UAE - Maestra Dubai's operation is expanding and has moved to a new warehouse facility in the Dubai Investment Park (DIP) area - more than doubling their workspace.

This follows a strong start to the year by the Dubai team led by Tom Clements. The company now has 18 full time staff with more joining shortly and 2016 has seen major investments in new sound, lighting, rigging and video equipment in response to this buoyance, in turn creating a need for more room for further streamline.

"Dedicated prep bays will assist in the overall speed and efficiency at which we can put productions out the door," explained Tom, "which will make a huge difference to the practical day-to-day operations. We're still right in the commercial centre of the city with excellent transport access and all the other advantages of a prime business location."

Tom also reveals that a new highly expe

Korea - The Holy Flames Methodist Church in Pangyo city, Korea, recently completed construction of its 1,850 capacity main chapel, and selected Allen & Heath's dLive digital mixing system at FOH.

"We wanted a digital mixer but I had my reservations about digital preamp performance. However, during a demo of the dLive system, I was very impressed by its preamp quality and intuitive user interface. Also, we can enjoy the benefits of future firmware updates," explains Pastor Yoonha Kim.

Supplied by distributor, Samasound, the system comprises an S3000 Surface with DM48 MixRack. The system manages a diverse worship programme, which includes a musical Friday evening service and three services on Sundays ranging from the traditional, involving a 60-strong choir with piano and organ accompaniment, to a youth service with 12 singers and a band, comprising saxophone, guitar, bass,

USA - Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw recently wrapped a tour with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The Grammy nominated artist travelled across the country on a three month, 50+ show excursion that showcased both his popular hits and newest album, Something Worth Saving.

Lighting designer Mat Gass built a look that saved on space put still offered a great output with a functional floor package. "Bandit had everything I was looking for," he said, "There was no subs, no trying to steer me to another fixture and everything was packaged with space in mind."

Bandit's exclusive GRNLite Bars illuminated an Austrian style back drop with crinkle taffeta in silver grey, while six Bandit GoGo truss towers adorned with GLP X4S units and a CuePix WW2 LED blinder lined the stage. Robe Pointes were placed between the rolling base plates and around

UK - The Natural History Museum has commended the work of Blitz|GES after a successful Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards ceremony.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, owned and organised by the Natural History Museum, provides a showcase for the world's very best nature photography. One of the most prestigious photographic competitions of its kind, it attracts thousands of entries from nearly 100 countries.

Celebrating its 52nd year in 2016, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year series includes a major exhibition at the museum and a worldwide tour of more than 60 cities in the UK and across the world.

Blitz|GES was appointed to deliver a full suite of event production services including set design and build, lighting, video, sound and on-screen graphics.

Alice Beer, filming and events manager at The Natural History Museum said, "We're really p

USA - Over four decades of use, Nicholls State University's Mary and Al Danos Theater in Thibodaux, Louisiana, had only seen modest upgrades and equipment replacements since it first opened in 1969. But following an extensive renovation to the venue's seating, flooring, rigging, stage, lighting, and A/V components, the theatre has been brought into the 21st century. And with it, a new world of artistic possibilities has opened for the university and its theatre and music departments.

A collaboration between Theatre Projects, architect Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and acoustician Jaffe Holden, the $6.7 million renovation of Talbot Hall addressed not only upgrades and modernization of the Danos Theater, but also improvements to the campus TV studio, radio station, several classrooms, and other communications department facilities located in the hall.

Improvements to the Danos Theater

Australia - Merivale is a large, fast-growing Australian hospitality operator with a number of high-profile pubs, bars and restaurants, mainly in the Sydney area.

The business is run by Justin Hemmes, who takes a very personal and hands-on interest in the audio; thus when The Newport was added to the portfolio this year, he and Merivale's AV Manager, Glenn Rayner were only likely to specify the best - and this included Martin Audio's new CDD (Coaxial Differential Dispersion) series and MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array).

Formerly known as the Newport Arms, the venue is a large shore-line pub with an al fresco garden area that looks out over the water.

Setting out the sound design rationale, Glenn Rayner explained, "We looked at the existing audio at The Newport and quickly established that the only way we'd get the sort of clarity and coverage we required was to ha

UAE - The newly-opened Dubai Water Canal is an extension of Deira Creek, linking Business Bay to the Arabic Gulf.

