Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Projects

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UK - Clair Global Integration (CGI) has been chosen to future proof Twickenham Stadium’s new bowl installation using the JBL Professional VLA loudspeaker range.
CGI was called upon to design and install new bowl sound system installation for the historic 82,000-capacity British sports venue, which is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), England’s national rugby governing body.
The project was led by the experienced UK-based team, the results of which have taken Twickenham Stadium into a new era of concert-grade audio capabilities.
Designed by CGI’s UK director, Eddie Thomas, and associate director Tom Williams, the project was delivered by Jake Miller, Steve Watson, and John Hardy, who secured this installation thanks to their collective and in-depth knowledge of high-end stadia audio.
Starting with the original groundwork designed by environmen

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India - With 2023 marking its 99th season; the Tansen Samaroh (Tansen Festival) has stood proud as an annual musical extravaganza that pays tribute to Tansen - classical music composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
Hosted every year in the city of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, since its inception; the event's transformation into an international classical music festival can be attributed to the initiatives of former musical institutions – with the 2023 edition of the festival encapsulating a myriad of celebratory activities designed to pay homage to Tansen.
Held from 22-28 December 2023, the Tansen Samaroh unfolded at various locations across the city of Gwalior and a few neighbouring cities as well; and featured participation from several native, national, and international artists who showcased their talent through live performances in Hindustani Classical music

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USA - KERO-TV is the most recent E.W. Scripps TV station to upgrade their studio lighting with a full Brightline system. Long known for its audio innovations, Bakersfield was home to Bakersfield Sound, producing honky tonk and rock legends like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens.
“Scripps has a storied history in journalism and cable and is well regarded for its latest multi-platform initiatives,” says Sam Cercone, managing partner, Brightline. “Widely known for pioneering new technologies, the expansive lighting upgrades underway throughout the group further solidify its position as a broadcast innovator.
“With the retrofit kit, we can upgrade existing Brightline fluorescent systems to LED at an attractive cost through repurposing fixtures”, says Cercone. “And the high-colour rendering LEDs enhance video. Upgrading to LED reduces energy consumption, renews the

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Italy - Prolights DisplayCob TRWDFC illuminated the Dying in Beauty exhibition at the Drents Museum Assen, in an innovative collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and the National Archaeological Park of Herculaneum.
The exhibition tells the story of Pompeii's life before its destruction, showing how art and technology can merge to create a powerful visual narrative.
The NorthenLight agency took care of the artistic design, relying on Lichpunt for the lighting setup and 50Lux for the lighting design. Light was used as a narrative tool to differentiate life (white light) from death (red light representing lava). Lighting designer Frank Hulsebosch of 50Lux used 12 Prolights DisplayCob TRWDFC to achieve colourful, intense lighting effects, demonstrating the versatility of the products in a complex exhibition context.
The Luchpunt team

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Austria - Lemo may be one of the most popular Austrian performers today, but at heart, says Niklas Fuchs, he is more like “the friendly musician from next door”. This relaxed and engaging personality is reflected in the star’s Lemo Unplugged Tour, which has a set that looks like a living room.
“Lemo truly is authentic and friendly,” said Fuchs. “On this tour, he wanted the audience to feel like they are visiting him at home listening to his songs from the couch. So, the design basically consisted of a whole lot of carpets on stage, standard E27 LED Bulbs, and some living room luminaires that we literally bought on the way to the first show. It created a special atmosphere.”
Filling in on the tour for Lemo’s usual lighting designer Bernhard Endl, Fuchs accented this welcoming mood with a warm, inviting light show. Positioned in a vertical configuration o

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Vietnam - With the opening of the Ho Guom Opera in Hanoi, Vietnam has vaulted to the front rank of Asian countries offering the most advanced technical facilities for hosting the performing arts. The new venue was presented to the public in a soft opening in July and has since earned international accolades for its visionary architecture, audience amenities, and an aural environment instantly optimised for any event by the Constellation® acoustic system.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which operates the theatre, focused on acoustic priorities led by “a passion for art, and especially, the natural sounds of musical instruments in concert”, says General Tô Lâm, Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security. “We need a place with a good sound field for artists to flourish.”
The large 900-seat hall in the new performing arts complex is a multi-purpose venue

