USA - Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Core Lighting enjoyed a busy PLASA Focus in Orlando last month and has already committed to the Kansas City event in May.

This was in fact Core's second PLASA Focus - their first being in Baltimore in 2014, and since that time, the brand has upped the ante with the opening of a new US operation based in Virginia, which was launched in November.

Says UK based Core Lighting's MD Phil Ion, "The Orlando expo was great timing for us in relation to the launch of our American operation a few months earlier. The location was excellent as with the numerous entertainment industry businesses operating out of Orlando and the place has a real buzz about it."

The latest Core innovations were showcased at the exhibition, with particular emphasis on the new PinPoint and the new Mk2 version of the best-selling ColourPoint battery powered upl

The Day the Music Died - The Music Producers Guild is backing a campaign to ensure that songwriters get a larger share of royalty income generated by digital music sales. Spearheaded by the British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and entitled The Day the Music Died, this initiative will focus on the role and importance of songwriters and composers in the digital music industry. It will press for three key actions - a 50/50 split of gross digital royalty income, the removal of auto-predictive search functionality in search engines, which point people to illegal content and a push for all digital advertising income to be paid to creators for all usage.

BASCA is also asking for more transparency around digital deals and is calling for improved regulation of illegal content on search engines, plus the easier removal of infringing websites and apps. P

South Africa - Durban in South Africa once again came alive with the buzz and the excitement of the 2015 Metro FM Awards, with Robe BMFL Spots taking centre stage - as part of a rig of nearly 150 Robe moving lights - for a stunning stage presentation at the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.

Staged for the third consecutive year right in the heart of the city, attended by 4000 enthusiastic guests and VIPs, the massive evening organised by one of the country's leading radio stations was broadcast live on national channel SABC1 and saw the presentation of 20 coveted awards and nine special live performance collaborations.

Co-ordinating all the technical elements was Dream Sets. Their Project manager was Robert Hoey, who was also working on the event for the third year for event producers, Blue Moon. Lighting designer Francois van der Merwe from the Wizardry Group wa

Czech Republic - Often hailed as the 'Czech Pink Floyd', progressive rock legends Stromboli have played a special one-off sold out show at Prague's O2 Arena to celebrate their 30th anniversary, with lighting and set designer Radek Havlicek choosing to use an array of Clay Paky fixtures to complement his impressive volcano-themed set.

Havlicek, of design agency and rental operation Pink Panther, worked alongside his colleague Petr 'Panki' Volek to choose 50 x Clay Paky A.leda Wash K10, 20 x Sharpy, 12 x Alpha Beam 1500, 24 x Alpha Spot 1200 and 12 x Shotlight Wash fixtures for the vibrant and immersive design, which was centred upon a vast volcano set piece to represent the band's name.

"We rigged some of the Clay Paky fixtures on ringed trussing around the volcano," explains Havlicek. "We positioned 14 of the K10s, which we used for vibrant washes of colour, on

UK - Warner Music UK has chosen the reliability and quality of the Chauvet Professional PVP S7 LED video panels for showcasing the latest music videos at their West End offices in London's Kensington Borough.

The 3-by-2m screen, consisting of 24 individual PVP S7 panels, was installed to project content visible from the high street over 500m away, by Emiror Research, a team of specialist audio consultants who pride themselves on creative and innovative electronic installations.

The company attends to the audio and electronic installation needs of Chappell Music and Atlantic Records amongst other prestige clients. The screen forms the public part of a larger installation of screens throughout the property. Run via the proprietary Chauvet VIP drivers, through a HD Kramer switching and matrixing system, the screen updates an older Barco product.

Emiror Research CEO, Giles Smith

Denmark - When the specifiers of the aesthetically stunning new build Musikkens Hus (House of Music) in the northern Danish city of Aalborg were planning the venue in 2009, they filled it with some 250 traditional tungsten Source Four fixtures. Although by the time the venue opened, the rig seemed outdated, with the help of ETC's Danish distributor Bico, the venue nevertheless ended up with the most up to date lighting products on the market, including ETC Gio control, Sensor3 power control and over 50 ETC LED fixtures.

The project was first specified - and budgets allocated - when LED fixtures were still in their infancy and would not have been relied upon as a venue's main house lighting; tungsten was still in charge. So in 2013, in order to help the 20,000 sq m venue plan for the future, Bico's project manager Søren Jørgensen worked closely with venue consultant

Germany - Jazz and pop star, Roger Cicero and his band have been on tour throughout Germany and Austria promoting his latest CD, Was Immer Auch Kommt.