A Usd 550m project, the Dubai Water Canal comprises one shopping centre, four hotels, 450 restaurants, luxury housing, walkways and cycle paths. The Canal is 2.9 Km long, starting from Business Bay down to the Gulf through Safa Park and Jumeirah. The width ranges from 80mto 120m. The navigable canal is crossed by 12m high bridges.

One of the main visual attractions of the complex is the giant 160 m water feature of the Sheikh Zayed Dubai, a technical marvel that at night turns the bridge into a waterfall shining with the eye-catching magic of dynamic colour lighting.

For a project of this scale and complexity, the choice of the technical partner could only fall on Magical Water Fountains company, specializing in top level water feature projects realized all

UK - The hugely successful PLASA Focus Glasgow, returns to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) on 18-19 January, 2017, bringing with it an expanded programme of seminars, panel sessions, console training and equipment demonstrations to sit alongside the ever-popular Riggers Forum.

"This is an important year for PLASA and for the Scottish live events sector," says PLASA's events director, Chris Toulmin, "we hope our continued investment in the Scottish market, through our Focus events and its seminar programme will reflect and support the Scottish government and VisitScotland's recently unveiled ten-year strategy to grow this sector."

Taking place across both days of the show, highlights on day one will include: Panel sessions led by audio journalist Phil Ward, who presents Is Point Source Fighting Back? an exploration of the varied applications of p

USA - Wenger Corporation of Owatonna, MN, a global provider serving the performing arts, music education, and athletic segments, has acquired the assets of SECOA, Inc. of Champlin, MN. Wenger, and its subsidiary J.R. Clancy, already provide a superior value proposition featuring the broadest array of quality solutions for the performing arts industry.

"Our strategy is focused on providing superior customer solutions and driving growth in each of our market segments," states Chris Simpson, president and CEO of Wenger Corporation. "The addition of SECOA builds on the momentum we are driving with the J.R. Clancy and Wenger brands to offer the most comprehensive integrated project solutions in the performing arts market.

"This acquisition further complements our integrating manufacturing model by bringing on board some of the key talent who have executed a similar model very s

Japan - Two new live venues were recently opened in Toyko - at Sarugakucho, Shibuya. One is the live venue, Space Odd, while the other is the nightclub, Sankeys TYO, which takes its name from the original venue in Manchester UK, which later set up in Ibiza. The unusual feature is that both Space Odd and Sankeys TYO are located at the same place and are equipped with a cutting-edge Martin Audio loudspeaker system.

Naoki Shimizu, CEO of Creativeman Productions Co. Ltd. takes up the story. A well-known organizer of Japanese music festivals such as Summer Sonic, he had heard about the impending closure of the previous nightclub and decided to develop a permanent location for his company to showcase live entertainment for the first time.

He approached MSI Japan to supply the sound system and Takashi 'Kon' Imaoka from Martin Audio distributor Audio Brains was placed in charge of

South Africa - Blue Array Productions has invested in the first DiGiCo SD5 in Africa. This leading technical supplier made the purchase from DWR Distribution.

With Kobus van Rensburg at the helm of Blue Array, the company has supplied prominent international artists visiting South Africa. They also have a reputation for their talented audio engineers, who are some of the best in the country.

"There are many reasons we've gone the SD5 route," said Marinus Visser, head of audio at the company. "It's on every international rider, which was the main selling point. But for our shows, it was the ability of the console and all the things it can do, the enormous IO count and its exceptional audio quality. As Blue Array typically work on international productions, they've invested heavily in D&B Audiotechnik sound systems. It justifies having something that sounds so good complemen

USA - The design of University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, is singular in an already innovative universe of sports venues. Opened in August of 2006 with a retractable roof and the nation's first fully-retractable natural grass-playing surface, the facility's entire playing field is able to roll outside of the building via an opening on one side of the stadium.

In keeping with the organization's long-standing commitment to elevating the fan experience, the Arizona Cardinals unveiled a new sound system in University of Phoenix Stadium for the start of the 2016 NFL season. Designed and specified by the Arizona Cardinals, the system consists primarily of flown L-Acoustics K2 arrays permanently installed in July by AV systems integrator Pro Sound & Video.

"We are committed to providing a world-class stadium atmosphere in every possible way," said Ca

Norway - As part of a multi-year renovation project, the Grieghallen Performing Arts and Conference Centre in Bergen has outfitted the Peer Gynt Hall, its principal multi-use venue, with a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system.