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Switzerland - Circus Knie, one of Europe’s oldest, has just-concluded its 2023 season which featured acts ranging from dancing horses to motorcycles spinning around in a sphere at high speeds whilst parallel to the ground. Lighting by Axel Melchior supported every performance
An example of Melchior’s precise work was evident in the way he lit the waterfall stage at this year’s Circus Knie. Made up of a circular pond with a waterfall at its centre, the stage uses 7,000-litres of water each day. Nimble acrobats perform on the surface above the cylindrical waterfall. Accenting their performance, as well as the captivating beauty of the pond and fall, is a collection of 33 Chauvet Professional COLORado PXL Bar 8 motorized RGBW tilting battens supplied by Dushow.
Initially, Melchior considered using another IP65-rated COLORado model, the PXL Bar 16, but switched to th

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UK - London’s Roundhouse concert and performing arts venue in Camden now has an all Robe moving light rig with a recent investment in 20 x Esprite luminaires, fitted with the HP (High Performance) LED engine for the highest output and strongest colours. The order was overseen for Robe UK by Curtis Lewis, their business development manager for the London area.
These fixtures join 82 existing Robe moving lights at the venue – 42 x LEDBeam 100s, 16 x DLF Washes, six DLX Spots and six LEDWash 600s – with the Esprites now the primary house rig spot fixtures, and available to all incoming productions.
Roundhouse head of lighting Steve Royle explained that the new Esprites are part of a major technical update and an ongoing sustainability drive to make the Roundhouse as energy efficient as possible.
He has held the head of lighting post since 2010 and was instr

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Saudi Arabia - With bases in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, specialist AVL integration company, Proline, recently won a competitive tender to equip a new outdoor zone at Riyadh Zoo - part of a new look for the visitor attraction, which was founded back in 1987.
For the sound system Proline chose Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision WPS in a bid “to elevate the zoo's auditory experience”, according to lead project coordinator, Elie AlKhoury. The integrators’ goal was to deliver an unparalleled sonic experience to the zoo environment, at the same time meeting all industry standards.
Incorporated into the contract was the development of an outdoor stage, and thus Proline's approach focused on creating a seamlessly synchronised environment where music, visuals and lighting would integrate and harmonise to deliver an immersive and captivating outdoor experience.
“W

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South Africa - Ultra Events, specialists in providing comprehensive audio, visual and lighting solutions to the events industry, has recently invested in the A-Series line array system from d&b audiotechnik, specifically the AL90 loudspeaker. With significant experience in deploying d&b line arrays on projects ranging from live events to festivals and houses of worship, the purchase of the AL90s was a natural progression for Ultra Events.
“We wanted to remain within the existing d&b ecosystem,” explains Costa Champanis, owner of Ultra Events. “We are committed to the brand and to providing our clients with consistent audio solutions. The AL90 is the ideal solution for medium-scale sound reinforcements, where up to four cabinets can be flown in vertical columns or mounted as horizontal arrays. This versatility means we can cater for a variety of events and s

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UK - Located in Horsham, West Sussex, The Capitol is a multi-arts community venue which comprises a main theatre, two cinema screens, a studio theatre and a gallery space. It first opened in 1936 as a cinema and today prides itself as an accessible and diverse building, accommodating a variety of performance arts. It’s 410-seat main theatre space is one which regularly plays hosts to UK touring shows, concerts and even celebrity talks.
It was recently decided that the space would upgrade its lighting equipment to ensure the venue reduced its overall carbon footprint. As both a B Corp, as well as an organisation that has helped several venues in their quest to become more sustainable, White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, was approached to provide these fixtures.
The investment at The Capitol was overseen by venue and productions manager Matthew Effemey. He

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The Netherlands - Gotcha AV+ chose the Prolights Mosaico range for their holiday season installations in 2023, bringing a magical touch to festive celebrations.
For the Hotel Van der Valk Gilze in Tilburg, the Gotcha AV+ Group selected the Mosaico series to light up the hotel's rooftop. They chose the Mosaico projector for its high light output and capacity to hold multiple gobos, creating an enchanting slideshow effect. This dynamic projection not only prominently displays the hotel's iconic Toucan but also spreads festive cheer with its vibrant illumination.
Additionally, the Mosaico range was utilised for the DongenIce winter festival. Gotcha AV+ Group outfitted DongenIce 2023/2024 with four Mosaico FX100 projectors, each fitted with a 70-degree lens, creating a magical ambiance by projecting images of curling houses onto the ice.
These DMX-controlled projecto