Lighting, sound and stage design, were of the highest quality to complement Cicero's superior mix of swing jazz.

The prime service provider Soundhouse commissioned the company Big Mama Production from Hannover for the implementation of the lighting. The rig featured semi-circular segments of staggered truss, with PR Lighting fixtures much in evidence.

Among the effects used by lighting designer Fabian Kuhn was a selection of XR200 Beam and XLED 590 as well as some powerful XL5000 series spots, which were provided by Focon Showtechnic, PR Lighting's German distributor

Jens Ottenhus from the German distributor Focon Showtechnic says, "PR Lighting fixtures are finding their way increasingly into professional rental

Germany - Three international entertainment technology brands - Altman Lighting, Core Lighting, and Interactive Technologies will team up to showcase the latest in lighting and wireless control solutions at the Prolight & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt from 15-18 April. Visitors will find products from all three manufacturers located on Hall 9.0 Stand A65.

Core Lighting, the UK manufacturer known for its innovative, wirelessly controlled LED products, will debut its new LED batten - the StripPoint. Featuring 18 RGBW LEDs, the W-DMX controlled StripPoint delivers 4000 lumens of output and is powered by a lithium ion battery. Available in 1m lengths, the fixture also features individual pixel control and an IP65 outdoor rating. Also a first for Prolight & Sound, CORE Lighting will display the new PinPoint wireless LED pinspot complete with Bluetooth and W-DMX control. Joining these

Germany - Zero 88 is set to launch a new lighting console, FLX at Frankfurt. Says the company, "FLX creates more time to be imaginative, inventive and efficient ...Its clean, straightforward, intuitive user interface offers tools like Patch Wizard and Auto Palettes to take care of all the prep work, so LDs and operators can be free to work faster and more harmoniously."

The FLX will offer straightforward three-step programming - what, how and where - you want it, streamlining time and the operational process.

Further, "Even when working with fixtures that colour mix using different methods, the software will work everything out so all the fixtures respond correctly and accordingly.

"The simple yet sophisticated philosophy of FLX enables operators of all backgrounds and experience levels to feel instantly comfortable, due to familiar industry standard synt

Hungary - The Visual Productions' Hungarian distributor Colossal has recently been involved in two lighting installations using the CueCore.

The first installation was for the restaurant called Prime Steak and Wine in Budapest. The CueCore is at the heart of the DMX network. In terms of lighting, the CueCore controls all the ambient lighting, the LED fixtures, the RBG colouring of two columns. The CueCore is also used to control the heating system on the terrace and the magnetic lock of the entrance door.

The CueCore has been programmed by Csaba Csanadi. He utilizes many of the features of the CueCore allowing for great flexibility but little work for the client . Says Csanadi,"There's a slow transition between day and night light mode as well. It is scheduled to start 2 hours before sunset and nobody can notice it."

There are a number of pre programmed scenes for

The Maldives - PR Lighting fixtures have again been luxuriating in the sun-soaked holiday islands of the Maldives.

Ticket to Bollywood is a 90-minute non-stop Bollywood dance show by Indian dance company Ferris Wheel which opened at the Alimas Carnival Stage, Malé City.

Lighting designer, Becket J Tundatil, designed the lightshow and local event company Azidon Pvt Ltd was brought in by the client, Hub Co Pvt Ltd. Quantities of XR300 Beams were used on the dancefloor, with XLED 1037 washes overhead.

"We work regularly with Hub Co, and they are always pleased with our work," comments Azidon MD, M. Fayid Farouk.

Azidon also acted as production company at Taj Exotica Resort & Spa for the New Year's Eve gala, when they again provided their XLED Washes and XR300 Beams for the festivities which took place at the beach - the main New Year Eve's dinner and e

USA - The creative force that drives The Isley Brothers never rests. It's why these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers can still shake the house after six decades of touring. It's also why they've never flinched at abandoning comfortable familiarity in favour of new forms of musical expression; the way they did in the mid-1960s when they took on a young and then unknown sideman named Jimi Hendrix and blended his heavy guitar riffs with their own extended R&B inspired vamps to kick off an original funk sound that would influence the direction of rock music.

