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The Netherlands - Tannoy has unveiled at ISE 2011 its "most significant new product range in several years", in the form of VX Series.

VX Series heralds a number of advances in Tannoy's core offering to the pro sound reinforcement market, says the company, as well as marking the dawn of a collaboration with Lab.gruppen on the self-powered 'VXP' versions - the first product of its type to feature both Tannoy and Lab.gruppen technologies.

With an expanded range of enclosures and transducer compliments, the new VX Series combines Dual Concentric driver technology with smart, ergonomic, portable and install-friendly new cabinet designs, enhanced build quality, and "carefully thought-out functionality".

In addition to an extensive passive range, there are also self-powered loudspeakers, the VXP Series.

With 10 passive models in the range (nine of which are a

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UK - At its annual general meeting last week, Ken Bennett-Hunter was voted in as the new chair of Skillscene.

On acceptance of this strategically significant national role, Bennett-Hunter said, "I am pleased to have been elected as Chair of Skillscene. Representing, as it does, theatre managements, unions, trade associations and trainers it is uniquely placed to influence the future of training and qualifications, particularly in the area of technical theatre. I look forward to working with Creative and Cultural Skills, the National Skills Academy and others to ensure that training and qualifications meet the needs of the industry."

Outgoing Chair, Anamaria Wills, who also led its forerunner, Theatre Technical Training Serves, as well chairing Skillscene since its inception in 2005, warmly congratulated Ken on his appointment. A vote of thanks was given to her in rec

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UK - At its recent Annual General Meeting, Ken Bennett-Hunter was voted in as the new Chair of Skillscene.

On acceptance of this strategically significant national role, Ken said: "I am pleased to have been elected as Chair of Skillscene. Representing, as it does, theatre managements, unions, trade associations and trainers it is uniquely placed to influence the future of training and qualifications, particularly in the area of technical theatre. I look forward to working with Creative and Cultural Skills, the National Skills Academy and others to ensure that training and qualifications meet the needs of the industry."

Outgoing Chair, Anamaria Wills, who also led its forerunner Theatre Technical Training Serves as well chairing Skillscene since its inception in 2005, warmly congratulated Ken on his appointment. A vote of thanks was given to her in recognition of her

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The Netherlands - D-Tools has announced that D-Tools has joined the Control4 Solution Provider Programme to provide Control4 dealers worldwide with their l comprehensive system design, documentation and project management software package.

"Control4 is a leading provider of intelligent operating systems, and we are pleased to be selected as a participant in the Solution Provider Programme," says Adam Stone, president and CEO of D-Tools. "We are like-minded in our goal to provide our customers with a platform to fuel their growth, and we look forward to assisting Control4 dealers in expanding their businesses and maximizing their bottom line."

"We are committed to providing Control4 dealers with the best project solutions in the industry and the D-Tools software package is no exception. Their comprehensive software package is an excellent tool for syste

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World - PLASA is pleased to announce the launch of its Facebook pages. Visitors to PLASA Focus, The PLASA Show, members of PLASA and anyone interested in the industry can join (or "like") the Facebook pages from today.

Members of the pages will be the first to find out about industry news, PLASA news and show news and content Plus, PLASA 2011 is offering the first 1000 members the chance to win a pair of Sennheiser HD 380 Pro collapsible high end headphones! To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is "like" the PLASA 2011 page, then a winner will be picked at random.

To view the PLASA Facebook page, click here.

For the PLASA Focus page,

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies underlined its commitment to ongoing training when its Leeds office staged a Training Open Day for students on the BTEC Extended Diploma in Production Arts (Technical) at Oldham College.

Adam Beaumont, head of AC-ET's rigging sales division, James Bawn from the lighting division and Stuart Moots from the audio division co-ordinated the event, which involved their collective skills, experience and resources, plus some of the industry's leading rigging, lighting and audio products. The equipment was taken to the college for the day and set up a series of live interactive demonstrations in the purpose built Grange Arts Centre performance facility. Both Moots and Bawn are former students of the college.

