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14 March 2016

In addition to a super-busy four-day expo, the Czech moving light manufacturer launched seven new products; won a 2012 PLASA Innovation Award; raised £6,200 for industry charity Light Relief with the auction of a genuine Olympic Torch and hosted a popular party on the Sunday night.

Robe's 'Working With Winners' campaign launched earlier this summer embraced new levels of excitement, with Robe CEO Josef Valchar commenting, "It was an incredible PLASA all round for us - carrying on what's been an amazing year". Robe also celebrated its tenth PLASA.

Back in 2002 the company burst on the scene with its first PLASA as an 'own brand' entity, up to that point having been a quality OEM manufacturer of some experience.

In this short time, Robe has rocketed fr

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14 March 2016

The Community installation at the Duke Point Ferry Terminal at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island has been facing the full force of coastal weather 365 days a year for 15 years. The cluster system, which utilises Community's legendary M4 compression driver on five PC1542M and three PC1564M long-throw, pattern-control horns, was designed by Barry McKinnon of MC Squared System Design Group of Vancouver and installed by Don Crocker and the team at Victoria, BC-based Sound Source & Lightrix.

BC Ferries built the Duke Point Ferry Terminal in 1997. The Duke Point main audio system was designed to broadcast from a single point to avoid signal delays and echoes across its wide

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14 March 2016

Yet Tom Zwitserlood, head of sound for the EIF, was heard to say, "For me, if anything, introducing V-Series at the festival has made life easier for us." He's talking about the premier appearance of the d&b audiotechnik V-Series medium size line array in Scotland, in particular its use at the Playhouse theatre, where it has sustained every show that has passed through in the hectic 24 days of the EIF.

"First of all, the reaction from visiting companies to the fe

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14 March 2016

In addition to the new Customer Care Centre, the company has launched a set of themed seminar days. The PRO(theme)days are intended for those customers looking for the direct contact with the manufacturer, searching f

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14 March 2016

5 Star highlighted samples of its most popular product ranges for the entertainment industry, concert touring, television and theatre markets. Over the four days of the show these all attracted plenty of interest, with some deals also completed on the stand. 5 Star's MD Keith Sykes comments that visitor quality was "Generally very good".

5 Star's latest Drawered Racks attracted plenty of interest and were a prominent element of the stand display.

Three types of Drawered Racks are offered as 'standard' - two hinged versions and one with removable doors.

There's a choice of two dynamic styles for the hinged option - one with a fixed top and one with a hinged top, complete with very cool gas strut supports to prevent accidental closure.

The hinged top version also features a workstation a

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14 March 2016

An outdoor lighting project, NVA's Speed of Light created shapes and patterns of light across the giant volcanic hill, Arthur's Seat, which sits on the edge of the city of Edinburgh. The lighting was a living, moving, dynamic thing created by living, moving, dynamic performers - who wore suits of wirelessly controlled, battery powered LEDs and so were also the show's lighting rig!

The performers' movements across the vast expanse of Arthur's Seat, which rises to 251m at its peak, were precisely choreographed, while their lighting was equally precisely cued from a grandMA console. The lighting data was transmitted from the cont

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14 March 2016

The popular awards, organised by The Society of Television & Lighting Design (STLD), The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) and Clay Paky, celebrate the work of lighting designers working in the UK.

The aim: to provide public recognition for outstanding achievements in touring, television and theatre lighting design, and forge closer ties between designers and the industry as a whole.

Hosted by Andy Collins, this year KOI was held at London's Battersea Evolution. The celebrations attracted a strong turn-out with over 450 lighting professionals from the worlds of TV, theatre and rock. Guests included lighting designers from all disciplines, production companies, trade associations and members

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14 March 2016

But for Wetherby-based AV-Matrix it is certainly paying off - and the demand to service increasingly bigger functions has now led to them purchasing an RCF TT+ (Touring & Theatre) TTL33-A II, as the premier line array system in their hire fleet.

Managing director Mark Parker confirmed the order for 12 elements of the powered loudspeakers with RCF's northern sales manager (and TT+ touring specialist), Mick Butler. The order also included four TTS36-A subs - and the AV-Matrix MD stated that this was just the beginning.

