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Royal Patronage - The Prince of Wales has raised concerns about how orchestras and theatres will survive the coronavirus crisis. He said it was important to “find a way of keeping these orchestras and other arts bodies going”. The prince, who is patron of dozens of arts institutions, noted they were of “enormous importance” to the economy. “It's absolutely crucial that they can come back twice as enthusiastic as before,” he said in an interview with Classic FM.
The heads of the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Southbank Centre have all warned they are facing financial collapse without additional government assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Royal Opera House, of which Prince Charles is a patron, says it has seen 60% of house income fall away since the start of the crisis. “They're in terrible difficulties, of course, because h

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USA - Elation national sales manager John Dunn and global product manager Matthias Hinrichs will feature on the Elation Hour on 27 May, discussing tradeshow, corporate and special event design with John Featherstone, Chris Medvitz and Ignacio Rosenberg of lighting design group LightSwitch. (10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time).
Lightswitch is a consortium of lighting, media and visual designers that has been creating experiences for over 25 years. They design award-winning environments for a diverse network of clients across concert, event, experiential environment, and architectural, operating from studios across the globe.
To register for the session, visit this webpage.
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Canada - Digital signal processing specialist Xilica has appointed Techni+Contact Canada as its sole distribution partner for the Canadian market.
Headquartered in Montreal with multiple Canadian offices, Techni+Contact has served Canada’s professional AV business community for more than 40 years.
Xilica joins a range of Techni+Contact-represented brands, including AMX, Ecler, Utelogy, Spinetix and WolfVision.
“Xilica is the first professional DSP manufacturer in the Techni-Contact portfolio, and fills an important gap in our product line,” said Julie Legault, president of Techni+Contact. “Xilica is aligned with our core verticals, and will help us propose and configure fully integrated solutions that are more competitive and on target with what our customers seek. Their clever, compact, and modular designs are an especially strong fit for the AV over IP

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UK - PSAV, parent company of Hawthorn and AVC Live, has created MeetSAFE, a set of guidelines to help the live event industry safely adapt to the changing landscape for meetings and events.
Designed “to inspire trust and confidence”, the set of tools is “focused on redesigning events to successfully deliver on the strategic goals of the meeting while defining new guidelines to minimize risk and promote health”.
Ben Erwin, president of PSAV, comments: “Our industry has more to consider when planning live events in the future. While there has been an explosion of virtual events due to today’s environment, we know there will be a time when both hybrid and fully live meetings will return.
“People feel a strong desire for face-to-face interactions, so we wanted to be proactive and offer guidance on how they can ensure important live meetings and events a

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UK - The ALD has today announced that its ALD Awards for Excellence 2020 are open for submissions.
Aimed at all students and recent graduates studying in the UK, the awards are a celebration of imaginative and creative lighting and video production and represent a chance for young designers to showcase their talents and to bring their work to the attention of experienced lighting and video designers.
Johanna Town, chair of the ALD, comments: “The ALD’s Awards for Excellence are so important to a designer’s future. To be able to sell your ideas and passions for a design or methodology to other industry leaders is an important skill.”
The awards are now open for submissions from students studying in the UK, recent graduates from 2018 onwards, or corresponding affiliate members of the ALD, in the following categories:
The Michael Northen Award in L

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UK - Philip French of UK technical production company Peachy Productions has just relocated to Wiltshire after being based in Guildford, Surrey for eight years.
But during the coronavirus crisis, he is making the journey back twice a week to volunteer for the Surrey Drive Campaign.
This is a locally-based crowd-funded initiative that delivers around 2,500 cooked meals - with locally sourced ingredients - each week for hardworking staff at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust hospital.
The Surrey Drive Campaign includes some of Surrey’s live event experts. After seeing heart-breaking stories of exhausted NHS workers finishing their arduous frontline shifts and being unable to buy food at this critical time, Steve Page and Hannah Sheppard thought it was time to step up.
Having furloughed all his staff while the UK continues in a largely restricted lockdown

