Russia - A major ADB lighting installation has been completed as part of the reconstruction of the leading theatre in Siberia, the Novosibirsk National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, built in 1945. The installation, by ADB's Russian Federation partner, DOKA Media, has created a state-of-the-art stage lighting environment in the theatre, which is used mainly for opera and theatrical productions and is regularly lit by the leading Lighting Designers from Moscow and St Petersburg.
The work involved full replacement of the existing lighting equipment for the main stage, as well as innovative approaches to networking. The task was huge, and made even more challenging by the regulations governing the restoration of this historical building.
ADB equipment is at the heart of the system and includes Phoenix 10/XT and 5/XT control systems, interfaced via Ethernet directly with th
Slovakia - Czech pro audio distributor Prodance combined a dealer launch of RCF's TT+ line array with some major music event in Bratislava. The 800 plus charity event featured a complete cross section of entertainment which included folk music, chamber music, rock and even tap dancing!
Daniel Smutný, Prodance's technical support was on hand to meet the dealers on the Friday morning. He says: "The TT+ system and rigging is very user-friendly and the whole array, comprising six TTL33-As per side, were flown with ease in no time at all with two TTS28-As ground-stacked below, this really impressed some of our customers who had turned up early to view the whole event. The set-up of the actual array was also quickly taken care of with the aid of the RCF TT+ Shaper software; this takes just a few minutes to enter details of the venue and then gives you all the array configuration
UK - Kylie Minogue has made a strong return to touring and performance after her courageous and public battle with breast cancer. Her Homecoming tour has been winning rave reviews, including a recent series of seven sold-out dates at London's Wembley Arena.
Front-of-house engineer Christopher Pyne specified a multiple line array system featuring Milo high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers. The main arrays of 16 cabinets per side were augmented by two side arrays of 16 Mica compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers each and front-fill from 12 M'elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers. The rig was driven by three LD-3 compensating line drivers.
"A lot of people aren't aware that Wembley Arena was built as the swimming venue for the Olympics and British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games), shortly after World War II," says P
France - InnovaSon has announced the appointment of Camco as its new German distributor with effect from 1 March 2007. Camco, based in Wenden-Gerlingen in western Germany, is best known as a manufacturer of high quality power amplifiers, but the company also has a thriving German distribution wing that handles Camco amplifiers, Nexo loudspeaker products, and now InnovaSon digital mixing consoles.
InnovaSon sales and marketing director Xavier Pion is confident that this new partnership with Camco will consolidate his company's presence in Germany. "Camco is ideally placed to achieve this," noted Pion. "They already have a very strong sales network in place that targets our market completely, and the products that they currently distribute are highly complementary to our own. This, in turn, benefits everybody, as it enables Camco to propose complete, high-quality so
UK - The John Madejski Academy in Reading is the latest of the DfES Academies Programme designed to raise the level of attainment in England's inner cities by introducing a distinctive approach to school leadership.
Specialising in sport, the John Madejski Academy will have capacity for approximately 1,100 students, but the infrastructure also includes a technically-equipped auditorium and separate dance/drama studio, provided by Leicester-based Hawthorn Theatrical.
Contracted to the main construction company, Costain, the company has turned to Martin Audio sound reinforcement components as part of its audio-visual design model - extending the company's relationship with the AQ series.
According to Hawthorn's installation manager Simon Ling, the versatility of the AQ series meets the many requirements of a general purpose assembly hall, while the textured light grey factory
UK - HSL is supplying lighting for the current Ricky Gervais UK theatre and arena tour, which has been designed by Arturo Ollandini. HSL is once again working with Phil McIntyre Productions who are promoting the multi-award-winning writer/comedian. It follows on in the comedy vein from their successful work together on League of Gentleman in 2005 and Mitchell and Webb in 2006. HSL's Mike Oates is overseeing the account and comments, "It's great to continue including a healthy spot of comedy in our comprehensive theatre repertoire. It's a very specific genre to light and requires special detail."
Operating the show on tour is John Slevin, who is working with Simon 'Piggy' Lynch. The rig features two 56 ft long mid and back trusses and a 40ft front one - all pre-rigged, and slightly randomly loaded with PARs and ACLs. There are seven ETC Source fours on the front truss,
Singapore - Exhibitors to PALME Asia (12-14 July, Singapore Expo) will be set to take advantage of Singapore's burgeoning free market economy and strategic location when the show returns to the island city-state in July. This year the rebranded event is set to follow the successful PALME Middle East model by introducing an Event 360° Asia live staging sector alongside Install Asia.
