UK - US-based company Williams Sound, a global designer and manufacturer of wireless communications, has appointed POLARaudio as its exclusive UK distributor. 'Helping People Hear' has been Williams Sound's motto since its formation in 1976 and its success in achieving this aim is manifested in its strong presence in markets from government to houses of worship; from the military to healthcare and entertainment to tour-guiding.

Specialists in radio, audio, infra-red, microprocessor and mechanical design, Williams Sound continue to develop new products that meet the technical requirements of many different countries.

John Midgley, POLARaudio MD comments: "This is an exciting development for POLARaudio as it significantly expands our offer in what is a growing marketplace. Williams Sound is without doubt a heavyweight player in this sector and I foresee a mutually bright fu

Theatre News - Adam Kenwright, managing director of West End marketing agency AKA, has predicted that 2013 will be a "massive year" for London theatre with record audiences and box office. His predictions follow the news that West End long-runner The Lion King reported record box office of more than £38m in 2012.

2012 results for the whole of the West End are expected to be confirmed later this month, but already Kenwright has forecast that the next 12 months will be even better. Results for 2011 saw the West End record all-time high box offices of £528m, although attendance fell by 1.7% to 13.9m.

Kenwright told The Stage, "2013 will be a massive year for London and Theatreland in particular - all our analysis, forecasts and experience confirms that the next 12 months will be record-breaking in every sense. In fact, I am confident that

Lebanon - A large selection of DPA microphones were deployed at the first Gibran National Committee Annual Awards Ceremony, which took place in Beirut to honour and promote distinguished Lebanese innovators.

More than 60 musicians, 40 choristers and two presenters took part in the event and every one of them was miked with a DPA microphone.

Sound engineer Roger Bou Farhat, head of Beirut-based rental company Loud N Clear, supplied all of the audio equipment for the Awards ceremony. He says: "I specified DPA microphones because they always deliver fantastic results. As this was a highly prestigious event, the audio had to be first class and I knew that DPA would be up to the challenge."

DPA d:vote 4099 instrument microphones were used to mic the entire orchestra and also the Guy Manukian band, which performed at the ceremony. For the band's piano, high hat and orien

Germany - Bosch Communications Systems once again invited international distribution partners to its annual in-house trade fair (Hausmesse) in Straubing, which ran from 16-18 January. This year, Robert Hesse, vice president sales communication EMEA and managing director of EVI Audio GmbH, and his team welcomed some 150 business partners from Europe, Middle East and Africa. The programme included a business update, best in class presentations, breakouts, product demos and guided tours of the factory and service facility.

Aaron Chisena (product manager Electro-Voice Mobile Audio) and Markus Schmittinger (product marketing manager) previewed a major new loudspeaker line from Electro-Voice -- shortly to be unveiled to the general public -- and the agenda also included, under the theme Growth3, a recap of the products successfully introduced in 2012 and an exegesis of residual growth

Sweden - The largest ski resort in Northern Europe has amplified the lighting and sound experience for its guests, with Technomad advanced audio loudspeakers as the centerpiece.

SkiStar, located in the Åre municipality in northern Sweden, is giving skiers an interactive experience on the slopes with its new high-quality, multi-zone entertainment system. The Technomad loudspeakers, projected by systems integration company Watt & Volt Sverige AB, communicate the history of SkiStar and deliver atmospheric audio in eight locations. Watt & Volt worked alongside project leader Ljusarkitektur AB, which is responsible for the new lighting structure that accompanies the audio system.

The complete, synchronized system delivers a captivating lighting and sound experience to skiers, with audio originated through zoned DMX-controlled MP3 players.

"This is a completely new concept f

Slovenia - Robe is the moving light of choice at the prestigious Cankarjev Dom in Republic Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has over 100 Robe products in its inventory.

Named after writer and playwright Ivan Cankar, the building was designed by leading Slovenian architect Edvard Ravnikar and opened in 1982, complete with a large basement area that is fortified to withstand a nuclear attack!.

It is the largest Slovenian cultural and congress centre and features six venues - the biggest is a 1650 capacity concert hall - plus several galleries and studio spaces. It's both a producing and a receiving venue staging a wide variety of shows, events all year round, from opera to dance, popular music to choral, orchestra to drama ... and everything in between.

