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14 March 2016

Speirs' career as an architectural lighting designer spanned almost 30 years and included projects across the world including Madrid's Barajas Airport, Gateshead's Millennium Bridge, Dubai's Burj Al Arab Tower, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, The Copenhagen Opera House, the interior of St Paul's Cathedral, London and the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Mark Major, Speirs' long-time business partner and friend, paid tribute to him on the Speirs + Major website. He said: "Whether you were a client, a fe

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14 March 2016

Blown Away - Sir Elton John had to cut short his concert at a new seafront arena in Blackpool because of the threat of strong winds. Almost two hours into his set at the Blackpool Tower Headland arena, he told the 11,000 crowd they had to leave.

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14 March 2016

"PLASA extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Scott Johnson and our fervent hopes for the speedy recovery of those who were injured in the stage collapse in Toronto over the weekend.

"It has been the mission of PLASA's Technical Standards Program since its inception in 1994 to make the industry a safer place to work through the development of Technical Standards. As part of that program, ANSI E1.21 - 2006, Temporary Ground-Supported Overhead Structures Used To Cover Stage Areas and Support Equipment in the Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events was first released in 2006.

"Since the tragic accident in Indianapolis last summer, PLASA has focused on making the industry and governmental authoriti

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14 March 2016

"What I've learned is that life is a balance between idealism and realism," says Hook. "One of the great things about education is that it should stop you making mistakes - and I have made a lot of mistakes."

As a mentor to students, he wants them to benefit from his own experience of how not to manage the business - with record labels and night clubs, such as Factory and the Hacienda. "The way that Factory worked, it was full of very creative people who never looked after business - and that's why all those businesses crashed. They were

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14 March 2016

The patriotic Sharpys, dressed up in custom made Union Jack jackets, were a welcome sight amongst the pageantry of the day as they delivered a dazzling display of laser-like lighting at the evening celebrations that marked the 60th anniversary of Queen's reign.

Lighting designer Durham Marenghi employed more than 240 Clay Paky fixtures, hired from London based rental house Neg Earth, to deliver a stunning, varied and dynamic lighting design for superstar acts that included Kylie Minogu

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14 March 2016

"I am thrilled to be part of this great business in an industry dear to my heart, Entertainment Lighting," said Glastra. "I would like to thank Steve for a tremendous job done in building this business and he has assembled a great team with strong brands. I am fully committed to further accelerating our innovation and growth in a global fashion, and I am looking forward to connecting with our customers and partners to continue to grow

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14 March 2016

Horace Trubridge, assistant general secretary of the MU, told The Stage, "We have been sending [LOCOG] examples all year of professional musicians who are being approached by LOCOG representatives to work for free . There seems to be a trawling exercise going on where LOCOG representatives are looking at band websites, listening to the music, thinking, 'I quite like that' and sending them an email to see if they will work for free. That seems to be what's happening, which is a complete breach of the agreement that we have with LOCOG."

A spokesman for LOCOG sa

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14 March 2016

Hardy, a leader in the planning and design of active public spaces throughout North America, has been responsible for the design of numerous performance spaces including LCT3 at Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, Brooklyn Academy, Signature Theatre, NYC and The Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Created to encourage the exchange of important ideas, the new Pro Development Programme puts unrivaled focus on content provision, significantly developing the show's educational offering.

The four-day programme consists of 80 free-to-attend sessions taking place in four brand new, purpose-built seminar theatres on the show floor. Organised into 9 distinct categories, the new format provides unparalleled access to entertainment & installation technology's leading thinkers and doers.

The first category is Future Trends, a series of sessions looking at the current direction of technology and where it might lead us. This programme includes the headline session Are we near to Perfect Sound? - presented

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14 March 2016

A&O, which prides itself as 'your partner for the latest in light technology - worldwide', announces its support for this year's event as the industry gears up for this September's ceremony.

A&O says it is "delighted" to have the opportunity to sponsor the bar area, which will provide KOI invited guests with an opportunity to network in convivial surroundings, following the more formal dinner and awards.

"We are aware of the importance of the KOI event and therefore delighted to offer the major support for the Get-Together after the Awards," said Marco Niedermeier, CEO, A&O Lighting Technology.

"The Knight of Illumination Awards

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14 March 2016

"Huge congratulations go to the design teams from David Chipperfields, Sansome Hall and Keith Williams as worthy winners," says managing director of Charcoalblue, Andy Hayles.

The globally respected RIBA Awards recognise architectural excellence and are judged by a panel of RIBA Chartered Architects and RIBA International Fellows. During the judging process, each UK region appoints a short-listing panel, which visit all the schemes entered. They then produce a list of buildings to be visited by the regional jury.

Charcoalblue alongside Sansome Hall Architects and histori

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14 March 2016

Publishing its 2012 Theatre Buildings At Risk Register (TBAR) today, changes since 2011 highlight how a lack of care and investment leaves theatres particularly vulnerable to neglect whilst opportunities to harness the social and cultural value of theatres are being lost. It also shows how local champions, with the support of councils, grant making trusts and Lottery distributors are providing a new lease of life for theatres at risk.

The passing of the Localism Act in November 2011 and its emphasis on social well-being means local authorities now have to prepare lists of assets of community value, which include cultural interests such as theatres. The

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14 March 2016

Visitors are invited to take an Access All Areas tour around the LS-Live rehearsal and events facility, and learn more about the Foundation Degree in Live Events Production (validated by The University of Bolton) and short courses in backstage skills. Staff and tutors will be on hand to discuss the many opportunities to get involved with Backstage Academy whether as a student, partner, or supporting institution.

