snelling Business Systems and Cosmic Electronics recently outfitted the venue with a complete Harman networked AV, lighting and control system.
Situated in the recently developed Coal Drops Yard shopping district in King’s Cross, London, Samsung KX is a destination for the public to ‘experience Samsung’s range of innovative connected technologies working seamlessly together’.
The 20,000sq.ft space features a 32ft Screenmax LED display wall, connected “smart kitchen,” immersive augmented reality experiences and an ever-changing list of temporary installations. To further enhance the futuristic experience, Samsung KX required a facility-wide immersive AV, lighting and control system with enough flexibility to serve any current or future needs. Audio-visual integrator Snelling Business Systems and li

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Canada - A multi-venue arts centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Arts Commons (formerly EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts) has invested in a complement of Ayrton lighting fixtures and Robert Juliat followspots from Sapphire Sound.
Arts Commons is located in Calgary’s Cultural District and is one of the three largest arts centres in Canada. Its five theatres and concert hall are home to six resident companies and host a wide array of guest performers annually. While Arts Commons is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre has been busy upgrading and expanding its lighting inventory in anticipation of reopening.
According to Kris Ladd, head of lighting at Arts Commons, 16 Ayrton Huracan-X and four Ayrton Diablo-S fixtures were purchased for the Jack Singer Concert Hall, the permanent home of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the largest venue
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