The courses being studied are for Entertainment Technician and Stage Technician qualifications, and include modules on lighting & sound enginee

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Australia - Sydney Opera House has offered its facilities to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Bruce Jackson for a public memorial. The event will take place on 25 February in the Concert Hall, beginning at 10.00am.

The veteran sound engineer and technical innovator was killed in January when his plane crashed in southern California. He was 62. His career included sound engineering duties for Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and many other leading artists. In addition to his live sound mixing experience, Jackson was a skilled technical innovator and entrepreneur: among his achievements, he co-founded Australian production house Jands, founded Apogee Electronics, and co-developed the ground-breaking Lake Technology DSP loudspeaker processor.

A native Australian, Jackson worked closely with Opera House technical director David Claringbold on the 20

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Olivier Awards - Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies leads the way at the Laurence Olivier awards with seven nominations. The Andrew Lloyd Webber show is up for best new musical, while its stars Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess and Summer Strallen are in line for acting prizes. The National's revival of Terence Rattigan's After the Dance has six nods, while the Donmar's King Lear and the musical Legally Blonde have five. The awards will be held at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 13 March.

Love Never Dies, which received mixed reviews when it opened in March last year, is also nominated for best lighting, set and costume design. Its nominations follow a four-day closure in November, during which some changes were made to the show. Love Never Dies and Legally Blonde will compete against Fela! and Love Sto

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Denmark - Matrix Group has set its mission to "become one of the most important players in the market segment of product supply to the entertainment industry".

"An important part of the mission for Matrix Group is to become a facility house with the right people, the best product lines and be market leader with high skills and knowledge about the things that we work with," says chairman of Matrix Group, Claus Reher-Langberg. "The investment behind Matrix Group is on a solid capital base, and we will become a major player in the industry. We have worked on this for a long time and the companies that are brought in to the group are a future investment, and we look forward to growing further."

He continues, "Our organisation is up and running and we are proud to announce that Moto Audio Sales, Nordic Sales & Staging and Signal Audio are now part

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UK - The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is recruiting for creative, production, operational and IT staff for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Last summer, LOCOG announced the appointment of Danny Boyle as artistic director of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, and a team of executive producers led by Steven Daldry to oversee the Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies in 2012.

Now roles within the London 2012 Ceremonies Team working at Three Mills Studios in East London are being advertised on the London 2012 website.

Creative roles include producer of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, head of audio visual, head of costume, head of casting and design studio manager. Applications must be made by 23 February 2011 for these roles.

Bill Morris, LOCOG directo

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UK - StageHand has been chosen as the new 'public facing' name for the Production Services Association (PSA) Welfare & Benevolent Fund after a PSA Conference call for ideas by the Fund's chairman, Mike Lowe of Britannia Row Productions. It comes with a new logo depicting a helping hand.

The new name is registered with the UK Charity Commission in addition to the name 'PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund', and donations can be made in either name. The charity is also registered with JustGiving.com, which allows the tax value of donations to be reclaimed under the Gift Aid scheme, boosting the value of individual donations significantly at no extra cost to the donor.

"We felt it was time to have a punchier and more memorable handle for the charity," explained Mike Lowe. "We've recently seen a surge in donations, largely thanks to the efforts and generosity of PSA member

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Glastonbury 2011 - Coldplay have been confirmed as one of the three headliners at this year's Glastonbury Festival in Somerset. The band will play the main Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June. Organiser Michael Eavis said, "Coldplay have played such a major part in the festival over the last 10 years or so. This is the triumphant return of a band that everyone here feels part of. They're one of the greatest phenomena to grow from these fields." Coldplay last headlined Glastonbury in 2005 and also topped the bill in 2002, three years after first appearing at the festival. Beyonce has also been announced as a headliner and will perform on the Pyramid Stage on the last day of the event, Sunday 26 June.

Eurovision Latest - X Factor twins Jedward have become Ireland's next Eurovision entrants with the song Lipstick. The duo beat four other acts on RTE's Late

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UK - The First Night Riders - a group of motorbike riding, theatre professionals and their friends - will once more don their leathers and helmets to raise much needed funds for The Theatrical Guild (TTG). As 2010, the one-week motorcycle ride is scheduled to visit some of the UK's most exciting theatres, towns and cities. However for added excitement riders will this year visit the Isle of Man TT course and also Stratford Upon Avon, where they will have the privilege of seeing a new production of Macbeth at the regenerated Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The 2011 ride will rev up and burn off from the National Theatre on 18 June and the event will climax on 25 June at Alexandra Palace.