With its move to two halls within the new Singapore Expo, PALME Asia sales manager, Hanslee Azhar, sees huge advantages in returning to the island. "There are a number of positive factors," he said, "but essentially Singapore Expo can accommodate the growth of the show and its expanding number of features, since we have grown 30% from last year."
At the same time, he says, it is an opportunity for exhibitors to take advantage of the highly-lucrative market in South-east Asia.
Canada - In the few months since it opened with a lavish production of Wagner's complete Ring Cycle, Toronto's new CDN$181 million Four Seasons Centre has vaulted to the front rank of the world's fine arts performance venues. Inside the gleaming steel-and-glass complex, a stunning interweaving of space and structure by principal architect A.J. (Jack) Diamond, the focus of architectural acclaim is the 2,000-seat R. Fraser Elliott Hall. Home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada.
In addition to the beautiful architecture and construction, the Four Seasons Centre boasts the sonic virtues of more than 150 Meyer Sound loudspeakers, though their presence isn't apparent: all are concealed from sight, either around the proscenium or embedded in the hall's walls and ceilings. The system works hand-in-glove with the acoustical characteristics to provide fl
UK / USA - Loud Technologies has entered into an agreement to purchase the entire share capital of UK-based manufacturer, Martin Audio Limited. The move brings Martin Audio into the Loud stable alongside EAW, a direct competitor of Martin in the touring, install and commercial audio markets. However, Martin Audio will remain "an independent brand" within the Group, say Loud.
David Bissett-Powell, managing director of Martin Audio, commented: "We are excited about becoming part of the Loud Group of Companies. Over the last few years we have built an incredibly strong and dedicated team of professionals and their knowledge of our industry is second to none. Our worldwide distribution partners have also become a strong part of this team and in order to utilise these talents and benefits to their maximum potential we need to have access to a wider base of technologies
UK - BBC Studios, part of BBC Resources, has chosen FreeSpeak from Clear-Com as the single intercom solution used across the massive Elstree studio complex and outside lot. The FreeSpeak system is made up of 60 advanced antennae and 80 belt packs and is able to serve BBC Studios' operations on the site. This covers six studios and an outside lot stretching to several acres, all operating from four control room suites.
The flexibility of the FreeSpeak system enables on-site locations to be covered by using easy to site antenna. "This is a particularly large installation, even for BBC Studios," said Tim Deane, resource manager at BBC Studios. "Using the FreeSpeak system allows a user to be anywhere on site, in or between the studios and to remain in clear contact with their Production Team."
FreeSpeak operates through a cellular network of active antenna, whi
USA - High End Systems has completed a turnkey installation at the Evangel Cathedral in Upper Marlboro, MD. The church recently installed 10 DL.2 Digital Lights to project onto a 76ft cyc to enhance their worship services. This is the largest permanent installation of DL.2 fixtures to date. They also added an Axon Media Server to manager. Though DL.2 already features an on-board media server, Axon is compatible with DL.2.
The install complements the church's existing HES equipment manifest of ten Cyberlight Turbos, 44 x.Spots and a Wholehog 3 console. The DL.2 install actually started at LDI 2006. Koster Design brought Evangel's LD Bryan Meares to High End's booth to view the demo of the DL.2 Collage Generator software feature. They then brought Bishop Don Meares to an HES Open House on the East Coast, who loved the idea of DL.2s in his church. Koster Design then purchased the g
Italy - Although world famous for its Parmesan cheese, Reggio Emilia is alsothe home of Mordente Music Service, a rental firm run by Beppe Pelliciari which has built a reputation in specific sectors of the sound reinforcement market, such as classical, operatic and spoken word.
Some of the more recent events on which the company has used its QSC ISIS WideLine arrays have included open-air concerts by the orchestra and chorus of Genoa's Carlo Felice theatre, with music ranging from opera, through the classics to the Beatles. For these events, the subwoofers used were a pair of QSC WL218S-sw and the powerhouse comprised QSC PL 236 and 230 amplifiers.
Another interesting event was Cividale del Friuli's MittelFest, a festival of the performing arts under the artistic direction of Moni Ovadia, which offers a showcase spanning the artistry of Central Europe, as well as shows involvi
UK - Southampton Guildhall has recently upgraded its lighting control system with the purchase of a Chamsys MQ100 console, playback wing, and Capture design/visualisation software.