Constellation's power to optimize the room's acoustic signature for any use - from conferences and banquets to amplified and acoustic concerts spanning all musical genres - has expanded utilization of the venue to encompass a broader spectrum of events.

"With the addition of Constellation, Peer Gynt Hall has become an extraordinary room for any type of acoustical music performance, including chamber music, brass ensembles, piano recitals and a cappella choral music," says Rolf Skogstrand, event manager for the Grieghallen complex. "In addition, Constellation has presets for acoustical environments to enhance many types of amplified music as well

The Netherlands - Baldwin Boxall is looking forward to welcoming visitors to ISE in February stand number 3-C87, which they are sharing with their Dutch distributor TAU Audio Solutions. The company will be demonstrating their exciting new products at the show and staff are anticipating a lot of interest.

The new products are: the stand-alone voice alarm/public address system (VIGIL Eclipse4), VIGIL3 transformerless amplifiers, VIGIL3 charger module and last, but not least, is the touch screen microphone.

The new VIGIL Eclipse4 uses Baldwin Boxall's latest transformerless voice alarm amplifiers. In common with its predecessors, the VIGIL Eclipse4 is a wall mountable, stand-alone voice alarm/public address system, providing a highly-efficient solution to the market.

The Eclipse4 uses proven EVAS routeing technology and has the ability to include up to four of the company

USA - The Gray Mare is a new pub in the trendy East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan that caters to the vibe and tastes - both gustatory and spirituous - of that neighbourhood's young clientele.

"It was formerly Demsey's, a neighbourhood tavern that, after 24 years, had run its course," explained Rich Trombitas, regional sales & product manager with A/V manufacturer's rep firm Cardone, Solomon & Associates (CS&A). "It's the same owner, and he did a great job of ripping out the old and building in the new. It's in a young part of the city, and it now hits all of the high points for that group."

Trombitas drew on his own expertise and CS&A's representation of Ashly Audio and other manufacturers to assist NYC's local integration firm, Starview Satellite, with the Gray Mare's killer sound system.

"Starview Satellite's John Paturno and Hector Martinez needed a system that

India - PA company Stagecraft recently employed its new dLive digital mixing system at the huge Dildar Dandiya dance festival, held in the city of Gujarat in Surat, known as Land of the Festivals.

Organised by Coconut Events, the 10-day festival was staged in the Golden Memories Dome, and attracted 12,000 guests. Renowned Indian folk singers, Kirtidan Gadhvi, Nisha Barot and Jetal Soni, performed every day.

The organisers appointed pro rental company, Stagecraft, to manage the challenging brief. Stagecraft had recently purchased a second dLive system from Allen & Heath's distributor, Sun Infonet, comprising the flagship S7000 Surface with DM64 MixRack, to join its existing S3000/DM48 system. The S7000/DM64 system was selected as the FOH and monitor mixer for the festival, managing a spectrum of instruments such as 8 dhols, 6 drums, 5 floor drums, 1 kick drum, Indian acoust

UK - Sunny Afternoon is the multi-Olivier Award winning musical based on the rise of one of the most influential bands of the 1960's British Invasion - The Kinks.

In true rock n' roll style, the production is currently out on tour following this award winning West End residency. With a philosophy based around live music, the ultimate source, KV2 Audio products were the choice for sound designer Matt McKenzie when considering which sound system to tour.

Autograph Sound once again provided a complete KV2 solution for the eight-month UK tour. Top reviews follow many other recent collaborations between KV2 and Autograph such as Mamma Mia!, Annie, Kinky Boots and Bend it Like Beckham.

The tour takes in a wide variety of venues across the UK of various sizes. To tackle these, Autograph provided a range of products from KV2's ES, ESR and EX

UK - The new Boiler Shop has been created to provide Newcastle-upon-Tyne with a vibrant multidisciplinary arts and music centre. Part of an ambitious regeneration project carried out by the Clouston Group, it sits on the site that was originally home to the Robert Stephenson and Co. Locomotive Works, where the revolutionary Rocket was built in 1829.

Among the fine contemporary architecture, restored listed buildings, three acres of contemporary art and culture, restaurant and bars, it is fitting that the new 500-capacity urban events space should occupy the original Grade II*-listed Boiler Shop itself, rich in engineering history.