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USA - Obsidian Control Systems will present an Onyx at Your Service webinar on 28 May at 10am PST, focused on lighting control and programming for houses of worship.
Onyx is Obsidian’s scalable lighting control platform that is a popular choice for many houses of worship around the world. It is promoted as easy to learn for volunteers, while having the feature set and power to drive large gatherings.
In this webinar, Obsidian Control Systems product manager Matthias Hinrichs will lead a two-hour discussion with experienced Onyx programmers and lighting designers Chris Eguizabal of Riverside, California, and Joseph Wolff of Calgary, Alberta.
The programme will include insight into their workflow and programming styles and the components needed to put together small and large Onyx systems for churches and other venues.
You can register for the event

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USA - Eventide Audio’s Quarantide has named an impressive line-up of pioneering musicians for its daily discussions.
On Friday, 22 May, Backstage in the Green Screen Room will feature genre Jon Anderson, Laurie Anderson, Clara Ponty and Jean-Luc Ponty, hosted by violist and composer Martha Mooke, an Eventide artist in residence.
Joining the artists will be Eventide principals Tony Agnello and Richard Factor, along with Jean de Reydellet, Eventide brand ambassador in France and a musician/composer.
“Some of the most inspired and intriguing conversations happen backstage in the ‘green room’ just before musicians go on to perform,” shares Mooke. “I’m truly thrilled to spend some time in the Eventide ‘virtual green room’ with these musical icons.”
Created to keep audio aficionados connected, to stimulate their minds and provi

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UK - Record industry charity the BRIT Trust has announced a donation of £30,000 to Music Support, the peer-led music industry charity that provides confidential mental health and addiction services.
The funding will help Music Support at a critical time when many people in the artist and music industry community are in urgent need of its help. It will also go towards Music Support’s ambition of giving 10,000 people access to Thrive, the NHS-approved mental health app.
Matt Thomas, chair of trustees of Music Support, comments: “We are hugely grateful to The BRIT Trust, the BPI and the recorded music sector for their valued support when we are seeing a sharp rise in the number of vulnerable industry peers coming to us for help. Technology has provided a lifeline to many during the of COVID-19 emergency, and this timely funding will enable us to give thousands of peo

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UK - During Mental Health Awareness Week, Unusual Rigging is urging its industry counterparts to consider what mental health in the workplace will look like in a COVID-adapted world.
As the entertainment industry has been knocked sideways by the global crisis, Tom Harper, managing director at Unusual Rigging believes the time is right to tackle the growing problem of work-related mental health problems head-on and to nip it in the bud rather than simply putting a sticky plaster on it.
MD Tom Harper comments: “If ever there was a time for it to be OK to not be OK, it’s now. With the world as we know it turned on its head, those who can put their hands up and say they’re ‘absolutely fine’ are, without doubt superhuman. With lives and livelihoods lost or at least put on hold, this year’s Mental Health Awareness week is really shining the light on the problem

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UK - The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is one of the world’s leading opera houses. The recent Open Up refurbishment created a series of new spaces within the building offering a more welcoming visitor experience.
Built in 1858, the Royal Opera House is home to The Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera, as well the Linbury Theatre and various restaurants and a gift shop. The Open Up project was a £62m major refurbishment to create a welcoming visitor-friendly experience, improve crowd flow, welcome daytime activity of events for all ages relating to the art of dance and music and refurbish the Linbury Theatre into a world-class venue for intimate performances for ballet and opera.
Martin Adams, technical manager, Open Up Project, Royal Opera House, and Tom Thompson, technical manager, Linbury Theatre, were tasked with creating an audio network to meet the theatre's c

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USA - Mainline Marketing, an independent manufacturer rep firm, will represent the QSC systems and live sound business in Florida and Puerto Rico, effective 25 May.
The change comes after Mainline acquired former QSC representative Meyer Marketing earlier this month.
“We would like to thank the entire Meyer Marketing team for their hard work and dedication representing QSC over the years,” comments Frank West, senior director of sales for QSC Systems. “We look forward to working with Mainline Marketing in the southeast region and leverage their vast experience and connections in the AV industry, specifically in corporate AV, theme parks, production and retail.
“Our companies share a dedication to integrator and end user training, and as Mainline prepares to open their newest training centre next month, they will help support regional trainings for the Q-

