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Tannoy Professional has appointed a new distributor for the Republic of Ireland. The Entertainment Company (ETC) based in Swords, County Dublin, is now distributing Tannoy's entire range of pro audio sound reinforcement loudspeakers and electronic system controllers, including the new i5 AW ICT compact moulded speakers and the CMS110 BCE Active corner-mounted subwoofers.

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It seems that the replica of the Rose Theatre - built for the award-winning film Shakespeare In Love - is to find a new home on the site of the former Collins Music Hall in Islington Green, North London. Like most film props, the set was to have been scrapped after the completion of filming, but Dame Judi Dench, who starred in the film, felt it too good to demolish and wanted to find it a permanent home so that others could act on it. If all goes to plan, the theatre will be reassembled and ready to open by Midsummer's Eve 2002.

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High End Systems and its lead equity investor, Generation Partners, have hired an investment banking firm to represent High End as it seeks to find a new partner to fund the company's further growth. Although Generation Partners made a substantial investment in High End two years ago, the company's existing management holds a major stake in the company and plans to remain actively involved. The company's expansion plans include a broadening of the product range and a higher profile worldwide, underlined by the new sales offices in New York and London.

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Cambridge-based Adda Super Cases has signed an agreement for the exclusive UK distribution of the Con'dome and Flightdome products with French manufacturer Impact Evenement. These innovative protective products, which have become common sights at trade shows around the world in recent months, are ideal for protecting a wide range of lighting instruments in applications from club opening nights, movie premieres, son et lumieres and other outdoor promtions.

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Sennheiser UK has started a student scholarship scheme at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. The scholarship is for students studying the two-year NFTS Diploma and specialising in Screen Sound. The first award, which covers full payment of fees and an allowance towards living and travel expenses, has been made this year to Robert Bourke, a final year student from Dublin (pictured with Sennheiser UK managing director Paul Whiting). Sennheiser UK started a similar scheme in 1998 for students studying the BA degree in Sound Technology at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

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Strand's remodelled Quartzcolor range of HMI and studio fresnels will be piloted into the film location and cinematographic markets by the recently-launched LCA (Lights Camera Action), based in Greenford. Started by directors Nick Shapley, Graham Kerr and Richard Maskell last June, LCA has grown quickly, necessitating a move into the 10,500sq.ft warehouse and office space in the Vari-Lite building, formerly occupied by Brilliant Stages.

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As part of a £24million restoration programme to improve parliamentary procedures, the Houses of Parliament at Westminster have been equipped with the latest digital conference technology from Philips Communication, Security & Imaging. In use three days a week, MPs in the new chamber use the world's first entirely digital congress system which consists of 35 table-top Delegate Discussion Units using Philips Digital Congress Network. The system was installed by Westminster Sound Systems.

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Work has now started on site to construct Futurist's new warehouse and office complex in the heart of Wakefield's town centre in West Yorkshire. The new complex which is being designed and built by Parkin International, will be ready for the company to occupy in late August 2000. Once complete, the company intends to open a further operation in Manchester.

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BSR E1.9, Entertainment - Presentation of Photometric Performance Data is now available for public review. The draft standard specifies a way of presenting the photometric performance data of stage and studio luminaires and copies of the document may be obtained from the ESTA website. Final date for comment is July 18, 2000.

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German audio specialist Sennheiser has opened its first manufacturing plant in the Western Hemisphere, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, following recent growth in the company's US sales. The 4,500 sq.m facility produces printed circuit boards for electronic assemblies, digital RF mics and headphones for the US market. This is the company's fourth plant, complementing two in Germany and one in Ireland.

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TSC Music Systems has won an Investors in People Award. The Crawley-based supplier of sound and communication systems to the retail and business sectors, specialises in providing tailored music solutions and over the years has devised a structured training programme for staff. Neil Abdool, managing director, told PLASA Publishing: "We are very proud to have won this award as it reinforces our commitment to our employees, and in turn our clients."

