The Netherlands - Royal Philips reports that the 300th licensee signed up to its LED luminaire and retrofit bulb licensing programme, which has seen its number of licensees grow by 50% since May 2012. As a result, 300 companies have access to Philips' comprehensive portfolio of patented LED system technologies and solutions.

Arian Duijvestijn, senior vice president of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards said, "We are thrilled that the LED programme has grown by 50% in the last year. We are delighted that more and more businesses, from start-ups to larger companies sign up to the LED luminaire and retrofit bulb licensing program and recognize that working with us helps to speed up product development, lower costs and advance the industry. We warmly welcome our 300th lice

Serbia - Martin Audio has changed its distribution arrangements in the Western Balkans, appointing the newly formed System Design.

Based in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, the company, run by audio veterans Sreten Kovacevic and Slobodan 'Bobo' Vesovic, has historically experienced great success with Martin Audio systems (through their different operations) dating back to 1995.

According to Martin Audio's export sales manager, Martin Kelly, the decision to appoint System Design was a no-brainer. "I have worked with Bobo for many years and coincidentally Sreten, under the name of Audio Konstruktor, was once our distributor in Serbia. So we are 100% confident in going forward."

Between them they will now handle Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia.

Stated Sreten, "We will use the marketing strategy set by Martin Audio and implement it in o

Switzerland - Moving lights from Robe's latest Robin MMX and DL Series ranges were utilised by lighting designer Michael Grundner for the world premiere of Moses - The Ten Commandments, a new musical extravaganza by Michael Kunze and Dieter Falk being staged at the Theatre St. Gallen in Switzerland.

The creative brief for Grundner's lighting design was to mimic the style and genre of the show - 'contemporary rock and pop with gospel elements' - for which the theatre decided to purchase the new system of Robe moving lights.

The package comprised eight MMX Spots, two DLS Profile, two DLX Spots and 16 DLF Wash fixtures, all of which were specified by the theatre's head of lighting, Andreas Enzler and his deputy Andreas Volk ... on the recommendation of Grundner among others, and were delivered via Robe's Swiss distributor, Audio Tech.

They decided on Robe because they so

Australia - Concert & Corporate Productions in Western Australia supplies lighting equipment and crew to some of the most prestigious corporate clients as well as national and internationally recognised touring acts. As CCP continues to grow stronger, larger, and to increase their inventory, their equipment choices tend to be driven my market demands.

"As our industry is spec driven we have to go by what people are wanting and most of the specs we've seen in the past eighteen months have requested Vari*Lite VL3000's or higher," commented Sean McKernan, general manager at CCP. "To purchase some was just a natural progression for our path of where we wanted to go."

In February Concert & Corporate Productions took delivery of 24 VL3000 Spots and eight VL2500 Washes which have seen action on a wide variety of events from Celtic Thunder, Neil Finn & Paul Kelly t

USA - Bandit Lites had the privilege of being the first to light a concert at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium, where ACM award winner Jason Aldean played to more than 60,000 people. The 90-minute set, which was filmed for a DVD release, included a surprise visit from rapper Ludacris and a virtual appearance from Kelly Clarkson.

Award-winning lighting designer, Aaron Swetland faced the singular challenge of having to adapt his already massive rig for television with an additional 88 Sharpys, 20 Syncrolite fixtures, 34 3500 washes, 20 MAC Auras and 24 Bandit 5x5s. Giant artwork scrims were added above stage right and left with 30ft trusses above them, while a 60ft lighting truss was placed centre downstage from the usual downstage truss for television lighting.

For his inaugural stadium show, Swetland focused on filling the space while being mindful of the challenges

Portugal - The recent concerts in Portugal featuring Brazilian band Natiruts were reinforced by NEXT-proaudio PA.

The reggae roots band Natiruts was formed in Brasília (Distrito Federal) in 1994 under the name Nativus. The band comprises Alexandre Carlo Pereira, Luís Maurício Ribeiro, Kiko Peres, Rodrigo Txotxa, Bruno Wambier, Denny Conceição, Luciana Oliveira, Ludmila Mazzucatti, André Mitsuoka and Paulo Roberto Pizzulin.

They were promoting the CD / DVD Natiruts Acoustic Live, which was recorded in Rio de Janeiro and distributed by Sony Music.

In Portugal the Brazilian band used the LA12 from NEXT-proaudio in two different situations: outdoor and indoor concerts.

Natiruts Front of House Engineer Daniel Félix said of the sound system: "We are extremely satisfied with the quality of the system - it far exceeds much of the other equipment that we hav

USA - More than 600 business and community leaders gathered on 3 May 2013 to celebrate the finest businesses and individuals in East Tennessee, where Bandit Lites lit the ninth annual Pinnacle Business Awards Gala. The black tie event has quickly become one of the premier social events, complete with reception, silent auction, and a martini bar carved out of a block of ice.

Lighting designer Will Twork created an elegant atmosphere utilizing MAC 2k Profiles, MAC 500 and MAC 600. Framed in the stage set, six 4x30' screen material panels were lit by GRN LED pars.

