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Opera on the Road - Opera is to be toured to theatres around the UK by a new production company that aims to bring more diverse audiences to the genre. HighTime has been founded by Felicity Green and Benjamin Hamilton, who met while studying at the University of Warwick, and is aimed at staging productions for people who would otherwise not have access to opera. Its first production, supported by Arts Council England, will be Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, in a new translation by Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It will run at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, with plans to tour the show around the UK next year, engaging young people from each location to perform in the chorus.

Green Day - Amelia Lily will star in a new London production of Green Day musical American Idiot. The X Factor runner-up, who is currently starring in a tour of Joseph and the Amazi

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USA - Fort Lauderdale-based lighting and video rental company Paradigm Lighting once again delivered a fabulous production, lighting design and kit for the Live Stage at this year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami, with Robe Pointes and MMX Spots at its core.

Paradigm's owner and founder Jorge Valdez has been involved in lighting this stage at the US's premier EDM extravaganza for the last 12 years. The Live stage, located at the 7500 seat outdoor Klipsch Amphitheatre at Bayfront Park, was a major hotspot of the event, and hosted up to eight live artists a day for three days. This year included jaw-dropping sets from Krewella, Netsky, Kygo, Porter Robinson, Bassnectar, Royksopp and Chromeo.

Jorge received a brief of what the organizers wanted to see in terms of a visual concept - Paradigm also supplied video for the Live Stage - and then oversaw its technical realization, which

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UK - The recent gala evening for Alice's Adventures Underground saw team White Light venture down the rabbit hole for Les Enfants Terribles' extraordinary new show, nestled deep in the Waterloo Vaults.

Now open for a strictly limited season, the multi-sensory production fuses puppetry, story-telling, music and spectacle with stage technology for an immersive experience. Inviting intimate groups to choose their own adventure, different interactive elements re-create memorable scenes from Lewis Carol's novel, which has just celebrated its 150th anniversary.

The White Light team led by Gary O'Donnell - hire coordinator, worked closely alongside Paul Walmsley - chief electrician for the project, utilising our inventory to fulfil the extensive kit requirements. The design incorporated eight different rooms, all with an entirely bespoke set-up and experience within. Fully net

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USA - At the sold out Invasion Del Corrido concert at the Staples Centre, keeping pace with the swirling passion, colour and intensity of the music on stage was a dynamic lighting design created by LD Brandon Dunning of Visions Lighting. At the heart of Dunning's design was a series of truss structures energized by bright pixel mapped Nexus 4 x4 LED panels from Chauvet Professional.

Dunning used 20 of the Nexus panels controlled with an ArKaos LED Mapper. (He ran the rig using a grandMA 2 Light console.) Eight of the Nexus panels were hung inside a 30' x 25' upstage circular truss structure. The other 12 Nexus units were arranged three each on the four 10' truss towers that accented the stage.

By displaying pixel mapped breakout patterns on the Nexus panels and varying the intensity of their output (he ran a mixture of 110v and 208v), Dunning was able to reflect the diverse ra

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USA - Yard House restaurants combine a wide selection of "made-from-scratch" menu items, over 100 craft beers, ales and lagers and high-energy classic rock music to create an exciting atmosphere for casual or group dining, happy hour and holiday celebrations.

No Static Pro Audio of Burbank, California designed and installed the audio and video systems for the newest Yard House which opened in Kansas City in April 2015.

Eugene Gordon, No Static's CEO says, "The restaurant's brand image has a focus on classic rock so the owners want really high-quality foreground music that can get loud without sounding harsh. This is our 59th Yard House installation," he continued, "and we've standardized on Community loudspeakers to meet that challenge."

For Yard House locations with outdoor patio dining, No Static installs Community W Series for both the indoor

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USA - It is the hope of every museum to help make history come alive, and with an 11,000 year old history as rich as the Cherokee nation, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian had no shortage of inspiration. In 1998, Visual Terrain, Inc. designed lighting for the newly renovated space, and was awarded the IESNA's prestigious Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award for Interior Lighting Design.

In 2014, the museum called when they could no longer get parts for the 1998 dimming and control system. Upon visiting the museum, Visual Terrain CEO Lisa Passamonte Green noted, "They had started to upgrade to LEDs, but it was early technology, and the light output and colour consistency was not what we can achieve with the newest sources. The museum was darker, and our original design was no longer evident.