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The 41st annual Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar was held in Quinta Vergara, Chile from February 16 - 21. Held in an open-air arena, this world-famous Latin music festival attracts crowds of up to 18,000 people every night and is transmitted via satellite to no less than 16 nations, with a total audience of 500 million viewers. Since 1994, this festival's lighting rig has been supplied entirely by Pat Henry Iluminación of Mexico City, SGM's official distributor in Mexico, who also handle design and installation. Pat Henry, a well-known LD throughout Latin America, achieved a spectacular visual impact for both the live audience and television viewers. The complete list of SGM hardware included the following fixtures: 36 Giotto Spot 1200s, 24 Giotto Wash 1200s, 40 Galileo IV Live 1200s and 40 Colour Dynamic 100s.

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Specialist sound, light and visual graphics installers, PA Installations, has recently created a new Design Studio at its head office in Llanelli, South Wales. The studio has been designed to incorporate state-of-the-art media and multimedia design software with 2D and 3D graphics. As well as being a centre for R&D in entertainment and related technologies, the studio will handle the conception and realisation of exterior lighting design, signage system display formats and internet kiosk applications.

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Stardraw.com, a new company dedicated to the delivery of applications and services, has been launched to service the family of Stardraw products (Stardraw 2D, Stardraw Professional, Stardraw Audio and Stardraw Audio Lite). The new company has purchased the intellectual property, assets, goodwill and distribution rights for the Stardraw product range. Meanwhile it continues to have a strong relationship with Starlite Systems Technology Ltd and, in the first of the new company's board meetings, confirmed Starlite Systems Technology as exclusive UK distributor for Stardraw products. David Snipp, former director of Starlite Systems Technology and managing director of Stardraw.com told PLASA: "We kept getting asked 'Is Starlite a software company that does lighting, or a lighting company that does software?'. The fact is that for years there have been two very distinct companies operatin

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PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) has become an official distributor of products of the British Standards Institution (BSI). This position allows PLASA to offer BSI products to its UK membership at a discount of 25% off BSI list prices. A complete list of British Standards is available on the BSI website at www.bsi.org.uk. This lists non-member prices, which are subject to the agreed 25% discount for PLASA's UK membership. Once Standards have been ordered via PLASA, the BSI aims to dispatch 95% of orders received by noon on the same day. PLASA's Standards Officer, Tim Cox, said: "This arrangement provides a valuable service for PLASA's UK members, at very reasonable prices. The cost of BSI standards can range from around £20 up to more than £150, depending upon the size and complexity of the document, so this is another way by which PLASA members can gain a r

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One of the largest pro audio sales confirmed at the recent Frankfurt Musikmesse was a major equipment upgrade from Neumann & Mueller, who will distribute their newly-acquired BSS Audio stock throughout their 11 rental depots in major German cities. The sale was confirmed by Mex Exner, from BSS Audio's exclusive German distributors Audio-Vertrieb Peter Strueven GmbH, shortly after writing out an order headed by 12 of the classic FCS-960 2 x 30-band graphic equalisers. Also included in the purchase were six FCS-920 Varicurve slaves, five TCS-804 2-in/4-out digital delay lines, six DPR-402 two-channel compressor/limiters/de-essers, four DPR-404 four-channel compressor limiters and seven DPR-504 four-channel noise gates.

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The International Association of lighting Designers (IALD) will tomorrow award six aspiring architectural lighting design students from around the world with a total of $10,000 in scholarships and cash at the 17th annual Lighting Design Awards, held in New York. The lucky six are Tuuli Somma from Helsinki, Finland; Emily Emerson from Easton, Kansas; Swapna Sundaram from New Delhi, India; Brad Koerner from Boston, Massachusetts; Sandra Loren Park from Glendale, California and Paul Wraa of Pleasant Hill, California. The money is raised by the IALD Education Trust Fund Grant and Scholarship Committee.

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Midnight Design has recently opened a new design and sales office next to Euston Station in London. The office, now home to 15 members of the Midnight team, the permanent lighting design and Logistics crew, plus the entire sales and senior management contingent, features a substantial presentation suite and state-of-the-art CAD facilities. It will also meet the needs of Midnight's ever-increasing number of projects, both in the UK and internationally. "Every office desk is permanently linked via high-speed Intranet to our warehouse in Croydon," explains business development manager Damian Dowling. "From there we can access the wider resources and international equipment inventory of our parent company PRG."