The console went straight into use, servicing a wide range of events including student balls, graduation ceremonies, corporate dinner dances, concerts and comedy shows, controlling the in house Avolites Art 4000 dimmers, with a mixture of in house and sub hired equipment including Pars, ETC Source Fours, ACLs, blinders, strobes, hazers, Martin Professional and Robe automated spots, and Colorblock LED fixtures.
"The desk gives us full control of the existing house rig, with much greater flexibility than we've had before, along with the capacity to cope with pretty much every show we get thrown at us with its 12 universes, and on board features for LED fixtures," says a Guildhall spokesman.<
UK - Hand Held Audio's growing involvement in Outside Broadcasts has kept them "very busy" in the first part of 2007, the company reports. Apart from the now regular contribution of all things wireless at the BAFTAs and the BRITs, the North London wireless specialist has a large system of Sennheiser 1046 radio mics on this year's Comic Relief fund-raiser, Celebrity Fame Academy.
A complex system spread across the facilities of BBC1, BBC3 and CBBC has a total of 44 channels of radio microphones and nine channels of in-ear monitoring. A combination of personal mics for the reality section and chromed hand-held mics for presenters Patrick Kielty and Claudia Winkleman uses five of Sennheiser's 8-way 1046 receiver racks and two of their 3-way 203 racks. Transmitters are SK50/SK3063 body packs with MKE2 Gold for the personals and the new SKM5200 hand-held transmitters
China - After the official launch of the Audi Olympic Games Programme, the FAW-VW Audi factory in Changchun, China, hosted an unusual afternoon of classical music for its 1,000 employees and members of the media to announce its sponsorship for the 6th Asian Winter Games. To celebrate the event, the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra brought their graceful music to the factory on January 25.
The orchestra gathered at the special "concert hall", set up in the middle of the high-tech car factory complete with a stage. They performed an hour of classical music in tribute to Passion for Movement, with the direction of famous conductor Yu Long. Passion for Movement is the central theme of the FAW-VW Audi's Sponsorship & Olympic programme campaigns.
EAD, Adamson's Chinese distributor, provided the Spektrix line array system for the occasion. Five Spektrix, and a S
USA - The Spokane Opera House has been rechristened INB Performing Arts Center to reflect its diverse calendar of arts presentations and new corporate sponsorship from Inland Northwest Bank. Along with the name change, the venue has been treated to extensive interior renovations, including a new system of 18 self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers.
Mike Tucker, the venue's technical director, felt the recent audio refit was long overdue. Although the system had been upgraded piecemeal since the building's 1974 opening for the World Fair, it still fell far short of what most touring acts now require - and what discriminating patrons had come to expect. "It was a mostly second-generation, mix-and-match system," Tucker says. "It couldn't supply the clarity and 'oomph' we wanted for most shows, so more often than not we had to bring rental systems in."
UK - Star Events Group Ltd (SEGL) has added significantly to its portfolio with the acquisition of The Rigging Partnership which provides custom-made solutions for the concert touring, theatre, exhibition and television industries. Its blend of off-the-shelf technology and innovative thinking means that it has the likes of the Harry Potter films, Take That's comeback tour and a variety of West End shows on its list of credits.
The staff is retained in its entirety and current managing director Gavin Weatherall continues to run the company, which will now trade as a specialist subdivision of Star Rigging focusing on theatre and trade show/corporate work. He will also take up a place on the board of SEGL as a director and shareholder.
"The inclusion of The Rigging Partnership's team of highly trained technicians undoubtedly gives us the finest collection of event rigging an
Russia - The 2006 installation of over 150 Selecon luminaires on to the lighting rigs of the prestigious and historically significant Maly Theatre in Moscow made it a most apt venue choice for Sistema to host a recent Selecon seminar attended by over one hundred Russian lighting designers and theatre technicians.
The event was co-presented by Vladimir Lukasevich, resident lighting designer for the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and Rainer Weggen, Selecon's market manager for Germany, Austria & Switzerland using a mix of presentational techniques and hands-on experiences with Selecon luminaires.
Alexey Kapustin from Selecon dealer, Sistema, was responsible for the organisation of the event and he was delighted with the interest shown by the attendees and the professional and capable manner in which the presentations were handled.