"It's not a typical stage set-up," said Bandit's general manager, JR Sander. "From the moment people enter the room, we want them to immediately feel they are in a space befitting their status as a member of Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. It's a special night for everyone, and Bandit is proud to both be a

UK - Yamaha professional audio equipment is suitable for theatrical venues and productions of all sizes, a fact amply proved by its presence at this year's ABTT Theatre Show.

Exhibiting on Stand 137 at ABTT 2013 - which takes place at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London from 12-13 June - Yamaha will be highlighting the sound quality and versatility of its CL series digital mixing system and the Commercial Installer Solutions (CIS) range.

Already well-established in the live production, theatre and broadcast markets, two of the attractions of the CL series for theatre are its audio quality and flexibility.

In theatre, where sound levels range from strident music to absolute silence, the quality of sound reinforcement is key. The CL series features head amps which deliver remarkable sonic clarity, coupled with high quality onboard processing which makes CL consoles suit

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UK - Sound Technology, the Harman distributor in the UK and ROI, has promoted Joe East to the new role of business development manager - installed audio. East has been at Sound Technology Ltd since the company purchased Harman Pro UK in 2008, and was at Harman Pro UK for two years prior to that. His new role is to act as liaison between all relevant parties of a project to ensure it runs smoothly.

In addition, Hugo Burnard has joined the technical project team, working as project engineer alongside senior project engineer Ben Todd and product specialist Danny Kyte. Burnard is an experienced audio engineering graduate who joins Sound Technology from the TOA Corporation.

(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - For 33 years, Queen Beatrix has lead the Netherlands with grace and beauty. Known for her warmhearted smile and 'modernizing' the royal house, she has been beloved by the Dutch people since receiving the crown from her mother in 1980. However, this year, at age 75, Beatrix is ready to give the next generation a chance to continue her work. King Willem-Alexander, the first king in over a century and Beatrix's eldest son, was sworn in on 30 April 2013.

Dressed in orange and proudly displaying their flags, the Dutch celebrated their first 'King's Day' in style. After a full day of festivities, the Royal Family finished their evening by sailing the River IJ for the Royal Boat Parade. Passing various islands around Amsterdam, the new King was greeted with a few minutes of entertainment as they drifted past; from sport to dance, even opera. Reaching Java Eiland, the

Poland - The Iluzjon cinema in Warsaw has been home to the Polish National Film Archive since the mid-50s, and is also Warsaw's main art-house cinema. The venue, which had remained in its original state until just two years ago, has recently undergone a massive renovation. At the heart of the audio system, which was designed by audio consultant and system designer, Wojciech Zielinski from pro audio specialists, Dysten, is an Innovason Eclipse GT running a fully networked Fohhn Audio PA system.

One of the peculiarities, and indeed part of the charm of Iluzjon, is that, thanks to its National Film Archive heritage, it often screens silent movies accompanied by live music. The sound system therefore, unlike a typical cinema system, also had to be able to cater for live music as well as playback. It was these slightly unusual requirements that led Zielinski to specify an Innovason E

Germany - Since its release at LDI 2012, High End Systems' Hog 4 console range has become one of the most successful lighting control platforms ever introduced. The Hog 4 console range includes the flagship Hog 4 desk, the Full Boar 4, the Road Hog 4, the Nano Hog 4 and Hog4 PC.

Customer demand for the Hog 4 was illustrated at the recent Pro Light + Sound trade show in Frankfurt, where High End Systems announced that the thousandth Hog 4 console had been shipped to European production supplier Arcus.

High End's VP of worldwide sales Renaat De Wilde commented, "We are proud and honoured to announce that during ProLight+Sound, High End Systems shipped the 1000th console of our new Hog 4 product family to Arcus, our long standing partner for Germany, Russia and the ex-Russian countries. This landmark is cause for celebration as well as clear proof that the Hog 4 family is a

Kenya - Nairobi Baptist Church recently upgraded their existing analogue mixer to an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system, supplied by Kenyan company, Sound Creations.

Founded in 1958, the Church required a more sophisticated console with improved sound quality. Sound Creations, the distributor for Allen & Heath in Kenya, suggested an iDR-48 MixRack with iLive-T112 surface.

"We were confident the Allen & Heath iLive-T112 would be the ideal mixer for Nairobi Baptist church and would meet their specific needs," said Nipul Shah, owner of Sound Creations.

Tim Pollard, managing director for A&H regional distributor, PAXT, said, "It is always a pleasure to receive successful stories from our customers and this installation by Sound Creations is the perfect example - great work."

(Jim Evans)

Europe - German rental company Sound Linear has deployed its system on James Last's One More Time tour, which encompassed 23 shows in six countries. From London's Royal Albert Hall through to the 02 World in Berlin, the tour demonstrated the flexibility and scalability of STM.

"On the one hand, we needed a small system which wouldn't intrude visually on the production design," says Sound Linear's Kalle Hogrefe. "However, on the other hand, the tour demanded an arena-sized system because of the distances involved in the larger venues. By using the M46 main cabinets and flying some S118 subs on top, we were able to fulfill both criteria perfectly. Any other system which could do that would have had a much larger footprint."