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The Netherlands - ROE Visual Europe has recently completed a refurbishment of its showroom in Leek, showcasing its LED products in an intimate setting.
With its flexible set-up, the showroom is created with the intention of allowing clients and designers to use it for demos, try-outs or testing and to accommodate different set-ups and events. The facility will be open from 1 June.
A broad range of the company’s latest LED panels will be on show, with the highlight being the Ruby RB 2.3 screen shown as a full HD wall measuring 5.5 x 3m and with a resolution of 2376x1296.
The showreel displayed is based on the 4K content shown at the ISE exhibition.
Flanking the Ruby screens are panels of Black Quartz, Carbon, Diamond and Vanish. The showroom will also feature the Black Marble, showcased both as wall mounted screen and interactive LED floor. The selection o

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USA - Architectural specifiers and installers are discovering the advantages of products derived from TMB’s road-proven technology.
Concert touring is among the most technically challenging environments and touring technology has a long history of being the vanguard for design innovations in other industries.
“There is no question rock & roll technology drives innovation in other industries; first theatre, then film and TV, then corporate events and theme parks, and now architecture,” comments Colin Waters, ex-roadie and TMB’s CEO and founder. “To this end, TMB now has regional reps throughout America, to liaise with specifiers, contractors, and designers who place our innovative products into a broad spectrum of high-profile installations, including Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, O’Hare airport in Chicago, the Moxy Hotel in New York, the Schuster Center

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Japan - Alcons Audio has announced the appointment of Osaka-based E’Spec Inc. as its Japanese distributor. Established in 1990, E’Spec has offices in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya.
Initial talks between the companies had started at ISE 2019 when E’Spec approached Alcons with an interest to become its distributor for Japan.
“For the past 20 years, there have been very few systems which feature truly innovative technology,”comments E’Spec’s Yoshiaki ‘Yoshi’ Yamaguchi. “Currently there is almost no difference in the system quality from different manufacturers. Equipment choice is based on slight differences in sound quality, cost performance and usability.
“The beautiful high frequency range at high SPLs and minimal listener fatigue produced by Alcons pro-ribbon systems are powerful advantages, which we know will interest many Japanese live sound e

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Italy - K-Aarray has teamed up with Simai SpA, a Milan-based electric tractors and flatbed transporters manufacturer, to develop an electric vehicle with a professional audio speaker system.
Named Cricket PE30, the vehicle will be marketed with short and long-term rental solutions by Toyota Material Handling Italia and is launching in July.
Massimiliano Bariola, managing director of Simai SpA comments: “We immediately accepted a role in this innovative project proposed by K-array, as it will allow the Simai brand to position itself within the niche of live entertainment and musical events in general.
“In K-array, we have found a partner with our same enthusiasm and spirit of adaptation to difficulty despite the current situation. And this special project - precisely within the context of social distancing and proximity to urban areas which are the most diffic

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USA -The Production Equipment Rental Group (PERG) has released a draft of its return-to-work guidance for the safe resumption of camera and lighting rental services.
The PERG Safe Return to Work Guidelines provides recommendations for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 and was created by a task group who took into account recommendations from the CDC, OSHA and public health officials and applied them to rental operations, equipment and facilities.
The draft will undergo a public review process from 19 May through 9 June, providing an opportunity for materially-affected parties to participate in the development of these industry guidelines, ensuring that they reflect an industry consensus.
Feedback is welcome from all stakeholders, and instructions for providing feedback are included with the download. Comments will be reviewed by the task group for r

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Spain/Italy - Prolights has announced the appointment of Seesound as its new distributor in Spain with immediate effect.
Nacho Alberdi, CEO of SeeSound, comments: “To me, working in this kind of industry means to carry on my family legacy, as in 1880 my grandfather started manufacturing pipes for church organs. That’s why we aim to continue doing what we do with passion and in the most professional way, taking care of the quality of the work done by our team. This should allow us to offer the best solutions to our customers and partners.
“When I first approached Prolights, I was fascinated by the ambition and dedication I could see throughout the headquarters, from the R&D department, production, logistics right to the sales and managements departments. Prolights boasts a broad portfolio and a one-of-a-kind product design, which will grant us to provide innov