Parker has been buying from RCF since setting up the company back in 2003. His company specialises in providing event solutions for functions ranging from conferences to exhibitions, product launches, fashion shows, corporate ev

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14 March 2016

Swiss AV consultancy company Tingo GmbH were responsible for the sound design of the main stage outside the cathedral, for which they specified a Stagetracker FX realtime performer tracking system from TTA. Sound engineer and audio consultant Dani Niedermann who works with Tingo takes up the story:

"I have been working on this festival since it was first inaugurated in 2006," he said. "

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14 March 2016

ARX managing director Colin Park said, "We're excited to be working with Dinh Viet Hung and the Stage Professional team in Vietnam, they're enthusiastic about the possibilities for ARX and our products amongst their extensive client base."

Stage Professional adds ARX to a distribution product portfolio that includes Digico, Outline, Funktion One, Martin and Avolites.

Recent clients of Stage Professional's very active rental division include Westlife, the Back Street Boys, Miss Vietnam 2012 and Vietnam Idol.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The Bursary is awarded annually to a student or recent graduate who has demonstrated strong, imaginative and creative lighting designs. It is organised by the Association of Lighting Designers, a professional body representing lighting designers in the live performance industry.

Northen was both a former chairman and president of the ALD and the first credited lighting designer in the UK.

Each year an award of £500 is presented to a young lighting designer who has shown excellence in the field of lighting design. The project must be a performance based lighting design in or out of the college environment. Two runner-up prizes of £250 each are also presented: an ETC sponsored award, and the ALD-sponsored Fran

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14 March 2016

Britannia Row was, as usual, the audio contractor for the Hyde Park shows, providing a large amount of Sennheiser microphones and in-ear monitors, with the standard stage set comprising SKM 2000 with 935 capsules and EM 2050 dual receivers along with 2000 series IEMs. Incoming regular Sennheiser users included Rita Ora, Madonna, Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema, The Feeling, Alexandra Burke, The Temper Trap and The Wanted.

With thi

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14 March 2016

Performing at 30 to over 40 lumens per watt, the Source Four LED spotlight excels in efficacy. This powerful yet energy-saving light creates beauty and artistry in stage, studio and architectural applications. It combines the popular features of ETC's conventional Source Four profile spotlight with the intelligence and seven colours of ETC's Selador Desire LED luminaires. And it comes in three different models - the Lustr+, Tungsten, and Daylight - each using just a fraction of the electricity of its incandescent counterpart. As the PLASA judges also commented: "[The Source Four LED] has a highly efficient optical system, and you can reuse existing lens stock."

ETC's CEO Fred Foster responded to the

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14 March 2016

When the app was first introduced in 2009, Luke Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in London suggested that the profits be shared between Light Relief and its US equivalent, Behind the Scenes. Since then, the sales of the app have raised over $200,000 for the two charities.

Thanks must go to the apps' developers, Chris Mizerak and Anders Ekvall, for designing such a popular app, which enables users to turn any mobile device into a touchscreen-based remote controller for Eos- and Congo-family control desks, Eos and Ion Remote Processor Units (RPUs) and the Congo Light Server. And, of cours

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14 March 2016

Box office takings have more than doubled to £18.1m from £8.3m in 2010/11, when the company had reduced operations due to the refurbishment of the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres. Its audience almost doubled between the two seasons - up to 708,022 people in 2011/12. Percentage capacity remained static at 89%.

The results were reported at the RSC's annual general meeting in Stratford, which saw artistic director Michael Boyd and executive director Vikki Heywood hand over to Gregory Doran and Catherine Mallyon respectively.

NT in NYC - The National Theatre has announced that it is opening a New York

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14 March 2016

The SSA has gained a reputation as an innovator that encourages experimental teaching practices, and offers a range of BTEC vocational courses including Performing Arts and Music, for students aged 11-19.

The new multi-purpose theatre stages full productions by SSA and can be hired by local community groups and organisations.

The project was led for ACSP by Dave Cowan, who worked closely with SSA's head of drama, Michael Collins. ACSP were chosen for their extensive experience providing industry-standard technical facilities to the educational and performance markets.

It follows a very successful prior installation by ACSP in a temporary space to facilitate SSA students during the new theatre's construction -

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14 March 2016

DM Audio have been servicing the event for many years, and working with show designer Mårten Ihre, they took the opportunity to swap out their conventional line array with MLA Compact, as soon as it became available.