The tour also proved STM's compatibility with other NEXO models, with GEO S12s used as side-fill and out-fill, and PS10s for near-

USA - Originally created as a pure EDM (electronic dance music) festival in 1999, Ultra has grown through the years to present not only the genre's hottest, biggest and best headline artists (The Prodigy, Swedish House Mafia, The Chemical Brothers, Tiësto, David Guetta, deadmau5, Underworld, Kraftwerk, Armin van Buuren, Moby, Fatboy Slim, Justice, Carl Cox and Avicii to name a few), but also crossover headline bands like The Cure, The Killers, New Order, Duran Duran, The Black Eyed Peas, Erasure, M83, and even Madonna, who performed in 2012.

The audio ran on a backbone of Lake Processing. Behind the audio were Beach Sound from Miami, Florida, a full service concert production company that handles festivals, concerts and corporate events of all shapes and sizes.

"We go back to the original Lake processors," said Neil Rosenstock, head of audio at Beach Sound. "An

UK - Recently re-opened after a three-year, £17m redevelopment programme, The Atkinson is Sefton Council's flagship arts and cultural venue. Housed in a grade II listed building in the heart of Southport, The Atkinson integrates four arts and cultural venues - the Southport Arts Centre, the Atkinson Art Gallery, the Botanic Gardens Museum and the Southport Library - into one single, regional cultural centre.

Theatreplan, were called in as the theatre consultants to oversee the redevelopment of the two auditoria housed in The Atkinson. Theatreplan specified EM Acoustics loudspeakers throughout both venues, all of which were installed by Oxford Sound and Media, along with the rest of the loose audio equipment.

The main performance venue, the Atkinson Theatre, is a traditional proscenium arch theatre with a capacity of 440, and also houses a state-of-the-art cinema screen.

USA - Christie Lites has purchased an additional 200-plus MA onPC command wing from A.C.T Lighting, the exclusive distributor of the MA Lighting in North America. The company's new investment brings its inventory of MA onPC command wing to over 250.

Earlier this year, Christie Lites took delivery of 50 MA onPC command wing to extend usage of the flexible and powerful grandMA2 control system to customers working on location or those who find it physically difficult to fit a grandMA2 console at their venue. With 12 locations in the US and Canada, Christie Lites supplies equipment and services to lighting designers and chief electricians across an extensive client base.

"The popularity of the MA onPC command wing with our customers prompted us to invest in a substantial inventory of units," says Christie Lites CEO Huntly Christie at the company's Orlando headquarters. &

USA - Audio-Technica US has unveiled its new Systems Integration Resource Center (SIRC) web site at http://sirc.audio-technica.com. Intended for consultants, contractors and system integrators, this password-protected web site offers Audio-Technica product information, price lists, spec comparisons and other resources.

Once authorised by Audio-Technica, the consultant, contractor or system integrator creates his or her own user profile and receives "24/7 access to a host of A-T resources". Visitors to the site will have access to dedicated product pages, along with a search function..

"The consultant, contractor and system integrator market is very important to A-T," stated David Marsh, Audio-Technica US director of sales & marketing, installed sound. "With this new dedicated website, we are continuing our quest to give our customers all the resources

Australia - The new Clarity LX series consoles have proved invaluable for Sydney broadcast lighting director Grant 'Doc' Watson and his operation Strauss Productions.

Up until the final series of 2011, Watson was lighting the Australian productions of The Biggest Loser and My Kitchen Rules on a series of LSC maXim consoles. With the shows growing in size, The Biggest Loser saw the largest maXim XXLP console loaded to its limits with moving lights and dimmers.

With the need for a platform upgrade in mind, Watson was able to assess Clarity software on his Mac notebook and realised just how easy it was to use in the 'live' environment most of his productions demand. Rarely are the shows shot in a broadcast studio with some being produced in disused military buildings and naval dock yards, agricultural sheds, community centres and bare walls studios.

The key

USA - The nomination period for the 6th Annual Rock Our World awards, presented by PLASA, is open from 20 May 2013 through 21 June 2013. An opportunity for industry members to celebrate what makes them proud to be a part of this industry - the Rock Our World awards recognize the genius of creators, designers and integrators. These awards focus on what makes new products, product applications or projects revolutionary, not just evolutionary.

As in previous years, anyone may nominate a project, product or product application with a PLASA member involved in a significant role as designer, manufacturer, supplier or collaborator. Nominations for the 2013 awards must have been available in the market or premiered between 1 October 2011 and 21 June 2013 and must not have been previously nominated.

A panel of well-respected industry experts will serve as this year's judges and finalis

Band Aid - The PRS for Music Foundation and the Arts Council England have announced a new grant to help new bands and artists. The Momentum Music Fund is a two-year programme which launched last Friday. It will award grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 to help develop careers. Musicians are expected to come up with a business plan and to also have progressed to a certain point in their career before they will be considered for the award.

Vanessa Reed, chief executive of the PRS for Music Foundation, says this is not a "cash hand out". She says: "Momentum is a breakthrough moment for music in England, where it's now harder than in many other parts of the world for talented artists to access finance."

Something In The Air - An opera featuring a string quartet performing in four airborne helicopters, a dancing camel and 150 performers that

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