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Global Warning - Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has called for urgent funding to avoid going out of business due to the "devastating" impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The London venue has been shut since 20 March and has warned MPs it is "critically vulnerable and at risk of closure in the wake of COVID-19". It said it would need at least £5m to get back up and running.
It was ineligible for Arts Council England's relief and said it had been "left without any emergency support". In evidence to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, the theatre said: "Without emergency funding and the continuation of the coronavirus job retention scheme, we will spend down our reserves and become insolvent. This has been financially devastating and could even be terminal."
Conservative MP Julian Knight, who chairs the committee, said in a letter to Cultu

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Europe - As the COVID-19 crisis continues to hit the live music and event industry particularly hard, The Lightpower Collection is determined to continue to donate to organisations dedicated to preserving jobs within the live event industry - organisations that include Crew Nation, Behind the Scenes and Backup.
The Lightpower Collection has therefore teamed up with photographer Neal Preston to release a set of more than 25 previously unseen music photographs. Each of these images is being made available in a limited edition run of just 20 per image.
The Lightpower Collection is proud to exclusively offer these signed and numbered fine art prints for purchase at the special price of only 950 Euros. The new collection can be viewed at www.lightpower-

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UAE - Digital signal processing specialist Xilica has appointed Venuetech as its new distributor for the GCC. Based in Dubai with an experience centre in Riyadh and staff in Kuwait and Egypt, Venuetech will work closely with Xilica to raise brand awareness with AV consultants, systems integrators and IT engineers that specify, install and manage AV systems. Venuetech’s represented brands include Atlona, Barco, Sennheiser and Televic.
“We continue to see rapidly evolving business opportunities in MENA across most AV verticals, and almost every project requires a professional DSP,” said Ismat Assafiri, audio specialist, Venuetech. “Xilica separates itself from other DSP manufacturers with truly modular, plug-and-play designs that can support projects of any size, and they deliver the future-thinking technology that will become integral as our industry moves towards gre

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UK - Shure UK’s Pro Audio team has been striving to maintain business continuity and increase industry support amid the coronavirus crisis whilst protecting the health and safety of all their associates. The company has been responding and adapting to help support its industry, freelancers and fans.
The Shure Audio Institute is providing workshops for Shure customers including system integrators, consultants, music industry retailers, engineers, and musicians. In order to continue delivering education to the audio community, Shure has adapted its usual face-to-face workshops to online virtual masterclasses which are broken down in to one-hour sessions hosted by David Phillips, senior sales manager, Shure UK.
The virtual sessions, which started earlier last month, are designed to deliver the essential elements of the usual full day workshops over the course of a coup

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Europe - IBC 2020, scheduled for 11-14 September, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. The annual broadcast technology show, held every September at RAI Amsterdam, will instead transition to a virtual event.
In a statement on the IBC homepage, Michael Crimp, CEO, IBC, said: “I hope you are safe and well, as we continue to adapt to the changing world in which we find ourselves. As previously outlined, the IBC team has been focused on assessing and developing appropriate plans for IBC2020 this September at the RAI Amsterdam.
"Within these plans it is crucial that IBC can deliver a safe and successful environment. However, as governments announce the route forward, it has become clear that a return to (a new) normal is unlikely to be achieved by September.
It has also become evident, through our dialogue with the IBC community, that an early decision is

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USA - Elation Professional’s 20 May Elation Hour will feature lighting designers Bradley King, Jeff Croiter, John Froelich and Jason Lyons who join hosts John Dunn and Matthias Hinrichs to share their personal insight, experiences and tricks of the trade in lighting the theatrical stage.
Bradley King, is a two-time Tony Award-winner for his work on Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (2017) and Hadestown (2019); Jeff Croiter is a Tony award-winning lighting designer for Peter and the Starcatcher (2012) with over 25-years of Broadway experience; John Froelich is resident lighting designer at the Metropolitan Opera who oversees all technical and artistic aspects of lighting design for the opera. Jason Lyons, credits include On the Town, Bronx Bombers, Barefoot in the Park and Rock of Ages.
The Elati
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  3. Solaris Flares light landmark Vulcan statue
  4. Taunton arts centre opts for Zero 88 FLX
  5. Sennheiser hosts immersive audio round table
  6. White Light MD issues call to save live events industry
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