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Strand Lighting and Futurist are holding an exclusive VIP product showcase on Tuesday 13 June at the Bradford Alhambra Studio Theatre, intended to bring stage, studio and architectural lighting personnel up to date with the latest Strand products. The main feature of the show will be the new Strand 300 series of consoles. Invitations can be obtained by contacting Futurist on +44 1924 468183 or sales@futurist.co.uk

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The 2000 PLASA Show (10-13 September, Earls Court, London) will include a number of new features this year. As a direct result of the Exhibitor's Forum working group which was set up following PLASA 99, the show hours are this year being extended to run from 10am - 6pm on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and 10am - 5pm on the Wednesday. Another new feature for 2000 is the Technology Gallery, in which visitors will be able to view the latest new product developments prior to the PLASA Awards on the Wednesday morning. The TILE Zone seminar will offer specifiers in the amusements and attractions market a platform for up to the minute discussion and debate.PLASA's MD Matthew Griffiths commented: "With 13,254 ABC-audited visitors at the show last year - 3,224 of which came from overseas - our prime objective for 2000 is to continue the show's development and growth. One of our key aims fo

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South Korea's LG Corporation recently built a state-of-the-art performing arts centre to enhance its corporate headquarters in Seoul, based around ETC lighting, dimming and control equipment. The Centre is run by the non-profit arm of the $73b LG Business Group, which makes and sells almost everything, from electronics to fashions and financial services. Inside the high rise glass walls of the Centre is a 1,100-seat auditorium, a large rehearsal space and three exhibition halls, as well as dressing rooms and office space. LG Arts installed an Obsession II 1500 Double Processor console, 10 Sensor dimmer racks with a total of 831 dimmers, a custom Unison architectural lighting system and over 400 Source Four and Source Four Zoom spotlights.

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Vertigo Rigging was called in to rig three cars to set the scene for a recent Formula One gala dinner at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Formula One World Drivers Championship. The idea was to create a roller coaster effect with the vehicles at varying angles. With rigging time very tight, Vertigo used as much stock equipment as possible. The framework was made from Vertigo's stock of truss, with the addition of some specially-made header plates to create the pitch of the cars, which were then lifted onto Vertigo's adjustable car cradle, placed in position and anchored to the truss. The operation was overseen by Vertigo's Tim Roberts. The three cars were a red 1950s Maserati Formula One car (worth over £1m) from the private collection of Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, last year's World Championship McLaren, driven to victory by Mika Hakkinen, a

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Tele Denmark Satellite & Broadcast (owned by Ameritec) has purchased 30 ADDA 2402 audio converters from Digital Audio Denmark. The Digital Audio Denmark ADDA 2402, 24-bit 96kHz A/D, D/A, D/D converter, has been selected by Tele Denmark in a project for getting the second national Danish TV channel DR2 distributed via the Terrestrial TV network. A total of 30 ADDA 2402s are used on different transmitter sites to convert the digital audio signal from the satellite receiver, and for feeding the analogue audio signal to the UHF transmitter system.

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After many months of merger talks, the Boards of Luminar and Northern Leisure have made a recommended offer of one new Luminar share for every four Northern Leisure shares, it was announced yesterday. The acquisition of Northern Leisure will make Luminar the leading operator in the theme bar, restaurant and discotheque markets, with 237 venues serving around 600,000 customers each week. Luminar is the owner of the world-famous Camden Palace and London Hippodrome nightclubs, as well as the Chicago Rock Cafe, Rhythm Room, Liquid and Jumpin' Jaks brands. The group will be valued at £585m.Five Northern Leisure executive directors will be appointed to the Luminar Board. Luminar chairman Michael Arnold commented: "There is an excellent strategic fit between the two businesses, and I am convinced that the Luminar management team, strengthened by our new colleagues, will ensure the success
  1. Windmill Lights Up With Martin Exteriors
  2. CIE Sponsor Alaskan Trek
  3. CAV Supply Nexo for . . . Something
  4. Tate Modern Launched
  5. PSA Fund Awarded Charitable Status
  6. ETC Focus on Customer Service
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