"It's rare we get an opportunity to completely re-do a project that we did many years

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USA - With spectacular staging, big-screen displays, theatrical lighting, all-encompassing sound and close to 20,000 spectators at every event, this year's Passion Conference - Passion 2015 - looked more like a major rock concert than a religious event. But the Passion 2015 event is actually three full days of music, inspirational speeches, video, lights and stagecraft designed to bring 18 to 25 year olds closer to Jesus Christ.

An annual event since 1997, the Passion Tour has grown exponentially, with this year's conference presenting three separate events this winter to sold-out crowds at Philips Arena in Atlanta over the course of two weekends, and the Toyota Centre in Houston. The Houston event was also streamed over the Internet, allowing roughly 40,000 more viewers to virtually attend this high profile, influential Christian event.

Passion 2015 leveraged world-class stag

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USA - The University of Alabama at Birmingham has made a long-term investment in the self-powered Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement system. Installed in the 1,330-seat Jemison Concert Hall at the school's Alys Stephens Performing Arts Centre (ASC), Lyon provides impeccable clarity and headroom for lectures and concerts ranging from classical and jazz to pop, rock, gospel, and reggae.

"To meet artists' riders and put on shows that consistently satisfy audiences, we simply couldn't do better than the Lyon system," states Adam Stermer, technical director for the ASC. "And knowing that we wouldn't be getting a new system for perhaps 15 years, we wanted one that was well-received and incorporated the very latest technology."

Designed to maintain distortion-free levels of 110 dB SPL at any seat, the new system is anchored by two main arrays of seven Lyo

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UK - Local authorities around the UK, faced with providing an ever increasing number of services from diminishing budgets, have been introduced to an elegant integrated 'one button' webcasting and audio/videoconference facility by Jon Hunnisett of technology specialists, Sound Advice PA Installation Ltd.

In designing a system that enables separate video and audio streams to be combined, councils can engage more with their constituents by allowing sessions to be web-streamed and viewed over the internet.

At the heart of his solution is RCF's intuitive Forum 9000 digital conferencing and voting system, and Sound Advice has now built up a portfolio of 14 councils who have been eager to adopt this platform.

It was the versatility of the system that first caught the attention of Jeremy Luckett, Business Analyst at Wiltshire Council Unitary Authority, after five councils had been

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Belgium - Earlier this year, Elation partner Fratuer near Antwerp, Belgium, supplied and installed a new Elation lighting package in Red&Blue, the city's largest gay club and the biggest in Belgium. Red&Blue, which has stood as a pioneering nightclub in Antwerp for more than 17 years, hosts crowds of partygoers each night, as well as a slew of parties throughout the year. The club sought to create a new experience for its customers and chose to upgrade its existing lighting system.

"Together with Frateur and Red&Blue management, we started out with some drawings to get our thoughts and demands for the lighting down on paper," commented Tim Torfs, who manages the club together with Nourdin Bens. "After several brainstorm sessions we came up with a fantastic idea, which Frateur then put into action. It resulted in the magnificent piece of lighting design we have tod

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USA - Pretty much anywhere in the world, state funded school budgets are tight, so most cannot frequently upgrade technology; and when they do invest in classrooms, gyms or theatres, they have to make the right choice since they'll be using it for years to come.

When Nevada's Clark County School District needed to upgrade its aging theatre equipment, the district - which spans 9,000 square miles and includes Las Vegas - chose ETC Ion lighting desks to bring its 37 theatres into the 21st century.

An Ion is now in all 35 Clark County High School theatres and its performing arts high school and middle school. Many of these high schools were built somewhere between 1992 and 2005. When each was built, it had a state-of-the-art performing arts space, says Gary Sessa, a teacher in the district as well as the theatre taskforce chair for secondary fine arts in the Clark County School D

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UK - Theatre consultancy Charcoalblue is continuing to expand its operations by opening its first UK regional Design Studio in Bristol.

The Bristol Studio is located next to the oldest continuously working theatre in the UK, and one of Charcoalblue's first commissions: Bristol Old Vic.

"We're thrilled to have opened up a new studio in the City of Bristol where our team of designers can work to deliver exciting projects in the South and West," says Charcoalblue's managing partner, Andy Hayles. "We spent some time looking for the right space and location and are delighted to be at number 35 King Street, right next to the Bristol Old Vic. Securing this wonderful location means that Charcoalblue's Bristol team are close to a significant local performing arts community, just as our current team is in London, something we're incredibly proud of. In addition Birdsong, which i

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UK - As befits an event devoted to physical conditioning, the pace was nonstop high energy at the International Fitness Showcase 2015, which drew 3,500 fitness instructors to Blackpool Winter Gardens for three intense days of Pilates, kettlebells, spinning, pole fitness, Zumba, step aerobics, street dance and other activities. Helping to pump up the action and motivate participants at the annual event was a collection of LED fixtures from Chauvet.