Motorbike enthusiasts from the industry are invited to join in, feel the wind in their hair and raise money for TTG, either on a daily basis or for the whole engine-revving week. Information

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USA / UK - Richard Cadena, a respected lighting designer and entertainment technology media professional, has joined the PLASA staff. Richard will serve as the Technical Editor for Lighting&Sound America and Lighting&Sound International magazines, and, at Protocol magazine with sr. technical editor Karl Ruling. Additionally in the PLASA North American office, Richard will serve as assistant technical standards manager.

Richard will take over as Technical Editor of Lighting&Sound International magazine from James Eade, who has helped the PLASA Media team steer the technical content of L&SI for the past nine years. Lee Baldock, editor of L&SI since 2004, said: "James has made a huge contribution to the technical content of L&SI over the years, while still running his own successful business, e-Mech. I personally would like to thank him for all his help and guidance over that

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UK - Comedian and musician Tim Minchin has just finished a seven-date tour of UK arenas where he performed with a full orchestra. For this demanding audio production, Dutch rental company Da Capo, chosen specifically for its orchestral experience, deployed a number of DiGiCo SD consoles to cope with the extensive requirements.

"We are very experienced with in-ear monitoring for orchestras and have specific systems that we use," says Da Capo founder and sound designer for the tour, Rob van der Meijs. "Initially, monitor speakers were requested, but the sound level on stage should be as low as possible so we recommended in-ears instead."

Using a system devised by Da Capo, every musician was supplied with his or her own personal amplifier. This enabled them to listen to the mix from the monitor engineer and to mix in the vocal and their own instrument to the t

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Australia - LSC Lighting Systems has announced the release of the new Redback Wallmount range previewed at PLASA last year. The new Redback sports a number of features including, optional relay channels, RDM, various output connector configurations, external wallplate control and a 'slim figure'.

A Redback Wallmount may be specified to be a combination of conventional dimmers and/or relay channels to power LEDs and intelligent lighting fixtures. For example, a 24-channel 'combo' unit provides 18 channels of dimming as well as six channels of relay in the same chassis.

In addition, the relay modules can be configured to be switched on or off using DMX512, auto-powered - to improve energy efficiency - or controlled via a number of other methods in the same fashion that the standard dimming channels may be controlled.

The relay outputs provide direct power by utilising physical

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UK - Road Ready Cases (UK) has announced the introduction of a new staging system for indoor and outdoor installations - All Terrain by IntelliStage. This product line will complement the current IntelliStage system. The All Terrain system is designed to be installed on any surface, on uneven ground and slopes and can be exposed to the various weather elements. A Single 1m platform can be adjusted from 24 to 48" high and can handle loads of 260 lbs / 1sq.ft. This all aluminium system is light and durable and comes with all the necessary accessories. The system will be launched in the U.K at PLASA Focus 2011.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - The first of Artistic Licence's training days, initiated and sponsored by Artistic Licence's Wayne Howell, took place on 9 February 2011. The DALI Training was deemed "a great success and attended by industry leaders, from a wide range of disciplines, working at the forefront of DALI and DMX installations". Artistic Licence Engineering MD, Simon Hobday, led the training and answered questions on this comparatively new, but ever more frequently used, protocol.

In addition to the training, the day provided a good discussion forum and delegates came away feeling they had learnt valuable points. "DALI and DMX are being pushed as major protocols and it is important that we should be up to date on the methods and means of DMX / DALI conversion and also the problems, limitations and compensation methods of doing so," says Paul Simson of Enliten.

"It was

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USA - The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday 13 February showcased a broad spread of musical performances and tributes and utilised the latest in technology to provide television viewers worldwide with a high-definition/5.1 surround sound event.