The Isley Brothers' penchant for new ideas remains as strong today as it was back then - and not just with music, but with lighting too. This was very much in evidence recently when the multi-Grammy winners' design team changed its plans to use some familiar lights after it heard Brad McWhorter of Atlanta Audio Visual talk about how

Denmark - With the introduction of the innovative R-2 LED rail light series, SGM claims to have "revolutionised rail lights, as we know them today".

The new lighting concept gives the user full control and offers a personal experience - whether installed in a museum, a trade exhibition, conference hall, club venue, retail or any other suitable application. This is because the complete lighting set-up can be controlled over distance via wireless DMX from LumenRadio.

Whether dimming the lighting to change the mood, altering colour settings or adjusting the lighting according to the season, actions can be carried out manually, instantly and remotely via an automatically programmed schedule, providing endless possibilities to create dynamic and vibrant environments.

The R-2 is extremely intelligent in terms of adapting to a specific environment. As people stop by a sen

UK - Artistic Licence is offering its customers the chance to acquire Cata-Lynx, a rack-mount DMX/ethernet converter, at the value price of £595. Owing to high volume manufacturing and the resulting economy of scale, the company is able to pass on this substantial discount on Cata-Lynx sales going forward.

The most popular model, Cata-Lynx O/P, converts Art-Net or sACN to 2 universes of DMX512/RDM. Each output uniquely contains a fully featured DMX/RDM splitter, enabling 2 outputs for each port.

The product is easily address configured using the front panel dials. For more sophisticated configuration options, including the option to select DHCP, Cata-Lynx can be connected to a web browser.

For those needing to convert DMX512 to Art-Net, Cata-Lynx I/P is also offered at the discounted price.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The winner of the Philips Strand Lighting upcycling competition has been announced. Paul Nulty Lighting Design (PNLD) scooped the prize for team effort Anamorphosis, which saw the colleagues turn a vintage Patt 23 theatre lantern into a deconstructed art piece.

PNLD was revealed as the winner at The Society of Light and Lighting Fresnel Lecture, which took place at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri) last week. Philips was chief sponsor of the event, alongside support from the IALD. Following the talk, Philips' Lighting Application Design Lead and competition judge Mike Simpson announced that PNLD's design had come out on top.

On the winning entry, Simpson says, "It was a difficult decision as the other finalists were fantastic, however 'Anamorphosis' was a very deserving winner.

"Many lighting designers will have grown up with the Patt 23 and s

UK - Award-winning lighting designer Bruno Poet used CAST's wysiwyg software to previsualise his technically innovative, trailblazing and epic stage lighting for the latest production of Cameron Mackintosh's Miss Saigon at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End.

Big West End shows have never used pre-visualisation software on a show of this scale before, making the use of wysiwyg on this production a real world first. The production team for the latest London production of Miss Saigon was new, while the set was inspired by the recent successful Miss Saigon tour of the Far East.

"As the script and score for the show were well established, the production period for the show was much shorter than other West End productions of a similar scale. Our team worked from scratch on the show's lighting design using the pre-visualisation features on offer

Europe - Morphed is a work by Tero Saarinen circulating around eight dancers showing the expressive power of the human body and liberating movements in their performances. While Esa-Pekka Salonen created the music, Mikki Kunttu, who has been working with Saarinen for many years, was responsible for the set and lighting design. Morphed is currently touring through different venues in Europe accompanied by a grandMA2 light console that is owned by the Tero Saarinen Company.

Kunttu stated, "The grandMA2 is the standard in every production for the Tero Saarinen Company. It offers many vital features needed for a theatrical orientated project like this one. Thanks to the networking capabilities of the MA System it has been possible to pre-program the lighting on a grandMA2 onPC, then transfer the show to the grandMA2 light. This was a real time saver and made my jo

USA - The Chroma-Q Color One 100 LED Par and Color Force 72 LED battens were recently used to provide outstanding colour and punch for Boston University's production of The Human Comedyat the city's Virginia Wimberly Theatre.

With music by Galt MacDermot (best known for Broadway's score of Hair) and based on William Saroyan's novel of the same name, The Human Comedy is a pop folk opera and coming-of-age tale about small-town life in World War II era California. It was presented by Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre and staged at the 360-seat new state-of-the-art proscenium Virginia Wimberly Theatre.