UK - The latest revival of the Puccini opera Madam Butterfly staged in the round at the Royal Albert Hall sees the introduction of ground breaking new audio technology. As in previous years, sound designer Bobby Aitken specified a TiMax Audio Imaging delay matrix to dynamically control time delays from each performer's radio microphone to the vocal reinforcement loudspeaker system, to make all audience members localise to the actors on-stage and not the PA.
Out Board director Robin Whittaker comments, "We only have four or five rehearsals in the RAH and it can be very difficult to know what you are listening to, for example, if an actor is not where they were blocked, or Sharry misses a couple of movement cues because he is focused on getting the orchestra mix right or EQing a mic, then the delay scenario from that actor's mic could be way off."
USA - The Midas XL8 digital live performance system is attracting rave reviews for its first live production run on the stage debut of Sister Act, a new musical by Alan Menken that, critics concur, is a Broadway-bound hit. Having completed a sold-out run at the Pasadena Playhouse, the show has transferred to the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta accompanied by FOH Engineer Pierre Dupree and an XL8 deployed by Sound Associates, Inc, whose Carl Casella and Domonic Sack completed sound design for the show.
Casella comments, "From a hands-on perspective, the XL8 is really well thought out. It's a highly sophisticated piece of equipment, with a vast range of practical features missing on other digital offerings. "All digital desks 'work' in a controlled environment, but we, as engineers, do not. The XL8 was designed with that in mind. Around 175 cues are written into the X
Portugal - An Avolites Diamond 4 Elite was specified to control over 100 moving fixtures and a host of digital lighting and effects for the Portuguese 4th channel, TVI's 14th anniversary gala event. The special live broadcast was staged in the Black & Silver saloon at Estoril Casino just outside Lisbon, with full lighting and video production supplied by locally based rental company Backlight - run by the charismatic Luis Pedro.
Lighting designer was Mario Bastos and the moving and digital lights were programmed and operated by Mario Rui. The show featured performances by Portugal's top entertainers, musicians, singers and comedians. Rui and Bastos and executive producer Rita Carrelo all worked closely with the team from Backlight to realise the event's technical production in the very tight timeframe.
Avolites Diamond 4 Vision and Elites are the consoles of choice for Rui, wh
USA - Clive Davis pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton, was the traditional glittering affair this year, where nominees, presenters, record industry executives and celebrities rubbed shoulders as a string of A-list music performers took to the stage. Delicate Productions of Camarillo, California once again provided the sound equipment for the annual event, outfitting the stage with Sennheiser wired and wireless microphones for performances by Smokey Robinson, Black Eyed Peas, Akon, and the night's highlight, Jennifer Hudson.
"We used 16 channels of the Sennheiser EM550G2 wireless microphone receivers, with SKM935G2 handhelds," says monitor engineer Scott Scherban. "There were eight channels of EW300IEMG2 in-ear systems." The setup also included two Sennheiser NET1 wireless management systems, providing control, monitoring and management of the microphone and
UK - Among the many companies honoured at this year's Total Production Awards ceremony was the Birmingham based Total Solutions Group. "We were absolutely delighted and proud to receive the award for 'Favourite Stage Set Company'," said managing director Chris Cronin. "It's a tremendous 'thank you' to our dedicated and hard working team who are always prepared to take on the next unusual challenge that this industry constantly issues."
Hosted by Suggs, of Madness fame, a record 1,200 people from the live entertainment industry attended the ceremony. "It's a great honour to be recognised as an industry leader by your own peers," said a clearly delighted Cronin.
Over the year, Total Solutions provided staging for Kylie, Il Divo and George Michael along with a host of other top artists. The Company specialise in blank paper design challenges such as
Finland - The Himos Arena, a new multi purpose hall situated in the ski resort of Jämsä, has installed a TT+ - based sound system from RCF.
Timo Kunnas of Noretron, RCF's distributor in Finland explains, "We had carried out several demonstrations of the new line array system here in Finland, so when this project came up we put the TT+ forward for it".
The design and installation of the system was carried out by Jämsän Discofix, where Ville Rantanen takes up the story, "The arena is very large and is used for a variety of different events including live bands and discos. We needed a system that would cover the entire area. By side flying the TT 33's together with the TTS 28A subs under the stage it gave us the coverage we wanted"
Also specified were Acustica C3110's compact units for the front fill delay speakers, and a pair for the DJ monitors. For th