The Grammy Awards' technical staff consists of audio pioneers who continually strive to employ the latest in HDTV and 5.1 technology to enhance the show. The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing members Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger again supervised the broadcast audio, while fellow P&E Wing member Leslie Ann Jones supervised the house audio.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Entertainment lighting specialists White Light collaborated with students from the Central School of Speech and Drama for the second successive year to create a showcase of the latest in lighting technology for an audience of lighting designers, technicians, consultants and others.

Held in late January, the event once again presented the equipment in a real theatrical setting, Central's Embassy Theatre. There, the equipment was set up and programmed by students from Central's lighting courses to create introductory shows that showed off the potential of the equipment. The students were then on-hand to respond to requests from visitors to demonstrate particular products or features.

The day featured early appearances for Robert Juliat's new Aledin LED Fresnel, the PixelRange PixelSmart LED washlight, Pulsar's new UV LED Chromaflood, the Galaxia LED washlight newly distribu

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Kazakhstan - The Asian Winter Games were recently held in Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan, and hosted more than 1,500 athletes representing 45 National Olympic Committees of Asia. Athletes from 27 Asian countries competed for a record 69 sets of medals.

Moscow-based contractor ARG was awarded the contract for the Opening Ceremony on 30 January 2011, and they in turn called in The Prolyte Group to supply a number of elements to help realise their vision.

The ceremony, at the newly built 30,000-seat Astana Arena, began with much fanfare and jubilant activity. The entertainment comprised a cultural extravaganza depicting the history of Kazakhstan, aided by a virtual "eagle's eye view" of the country's vast plains. The ceremony included dance, song, distinctive musical instruments and props that came to life.

The centrepiece of the impressive production was a waterfall t

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Uganda / UK - When Peter Fairhurst of Visual Engineering approached Fuzion on behalf of a client in Uganda, neither party knew what to expect. The initial enquiry was intriguing to say the least, with a request to provide "a small portable PA system that they could load in a single truck, turn up at say, a football stadium and address up to 20,000 people. The system would then need to be broken down and moved on to the next venue".

Following introductory concept discussions with Peter Fairhurst, it emerged that the system was to be used by the current President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni for the current national election campaign.

Fuzion's Jimmy Potter and Edmund Draycott combined their expertise to create a powerful, easy-to-rig PA system that could be assembled and dismantled in less than an hour.

They decided that Nexo Geo S was answer. The rig comprised nine Geo

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South Africa / UK - Two South African Roadies Association (SARA) senior trainers - Naledi Makhetha from Orlando East, Soweto, and Bernard Sebothoma from Orange Farm, Vaal, will join SARA president, Freddie Nyathela in attending The National Skills Academy Creative & Cultural (NSA) Annual Industry Conference 2011 which takes place at the newly opened Pavilion Dance in Bournemouth (UK)on 1-2 March 2011.

Conference speakers will include John Hayes, Minister for Business Innovation and Skills, Paul Latham, COO- Live Nation UK and Chair of NSA Board and other key figures from the technical and production sectors. There will also be a series of masterclasses.

The purpose of SARA'S visit is to attend the industry training and educational seminars, network and engage with industry players regarding knowledge and skills development issues, and also understand the qualification standard

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Olympic Countdown - Creative director Kim Gavin, who was behind Take That's Circus shows, has been appointed artistic director for the closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Gavin, who is currently working on Take That's forthcoming 2011 European tour, directed both the Concert for Diana and the Help for Heroes Concert. He will work closely with Danny Boyle, the artistic director of the Olympics' opening ceremony and the director of the Paralympics' opener, who is yet to be announced.

Gavin said he wants to put a "UK stamp" on the proceedings. Speaking to The Stage, Gavin said: "I think first and foremost [on my mind] is what would you like to see in the stadium and how do you want to feel. We have a time constraint, in that the last thing that happens in the stadium is 16 hours before we have to perform so that has to be considered

  1. PSI runs more rigging awareness training
  2. AC-ET announces training & development programme
  3. inspHire reports executive hire show success
  4. PLASA to support educational stream at ENTECH 2011
  5. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  6. LSi welcomes Richard Cadena
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