Hosted by the Stockholm's Stadsteater subsidiary, Parkteatern (Park Theatre), the varied programme ranged from soft ballads to high-octane hip hop to modern Danish dance and opera. DM Audio responded by beefing up the LF end, running six DSX subs p

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14 March 2016

With a cast of 40 and an orchestra twice the size of most musicals, this international hit and landmark production dominated the 2008 Tony Awards picking up seven of the coveted awards.

One award recipient was sound designer Scott Lehrer and so the pressure was on for Norwest Productions to deliver a sound solution to ensure the Australian production lived up to its heritage!

Norwest's Adrian Riddell was appointed associate sound designer and it was his task to translate Lehrer's design to the Australian production. Lehrer has made no secret of wanting a quieter, more intimate s

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14 March 2016

The DigiHoists were specified by the National Theatre's rigging resources supervisor, Matthew Wheeler.

The National Theatre (as it is generally known) is one of the UK's two most prominent public funded theatres, and is located on the South Bank of the Thames in central London.

It has three theatres: the amphitheatre-shaped Olivier seating 1100; the 900-seat proscenium arch Lyttelton; and the Cottesloe, an adaptable studio space designed by Iain Mackintosh, holding up to 400 people depending on the seating configuration.

The sale follows on from the purchase of a 21-channel Kinesys Elevation 1+ motor system - supplied in two phases comprising 14 half tonne Liftkets and seven one tonne Liftkets plus Kinesys Vector control - which is used

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14 March 2016

Head of lighting Thordur Orri Petursson commented that, "After a shoot-out between VL1100 TS and other brands in the venue, it was decided that the VL1100 was the most suitable product to take the brunt of the FOH lighting."

The VL1100 TS offer a variety of strengths that make it a must-have for the Theatre, but as Petursson said, "The deciding factor was the CYM colour-mixing, the number of gobos it can hold, and the overall size of the fixture."

Icelandic sales and rental company Luxor supplied the lights. Luxor sales manager Alfred Sturla Bodvarsson oversaw the installation along with Petursson and respected Philips Vari-Lite trainer Coral Cooper, winner o

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14 March 2016

Located in Dornach, near Basel, the iconic building is designed by Rudolf Steiner and dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who founded the philosophy of anthroposophy.

An iLive system comprising two iDR-32 MixRacks configured in DualRack mode with an iLive-T80 Surface in the control room, has been installed in the main 1000-seat auditorium, whilst a smaller iDR-16 MixRack has been purchased as a portable system, which can be used with a PL-10 remote controller in the venue's smaller lecture and conference theatres, or added via the network for additional I/O duties in the main auditorium.

There is also a gallery and lecture spaces, a library, a bookstore, and administrativ

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14 March 2016

A leading force in the pro audio installation market, CUK Audio has seen recent significant growth in its live sound business, resulting in the strategic decision to form a dedicated division for live sound and rental clients.

Managing director Stuart Thomson explains, "Our business is built on the high level of support and service we give our customers, and delivering this standard for the live sector now requires a more focused approach. Many distributors claim to service all markets, but one always wins out to the detriment of the others."

Cadac appointed CUK as its UK and distributor at last year's PLASA show, where interest in the iconic mixer company's new product range - particularl

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14 March 2016

It was the first time that the Czech Republic headquartered Milos has presented itself at an exhibition in its newly expanded format, following the recent acquisitions of premium brands Litec from Italy and Tomcat in the USA.

The key international sales and marketing teams from the main Milos brands were all present on the stand, meeting new contacts, touching base with existing ones and gathering plenty of information and feedback.

Collectively, they represented the future of MIlos which is now the largest aluminium trussing and staging manufacturer in the world, with major manufacturing bases in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, the US, Mexico and China.

The contemporary 'universal'

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14 March 2016

Midas announced the gong during a pre-PLASA distributor's dinner and then later in the week on the Midas PLASA Stand during the European press launch of the PRO1 and VeniceU.

"The award was made in recognition of Britannia Row's design and application of the largest, most complex network of Midas consoles to date," explains brand manager Richard Ferriday. "The system was used on the hugely demanding Queen's Jubilee Concert where more than 250,000 people packed into The Mall, St. James's Park and at the Queen Victoria Memorial, to watch the stellar line up of bands, who performed in quick succession, as millions more watched around the world on TV."

"We are delighted to be