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Europe - Playing live in support of her 10th studio album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, avant-rock artist PJ Harvey played a string of sold-out dates at carefully chosen venues. As a close-knit touring family working with one of the industry’s most talented musicians, her engineers required audio solutions from a supplier that understood the calibre of detail needed on her production.
Monitor engineer Magali Couturier has been with PJ Harvey for some years now, and has exact expectations from her vendor, including knowing that dedication comes from the top. “I first met [Skan director] Chris Fitch at Glastonbury in the ‘90s, it was the first time I’d seen a ‘boss’ that was so ‘hands-on’. He really cares about the human experience around him,” she says.
“He’s very approachable, and he understands what we go through as engineers, which is w

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Puerto Rico - The design team at The Playground created a memorable moment this December during La Meta, the final five concerts in Daddy Yankee’s career. It occurred in their show’s fourth act when a massive stone bust emerged on the deeply immersive stage at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico to reveal the reggaeton star and his trademark geometric goat head logo.
It was a moment that no one in the packed arena is ever likely to forget, which is precisely what the Playground team of Curtis Adams (show and creative director); Trevor Ahlstrand (production designer); and Sooner Routhier (production designer), aspired to achieve when they collaborated on the show.
Working with lighting programmers Will Flavin and Dane Kick and drawing on the power of a 4Wall Entertainment supplied rig that featured over 500 Chauvet Professional fixtures, the designers captured the essence of

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UK - Max Webster’s intense production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, featuring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, opened to positive reviews at London’s Donmar Warehouse in December.
Played out on Rosanna Vize’s stark, minimalist set, comprising a flat white platform backed by a glass wall that isolates off-stage actors from the action, the audience listens through binaural headphones that catch every nuance of the actors’ speech, drawing them deeper and more intimately into the text - and Macbeth’s mental state.
Lighting designer, Bruno Poet, accentuates this intensity with the help of Ayrton Khamsin TC fixtures: “The simplicity of the set - the sharp-edged white platform contrasting heavily with the black surroundings - combined with the detail of the soundscape meant it wasn’t always necessary to see the actors’ faces fully,” explains Poet. “This

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Turkey - Lighting designer Martin Kuhn tapped into the power and reliability of a grandMA3 replay unit to run a spectacular permanent show that he designed for Istanbul’s Maiden’s Tower. The landmark stands on a tiny islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait, 300m from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, and has recently re-opened after restoration.
Martin was working for Istanbul AV specialist ASTEL and end client, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The lighting includes 48 Ayrton Cobra moving lights which are positioned around the perimeter of the lower sea wall in protective cabinets that open when the show starts, and a selection of 76 Anolis Eminere and Calumma fixtures illuminating the various architectural elements, together with 27 SGM P2s and P6 LED floods.
The lights are connected via six grandMA3 2Port Nodes and two MA Netw

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Denmark - Set in the rolling hills of the Danish countryside, HimmerLand is a resort combining golf and spa facilities with award-winning bistros, bowling alley, outdoor sporting activities and flexible meeting spaces.
HimmerLand recently expanded its offering to include a large multipurpose hall, smaller meeting rooms, a golf simulator and fitness centre. Leading the AV design and integration was COMM2IG - a Danish company specialising in technology solutions - who opted for a Genelec Smart IP loudspeaker system.
"The off-axis dispersion of Genelec models is excellent, which is very helpful for meeting rooms," explains Søren Maibom, solution manager and sound designer at COMM2IG. "HimmerLand also wanted a very Nordic design for these spaces, and Genelec’s form factor works really well in this context. In fact, the team wanted to hide the loudspeaker system initiall

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Poland - Chopin Airport in Warsaw, named after the famous Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, has recently undergone an impressive improvement in acoustic technology. The installation of an extensive Praesensa system from Bosch Building Technologies marks a turning point in the way information and music is transmitted and played in the airport building.
The new system features advanced loudspeaker technology and a high level of automation, providing outstanding sound quality and clear, crisp voice transmission, which is of great benefit to the operator, passengers and ground staff.
The new passenger information system is based on the Praesensa solution from Bosch. It uses LS1-OC100E-1 hemi-directional ceiling loudspeakers and LC1-UM12E8 built-in loudspeakers, which ensure that passengers at every gate are addressed with pinpoint accuracy and excellent intelligibility.<