Sometimes there are multiple shows a day, and up to 15 different performances a week is not unusual during the busy periods

USA - Opened in late 2012, ArcLight Cinemas' newest location in La Jolla, California, offers patrons "the ultimate movie-going experience with ArcLight Wide Screen, a state-of-the-art auditorium concept". The premium theatre features a 50-foot curved screen, 3D-capable 4K projection, and immersive Dolby Atmos audio reproduced through a Meyer Sound system based on the Acheron screen channel loudspeakers.

"At ArcLight we offer a wide variety of programming, ranging from the newest Hollywood blockbusters to art house films and cult favorites," says Joe Miraglia, ArcLight's director of design, construction, and facilities. "To introduce our 'Wide Screen' concept, we selected Meyer Sound to power our Dolby Atmos auditorium to ensure that our guests will experience precise and realistic sound, exactly as the filmmakers intended."

The Dolby Atmos format

Switzerland - Barco has confirmed Baranday as its distribution partner in Switzerland for Barco's projection and image processing products. Thanks to this new partnership Swiss resellers, system integrators and others will enjoy easier access to Barco's extensive projection product line and support services.

Barco and Baranday have built up a strong, successful relationship since 2006: the Swiss AV expert has been providing the local rental and staging market with Barco products for all those years. Signing this new agreement, Baranday will now also become the official Swiss distributor of projection products and image processing products for fixed installs, offering resellers, system integrators and mid-sized rental companies access to Barco's full range of projection and image processing products for business and events applications.

The new agreement with Baranday perfectly

Kenya - The Turbosound Flex Array loudspeaker system has helped to make the fourth annual Nairobi Rock Fest a storming success, says the company. The festival, which takes place in the Kenyan capital, was headlined by African rockers Skinflint.

"Flex Array has become a firm favourite for us here in Kenya as it allows our engineers and guest engineers to concentrate on getting bands to sound right, and not have to spend time setting up the front of house. It delivers no compromises on punch and clarity - especially vocals - and everyone who attends functions when we are in the chair comments on how powerful and clear the sound is," comments Ed Williams of EdTheMix, Turbosound distributor and local hire supplier for the region. "We deployed four TFA-600H three-way mid/highs a side; over three TSW-218 dual 18" subwoofers. The trusty TQ-445s provided apron-fill,

USA - Bandit Lites had the privilege of lighting the 31st Annual Texaco Country Showdown, the nation's largest and longest running country talent search. The event took place at The Ryman Auditorium on 17 January and was hosted by singer/songwriter Jewel.

California band Poor Man's Poison, one of five finalists, triumphed over the competition, which included Kassie and Ben, The Brothers Roberson, Deidre Thornell and Kate and Corey. The winning act was selected by a group of industry executives and artists, and was awarded a Grand Prize of $100,000.

Lighting designer Mark Carver has provided the lighting design for the contest for several years, and has become adept at transforming The Ryman. Parts of a circular truss, made up of two arch trusses, created a twin circular look over the stage. VL 2500s and Coemar Halos were hung over the stage, while Bandit GRN fixtures washed th

The Netherlands - Christie will be running free seminars on their stands at ISE (Hall1, stands H40, H46 and H50). The seminars, given by Christie's product management team based in Kitchener, Ontario will focus on three frequently discussed display applications.

On 29th January, John Stark, senior director of collaborative visual solutions will speak about content control and management across remote workspaces. 30th January sees Christie address wi-fi standards and projection technology in corporate environments with an address by George Tsintzouras, senior director product management of business products.Both seminars will be delivered in English, last approx. 30 minutes and anyone interested should arrive at the Christie on-stand reception five minutes before the designated start time.

29 / 12.30 -Content Management across remote workspaces

30 /10.00 - Wi-fi standards and

UK - Working with lighting designer, Petter Skramstad, PRG have provided an innovative lighting system to feature at the Topman/BFC show for Family Productions.

As part of London Collection Men's Fashion week, Topman's show took place at The Old Sorting Office in New Oxford Street.

The space featured a creative curved design with a 100m catwalk that weaved around the venue, designed by 42 Architects. PRG's Loz Wilcox, provided over 100 Chromlech Jarag fixtures, which in a break from their traditional use as a dynamic eye candy effect, were suspended above the catwalk and used as the primary lighting fixture for the collection. The luminaires were suspended from a piece of custom rolled barrel stipulating the line of the catwalk around the venue.