It is today able to host a wide range of corporate, cultural and arts events as well as live performance and exhibitions - thanks to the versatility of an integrated Harman sound reinforcement network featuring mission-critical JBL loudspeaker sy

UK - In amongst the blizzard of important one off events that have peppered the autumn schedule of London venues, the Children in Need Rocks Show at the RAH on 1 November stands out as one of the worthiest. It also ran to the tightest of schedules.

"The Royal Albert Hall is always busy," commented Britannia Row's project manager Lez Dwight, "but this was exceptional. It saw a Britrow crew load in just after midnight for rehearsals commencing at 2pm that Monday afternoon, with the show on the Tuesday, 1 November."

The show was in part a tribute to Sir Terry Wogan, the BBC Radio 2 presenter who was one of Children in Need's staunchest advocates. Stars willing to offer their talents for such an event were not in short supply: the show featured Olly Murs, Ellie Goulding, Rick Astley, Beverley Knight, Alfie Boe & Michael Ball, Take That and Gregory Porter.

"It was a tricky

USA - Rational Acoustics has announced the release of the first major version update for the Smaart v8 measurement platform - Smaart v8.1. This release includes many significant feature additions, interface modifications and bug fixes. This free update is recommended for all Smaart v8 users.

The primary feature additions include a re-work of data handling, the addition of a multi-spectrum plot view, a built-in program updater, automatic broadband meter configuration based on selected inputs, password protection for the API and the ability to run measurement engines in the background when switching between tabs.

A major new component within data handling is the Session Folder for improved day-to-day and gig-to-gig data management. Pinned to the top of the data bar, the Session Folder serves as the target location for all new captured data. Automatically named with the curre

UK - Blitz|GES is increasingly making exclusive use of Shure digital wireless microphone technology for its corporate clients, installations and events. Peter Russell, project manager at Blitz|GES, explains, "We do a mix of corporate and theatre work; in our theatre work we're obviously led by our clients' preferences. But when the Channel 69 switchover happened, we went over to the Shure UHF-R, with UR1M and the UR4D receivers as our stock wireless systems, and then when ULX-D came out, we bought a lot of those."

Amongst the company's corporate clients, regular use of wireless microphones is rapidly becoming widespread, and with channel counts that would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. By way of recent example, Peter Russell has recently returned from Barcelona, where Blitz|GES supplied the audio infrastructure during a large corporate event for a major computing sof

The Netherlands - This year's MTV EMA Awards, held at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena on 6 November, marked the 20th year that Britannia Row Productions has supplied the event's audio requirements.

In these two decades the show has presented them with any number of audio challenges, but the team, formerly led by the late Derrick Zieba and more recently by Colin Pink, has always delivered on all audio fronts. For the past 14 of those years, they have had the support of Sennheiser, both in terms of equipment and technical assistance.

With increasingly RF-heavy environments, the use of Sennheiser equipment, particularly products such as its flagship Digital 9000 Series, which was used by the presenters including US singer Bebe Reixa, has proved increasingly important.

Eight channels of Digital 9000 were on hand for the guest presenters and award acceptance speeches ("On top of the

Europe - Sennheiser is a member of Crestron's Integrated Partner Programme: Both vendors' products can be integrated seamlessly into a single ombined solution. Among the compatible products are the TeamConnect Wireless family of products, SpeechLine DW and ADN.

Data can be exchanged easily between systems, such as Sennheiser's conference solution ADN - here, because control commands are transmitted via TCP/IP, the audio conferencing system's central unit, the ADN CU1, can be connected effortlessly to one of Cestron's media controllers. For example, when the talk button on a docking station is pressed, the media controller interprets the transferred information and triggers functions, such as aligning a camera with a speaker.

This device communication naturally works in both directions, meaning that Sennheiser communication stations can accessed remotely via Crestron touch

USA - Meyer Sound Leo Family line arrays have been tapped to anchor the sound for some of the most talked-about new shows both on Broadway and heading out on national tours. New shows in New York include Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, the Cats revival and the annual holiday spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall. In addition, the tours of Fun Home and Finding Neverland are both carrying Leopard line array systems.

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 blazes into Broadway's Imperial Theatre this fall with multi-platinum recording artist Josh Groban in the role of Pierre. The production audaciously retains the show's original staging concept, with the audience inches away from the action, which takes place throughout the theatre. Sound designer Nicholas Pope devised an innovative loudspeaker configuration with multiple small

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