Oliver Wilkinson, lighting designer and engineer at Arranpaul, which supplied lighting, sound and AV for the event utilised a variety of colour rendering Chauvet fixtures to add a festive, glitzy air, not to mention a dash of intensity, to Blackpool's Spanish Hall. A spacious Andalusian-style vaulted room, Spanish Hall was the main spot for the event, which was organised by Chrysalis Promotions, in addition to serving as the site for i

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USA - A multitude of fans were entertained by Philip Selway's solo performance, which used Allen & Heath's iLive-T112 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, USA.

Philip Selway, best known as the drummer in Radiohead, performed nearly an hour long set Sunday evening at Coachella, Weekend 2. Selway didn't play drums but instead sang and played the keyboard in the Gobi tent.

The audio engineer for Selway's solo tour, Gavin McComb, explains how the Allen & Heath equipment is currently being used. McComb controls the FOH mix, while the band controls their own monitor mixes using the ME system.

"On this leg of the tour we are using an iLive-T112 surface, an iDR-48 and a ME-U with five ME-1personal mixers. They are all using in-ear monitoring, which is fed from their individual ME-1s. The only control I have with their mixes are mutes on channels

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USA - Even in the depths of January, Red Bull's Crashed Ice event in St. Paul, Minn., drew more than 100,000 people to a weekend of after-dark competitive ice cross downhill skating. Spread out over three square miles of the city center, the massive track and viewing area required hundreds of Martin Professional fixtures to be properly lit. Lighting designer Paul Guthrie of Toss Film + Design Inc. was brought in by Red Bull to lead the layout and design of all the lighting fixtures for the event.

Crashed Ice takes place four times a year in world-class cities such as Helsinki, Belfast and Edmonton. Skaters compete in heats of four on temporary 1,500ft long ice tracks featuring steep turns and high vertical drops erected in these urban environments. The track in St. Paul was set up in front of a cathedral - a backdrop made all the more impressive by high-quality lighting.

Guthr

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USA - In Manhattan, the heart of the city that never sleeps, creating something spectacular can be a challenge. The New York Spring Spectacular starring the Rockettes does justice to the word. Animated statues, rain, 3D video, moving video screens, and more, all make this show something to behold.

An RC4Magic Wireless DMX and Dimming System delivers subtle and not so subtle effects that help make this show great. Act 1, Scene 1: Grand Central Station, complete with its world-famous ticket counter and clock, centre stage. Lights are controlled using RC4Magic Series 3 wireless, and that's just the beginning of a long list of untethered props and set pieces brightening practically every scene to come.

When the plot brings us to the Empire State Building, four coin-operated binoculars are on the Observation Deck. These free moving props, pushed around by the ensemble dancers, are

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USA - A Motionless in White concert is not for anyone expecting a predictable metalcore experience. Sometimes described as "horror metal," the iconic group never fails to surprise and unsettle audiences by pulling unexpected tricks out of its musical bag, whether it's a shattering blast beat that bursts out of nowhere in the middle of a verse or a haunting keyboard effect that leaves audiences looking over their shoulders. The band's headline performance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival was no exception, arousing the crowd with its unexpected twists and turns.

Keeping pace with the music was an intense and sometimes darkly theatrical lightshow by lighting designer Freddy Thompson of JDI Productions that featured a collection of Legend moving fixtures and Vesuvio RGBA foggers from Chauvet Professional. Thompson used six Legend 230SR Beams and eight Legend

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Denmark / USA - Neets is entering the US market in cooperation with its new distributor Starin Marketing. Starin is committed to creating the foundation to make Neets Control Systems the natural choice for classroom and meeting room control by integrators.

With over 100,000 control systems deployed, Neets has focused on developing reliable, user friendly and effective room control systems for the AV-integrators around the world. Configuration of the control systems is straightforward without code complexity with Neets Project Designer software.

Starin and Neets recognize the essential trifecta in a successful integrator partnership. Reliable product, dedicated support and profitable programs. Versatility to meet the end-users individual needs is also what sets Neets apart. Neets US keypad control systems will fit into standard US back-boxes.