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South Korea - Lux Machina Consulting, specialists in virtual production and official authorised service-based partners of Stage Precision, recently wrapped up work on the production of Riot Game’s League of Legends World Championship e-sports competition. Through the implementation of Stage Precision’s flagship SP software into their workflow, the team were able to manage a complex and multi-layered AR production with ease.
“Within our work at Lux Machina Consulting, we’ve used every tracking tool out there,” says Wyatt Bartel, VP of production at the company. “Most of the workflows available are proprietary, meaning you’re locked into a particular manufacturer's ecosystem. We came to know Stage Precision when we were searching for a platform to stabilise our camera tracking practices across film, television, and live events markets and upon learning about the

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USA - BNW, a leading production rigging company based in New York City, founded and run by Tony Bonilla, successfully executed the challenging lift of the Sonic Sphere at The Shed utilising Eilon Engineering’s Ron StageMaster wireless load cells to ensure precision and safety.
Bonilla, with over two decades of rigging experience, recognised the need for higher calibre rigging in the industry following years of work on concert tours, Broadway musicals, the circus and car industrials. The realisation led to the establishment of BNW in 2012, a company that has since become synonymous with safe and effective rigging solutions in and around New York City. An ETCP-certified rigger since 2005, Bonilla also oversees rigging at Cipriani venues and has imparted his extensive knowledge to aspiring riggers over the years through seminars and teaching.
The Sonic Sphere, a 65ft d

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France - At a height of 107m, the Dôme des Invalides is the tallest church building in Paris and a shrine of some of France's leading military figures, most notably the tomb of Napoleon.
Built during the reign of Louis XIV in the 17th century, the stunning architecture of this building with its six chapels is brought to life in the Aura Invalides night-time experience in which visitors are immersed in orchestral music as the walls become a canvas for dynamic video projections and lighting effects.
The experience was designed by Moment Factory at the request of cultural operator Cultival and produced through a partnership with Musée de l’Armée, France’s national military museum. An all-Nexo sound system finished in a custom RAL colour to match the stone walls of Les Invalides was designed and installed by French AV technology and events production specialists Nov

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Ireland - A team from Dublin-based Spectrum Productions led by David Lawless and Jack Quirke supplied a large quantity of Robe moving lights rig for a sold-out electro-extravaganza gig by popular Irish mixmasters, Belters Only, at Dublin’s 3Arena.
David and the team have been working with the artists for the last year and designed the floor lighting package for their 2023 festival appearances. Their brief for the 3Arena show was to make it big, bold, and breathtaking visually, helping pump the energy and excitement everywhere in the room - from the stage to the back of the auditorium.
On the lighting plot were over 100 Robe moving lights - 52 Robe Tetra2’s, 12 TetraX’s and 32 MegaPointes - comprising most of the moving lights, joined by strobes, some other profile moving lights and 10 30W lasers.
The lighting design was based on a 10m diameter circular tru

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Japan - Hoshioto Camp 23, which took place recently at Budou Romankan in the Japanese Prefecture of Okayama became the first outdoor music festival in Japan to introduce immersive sound.
Local sound rental company, Bright Co originally invested in Martin Audio’s award-winning WPC fully optimised system back in 2020. Therefore, when it was time to upgrade the event’s main speaker system, WPC was recommended as the best overall fit for its sound quality, controllability and sense of scale, after evaluation against other systems.
Kazuyuki Oshita, president of Bright Co said there were other reasons why he recommended it to the organisers, notably its ability to deliver consistency of sound right across the area, and to mitigate against noise pollution by being able to contain the energy uniquely within the sound field - one of the award-leading properties of Martin Au

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Europe - Shania Twain’s Queen of Me tour played 78 shows across North America and Europe, with audio solutions from long-term rental partner, Eighth Day Sound.
FOH engineer Rob ‘Cubby’ Colby says his great experience mixing this tour has been down to the hard-working production crew: “Production manager, Denny Rich, production assistant, Libby Dostart, tour coordinator & tour manager, Joel Eriksson, stage manager Brandon Bogaert and music conductor, Marco Gamboa helped to make it a joy to be a part of.”
His time with Eighth Day Sound has also been smooth sailing: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Tom Arko and his team at Eighth Day Sound. I’ve enjoyed getting to know their different crews, project managers & office staff. Most recently on Shania’s tour, I requested a small footprint at FOH, and everything was addressed perfectly bot
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  2. The National tour Europe with Skan PA
  3. Chauvet keeps pace with The Struts
  4. Robe flies high with Goosemas in Space
  5. Cohesion reinforces Microsoft Ignite 2023
  6. ARRI lights 40th Sundance Film Festival
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GLP - MPU - May-June 2024
Robe - Large MPU

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