There will be plenty of entertainment on the day; the 17,664sq.ft studio arena will be hosting West Yorkshire Police's charity Battle of the Bands event from 12pm - 5pm, where 10 local schools bands will perform songs about crime and anti-social behaviours in the community, in the hope of impressing the judging panel, which includes Chumb

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14 March 2016

The deal includes four channels of the UHF-R series with the latest UR4D+ version of receivers providing the cascade feature, the UR1M micro-bodypack transmitter, the UR2/KSM9 handheld transmitter with the KSM9 microphone cartridge.

The purchase also includes the latest personal monitoring solution from Shure, the PSM1000.

"Glow Productions although a new rental firm in the market, have already produced a number of top level shows for both corporate and private entities," commented Shajahan K K, Shure product manager. "As most of their wor

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14 March 2016

This is the second development this year on the Broadend Road site which is at the heart of 5 Star's busy operation. It follows on from the construction of a new and much larger custom sanding booth area in January, and is actually the third expansion in 12 months for 5 Star, as another 2500sq.ft of storage space was also added in 2011.

The latest newly refurbished units will initially be used for extra storage of finished goods - However, in the coming months 5 Star is launching several new case lines and products, so the units have been designed from the outset for the easy accommodation of a new set of state-of-the-art production facilities, ready to be activated when time comes.

Justin Locks,

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14 March 2016

"It was a true pleasure to at last meet clients that I had previously only spoken to over the phone or by e-mail," says Attfield. "With the continued expansion and diversity of Le Mark products I wanted to meet and be able to discuss the next phase in our growth in Hungary. My only negative was that this visit was just too short.

"I can see that there are some excellent areas where Le Mark and our new products can grow. We've recently launched new additions to our Dirty Rigger gloves and accessories range in similar countries with huge success and have

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14 March 2016

Benedetti secured a £2m, six-album record contract after winning BBC Young Musician of the Year at 16 and has risen to international fame. She has also been involved in supporting the Big Noise orchestra in Raploch, Stirling - inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema scheme to help poorer children. The violinist said: "So many people up and down the country are trying to create a better foundation for musical education.

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14 March 2016

The Prime Minister's 8th Olympic Dinner, produced by Multiple Award Winning producers -Peter Jones Special Events, held at the Plenary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, raised over $2m dollars for our Australian Olympic Team, competing at next month's Games.

VIP's included former Prime Ministers, Over 60 past and present Olympians, along with corporate guests.

Entertainment for the evening included a star studded line up featuring Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, Delta Goodrem, Todd McKenny, David Hobson, Silvie Paladino, Mar

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14 March 2016

PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths comments, "PLASA runs events to provide quality business opportunities, education and thought leadership. The PLASA Show in London is the only entertainment technology event to reinvest its revenue back into the industry it serves - anything that is not invested back into the show is used to help develop technical standards, certification and qualifi

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14 March 2016

Initially opened in 1978, the Chieve production plant has continuously been updated following - and at times even anticipating - technological trends, including the installation of highly automated production lines.

The Chieve plant roof presented the ideal layout and orientation for the solar panels planned for this latest project: this new power generation system was designed and built to achieve outstanding production efficiency - thus significant savings - and at the same time to continue Faital's pursuit of more "ecologically conscious operations, guaranteeing FaitalPRO's ever 'greener' signature&

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14 March 2016

Reporting directly to VP of marketing, Tim Chapman, Flanagan moves into the expanded remit having spent the past four years working within the Coatbridge, Scotland-based marketing team specifically in a communications capacity - initially for Tannoy and more recently with a cross-brand remit after the marketing function for Lab.gruppen and Lake was consolidated from Sweden.

"Having created a multi-disciplinary marketing team serving the broad needs of our brands, it's become increasingly logical to consolidate the project management of these resources. The creation of the marketing manager

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14 March 2016

Gromova comments: "The offer made by Garry Nelsson was a challenge for me, which I accepted with enthusiasm. I have known Garry for many years, and was excited by the chance to join his professional team. The first task was to take over the existing operations of GSE in Russia and other East European and Asian countries of the former USSR, as well as to develop sales and increase exposure to the product range in this territory. I am totally committed to using this chance to develop the GSE business here, and make it of benefit for both the company and our customers."

Garry Nelsson adds: "We saw

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14 March 2016

"At Buddha-Bar, our sonic signature is a subtle combination of world and electro-ethnic music," observes Franck Fortet, vice president for development at George V Eatertainment, the parent firm of Buddha-Bar. "It's an infinity of sounds that requires the perfect sound system, and the effect as distilled through the new Meyer system has made a remarkable difference at Buddha-Bar Paris."

The Buddha-Bar systems were designed and installed by John Pouzet of Paris-based Sonosystem, with design assistance from Cyril Ubersfeld of Meyer Sound's French distributor, Best Audio. Resident DJ is Ravin.

"I specified a Meyer system to realize a particular sound quality with detail

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14 March 2016

Joe Tessone, 27, is a 2007 graduate of the Audio Arts and Acoustics programme at Columbia College Chicago, with specialties in Audio Design and Production. In addition to his duties at Sensaphonics, he owns a commercial studio, Mystery Street Recording Company, and is the audio archivist at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. He is also a performing musician, most recently as singer/songwriter for the eclectic punk band Behold!, and as banjo/ukulele player for an Americana music group, the Rust Belt Ramblers.

"I'm a big believer in heal