For over a decade, Neets has spec

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South Africa - Set and lighting designer, Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier, used one grandMA2 full-size, one MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) and grandMA2 onPC for back-up on Miss South Africa, hosted at Sun City's Superbowl. Cutts explains that the beautifully lit HD televised production, with the set and full technical supplied by Dream Sets, went back to a fashion show feel.

Gavin Wratten was the producer and director from Sic Entertainment: "The show concept came about as Gavin talked me through his ideas," commented Joshua Cutts. "He wanted to go back to a fashion show production. The main stage, with two wide staircases on either, tapered into a long ramp which extended into the centre of the Superbowl.

"Miss South Africa is usually a banquet affair, but this year Gavin felt the audience should be seated around the ramp, without any distracting table

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South Africa - Mediatech Africa, the largest media and entertainment technology trade show for southern Africa, will be staged this year from 15-17 July at the Dome at Northgate, Johannesburg. Staged biennially, Mediatech Africa presents the latest technologies and trends to southern Africa's broadcast and film sector and rapidly-growing live event and AV systems integration industries.

The exhibition area will feature over 130 exhibitors including manufacturers and distributors, and over around 700 brands, while the conference running alongside will cover the latest trends in AV and broadcasting.

Mediatech allows thousands of decision-makers in these key industries to discover new trends, solutions and service providers and assess top technologies from manufacturers and distributors locally and around the world. Visitors also benefit from the environment that includes hands-o

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UK - A QSC Q-Sys audio management system, supplied by QSC's UK installed sound distributors Shure Distribution UK, has been installed at London's Twickenham stadium, home of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The Q-Sys platform, based around a pair of Core 1100 processors (one main and one redundant Core), routes audio and controls the PA and Voice Alarm systems at the venue, and replaced an outdated Peavey Media Matrix system.

2015 is a big year for the RFU. As well as hosting key matches in the annual Six Nations Championship in February and March this year at Twickenham, the ground will also be the venue for the final of the quadrennial Rugby World Cup at the end of October. With these key events in mind, the RFU elected to refurbish the stadium's audio systems at the end of last year in time for both tournaments. The Q-Sys audio management system was specified by Vanguardia, pr

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UK - Hoist UK has been UKAS accredited against the provisions of OSHAS 18001: Occupational Health and Safety Management. The OSHAS 18001 accreditation adds to their ISO9001: Quality Management and ISO14001: Environmental Management accreditation obtained previously.

Hoist UK director, Tony Dickson comments, "Achieving the ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 is a major milestone in our overall business strategy and reflects the responsibility that Hoist UK's management team and employees have always taken to ensure that we look after our customers, employees and our business at all times in providing safe, value for money products with an emphasis on health and safety. Tony Dickson adds "Achieving this accreditation perfectly captures Hoist UK's core values of safety, excellence, respect and commitment and is embedded within every aspect of our business."

Louise Dic

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UK - When contemporary art specialist, Phillips, recently relocated to their new headquarters in Mayfair's Berkley Square, London, award winning architect Aukett Swanke specified the premium Sonab wireless sound system to compliment and work with the moveable walls and ceilings in the art gallery.

Phillip's auction house is one of the foremost specialists in modern culture and art in the world today. The airy showrooms of Phillip's new premises provide an exclusive exhibition area that is fitted to the very highest standard with the most up to date lighting and sound systems.

SSE Audio Group Limited used the lighting tracks fitted by creative lighting specialist Studio ZNA to mount a Sonab System 9 for wireless sound. The newly installed sound system covers two floors of the building including gallery, auction space, VIP skyboxes, reception and conference rooms. The project ta

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USA - Everyone knows that energy efficient LED fixtures like the Iluminarc Ilumipanel 180 IP are good for the environment, but in at least one case they can directly save the animals that occupy our planet too. This was recently demonstrated in convincing fashion at the iconic Sundial at Turtle Bay Bridge in California's Shasta Cascade region.

The metal halide fixtures that had previously been used to illuminate the pedestrian/bicycle bridge were causing a serious threat to the sensitive salmon that spawn directly under the glass bottomed structure. As this halide lighting burned at night, it reflected into the water and in the air, allowing predators to find and decimate the salmon population.

Jeff Dennis of Multi-Lite USA was called in as project manager to find a solution to this environmental issue. At the same time, Dennis was also asked to enhance the aesthetic appeal of

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