Boston University lighting designer Brandon Bagwell, who is being tutored on the University's Master of Fine Arts Lighting Design programme by Associate Professor (Lighting Design), Mark Stanley - the resident lighting designer for New Yo

Germany - The latest in LED dimming solutions and new additions to the groundbreaking Rogue series of moving heads are among the highlights to be expected from Chauvet Professional at Prolight+Sound 2015, Frankfurt in Hall 11.0, Stand D30.

The show marks the European debut of new fixtures from Chauvet Professional's Ovation line, created especially for stage and theatre. Among these will be the new Ovation ED-190WW ellipsoidal and the Ovation FD-165WW Fresnel wash. Both feature breakthrough technology, which allows them to be controlled by DMX or by traditional dimming systems, so that they can work with the dimmable incandescent fixtures already on an existing rig.

The new Rogue RH1 Hybrid combines a beam and spot effect in one unit that can produce a beam angle of 1° to 4.5° in the beam mode and a zoom angle of 5° to 19° in spot mode. The fixture emits 111,00

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced that the new RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom lighting fixture is now shipping. Introduced at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2015 in Amsterdam, the RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom is a single-lens LED PAR Can with fully pre-mixed white colour temperatures for a range of applications in the installation and entertainment markets.

"As the latest addition to our RUSH by Martin line of affordable effect lighting, the RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom offers lighting designers full flexibility for installations ranging from nightclubs and theatres to conferences and exhibitions," said Mark Buss, product manager for RUSH by Martin.

The luminaire is housed in a black aluminum frame and uses twelve 10 W WW/CW (warm white and cold white) LEDs for white colour washes that can be pre-mixed from 2,700K to 7,800 K. A motorized zoom of 10 to 60 degrees ensures beams produced by

Serbia - Robe's Serbian distributor Studio Berar Projekt has supplied the country's leading music and TV production company Grand Production with 32 x Robe Pointes which have been installed at Studio 1 of the Filmski Grad studio complex in Kosutnjak, Belgrade.

The company produces a host of different 'Grand' branded TV programmes including all the popular music television shows in the region including The Fantastic Show, People Pie and Grand Stars which are broadcast on the First Serbian TV channel, on OBN in Bosnia & Hertzegovina and Kanal 5 in Macedonia.

Grand Production also manages some of the best known Balkan pop and folk artists. They will often feature on their music programmes which can be an important gateway to stardom. The company's busy schedule also includes other music based showcases like Grand Festival.

This latest installation of

USA - ETC is now officially accepting applications for its 2015 LDI Student Sponsorship. Recipients will be awarded an all expenses paid trip to the LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 23-25 October. Graduate students and undergraduate seniors who are studying light design, theatre technology or other related majors are all encouraged to apply by Friday 17 April.

"The opportunities the scholarship has offered me and the connections I made will serve me very well as I move out into the wider working world of lighting design," says 2012 LDI Sponsorship recipient David Johnson. "It's great to know that companies as big as ETC take the development of young lighting professionals seriously."

The sponsorship, designed to help launch students' careers, gives recipients the opportunity to network with industry professionals at the tradeshow. In addition, each

Slovenia - The Slovensko Ljudsko Gledalisce (The Slovenian People's Theatre) in Celje, Slovenia's attractive third largest town is an active and well respected producing and receiving house that has recently invested in five of Robe's LEDWash 600 moving lights for its main 380 seater auditorium.

Celje is an important commercial and cultural centre in the Lower Styria region of Slovenia, and the theatre one of its prime creative arteries, producing around six of their own shows per year - some of which are toured nationally - and hosting between 30 and 40 visiting productions.

The LEDWash 600 purchase following their previously excellent experience with Robe ColorSpot 700s which were bought six years ago and are still going strong!

This time around they were specifically looking for energy efficient units that were easy to handle and offered the best colour mixing and a good

USA - After dominating the country music charts with 35 number ones, more than 60 career singles and a dedicated fan base, Alan Jackson has chosen Nashville-based Elite Multimedia Productions (EMP) to handle all lighting, video and LED for his 25th anniversary, Keepin' It Country tour, which is sponsored by Kubota Tractor Corporation.

The tour, which kicked off in early January in Fort Myers, Fla. and continues through the summer, has production needs that vary with the many different types of venues it plays. Lighting and video play a major role in the country icon's production so that audiences feel the camaraderie that is driven home through Jackson's songs.

Account manager Peter Streiff assisted in compiling lighting gear from Vari*Lite, Martin, Clay Paky and PixelFLEX LED video curtains that are all serviced through EMP, and help to creatively deliver those goals p

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