Continuing with the curved theme, the walls surrounding the audience were bespoke backlit cycloramas using 36 ColorBlaze 48's and 7

Abu Dhabi - When Gearhouse Broadcast's Projects Solutions Division was awarded the contract to build a series of interconnecting Flyaway Pods, for satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting's coverage of Formula 1 motor racing, they asked Showforce to provide crew for the project.

The Flyaway Pods featured a series of portable cabins linked together, containing the servers, audio facilities and all the technical equipment needed to support the production. Showforce was appointed to assist with the installation and breakdown at some of the more remote and challenging circuits. Initially Showforce utilised their strong presence in the Middle East to deliver quality crew members for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Following on from the success in Bahrain, Showforce was then asked to assist with the Grand Prixs in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil. For the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix they were on

UK - Celebrations erupt across the globe as one by one major cities and capitals welcome in the New Year. As the Great Clock of Westminster edges ever closer to midnight the anticipation and expectations of the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Firework Display grips the awaiting crowd, as quarter of a million revellers line the Thames and her bridges. The amazing eleven minute display of pyrotechnics and lighting brought to an end a historic year for the UK events industry in 2012.

With over a decade of experience in supplying this event, Stage Electrics was again commissioned by the display producer, Jack Morton Worldwide - the global brand experience agency, to supply all the production lighting and crew to help ensure this iconic event's success. Lighting designer Durham Marenghi provided a stunning and original design for the show utilising a myriad high output fixtures from

UK - The ABTT Theatre Show is increasing exhibition floor space by some 50% and introducing more facilities for both exhibitors and visitors for 2013. Following the successful transfer of the show to The Old Truman Brewery in 2012, the event will now be staged there in three interconnected exhibition halls and run in conjunction with a comprehensive seminar programme. Everything connected with theatre will be on show, making the ABTT 2013 Theatre Show, 12-13 June, an essential place to be for everyone involved in theatre and an event not to miss, say the organisers.

Show director Roger Fox, announcing the expansion of the ABTT Theatre Show 2013 said, "We are literally turning the show around this year and making use of the large, welcoming entrance hall at the other end of the Truman Brewery building. The new entrance, off Dray Walk, provides direct access down to a new spa

Sweden - Experienced Swedish lighting designer Henrik Lundin is discovering that SGM's new X-5 LED strobes are making an increasingly powerful contribution to his show designs.

A member of the successful Stockholm-based company Satellite Live, since touring with eight of the new white strobes from the newly set-up SGM Sweden (headed by Mikael Uddh), he has never looked back.

One of the latest dance extravaganzas to undertake an extensive club tour with the strobes has been electro/hip hop group Maskinen (The Machine). "Because we were often visiting clubs with limited access to power, the X-5, with its low power draw when compared with the traditional energy hungry xenon sources, became a natural choice," he says.

The X-5 is not only a high-efficiency white LED strobe but its astonishing power is harnessed in an extremely compact form factor. By combining LED techn

UK - A lucky student from Birmingham's top creative, digital and performing arts academy has landed the opportunity of a lifetime; lighting the stage at the star-studded BRIT Awards ceremony.

Devante Benjamin, 17, from Birmingham fought off tough competition to join two students from London's BRIT school to work alongside some of the best in the business; preparing, installing, operating and de-rigging lighting equipment at the high profile event hosted by James Corden at London's 02 Arena next month.

Currently in Year 13 studying Production Arts at Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA), Devante has already had the chance to work on a number of high profile events including the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies.

He said: "I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to work on a lot of really exciting projects during my time at BOA, but this will be the biggest by

UK - Knight of Illumination Award-winner and lighting designer Cate Carter has harnessed the precise and powerful beam control of Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX luminaires to create a beautifully focused, and surprisingly intimate, show for Elbow at London's 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, provided by Lite Alternative.

"The VL3500 Wash FX provides me with both a powerful beam and even coverage for the stage wash," explains Carter. "The range of the zoom allows me to use these fixtures in different capacities to fulfill multiple applications and also the quality of the color mixing gives me a really diverse palette, from which I can build many different looks."

The design, a deconstructed yet no less imaginative version of the full production tour from the previous year, is both intimate and expansive and as expected not just restricted to the stage.

"The

UK - Pro audio sales company, LMC Audio will host two dedicated wireless microphone systems training days provided by Sennheiser UK at its London and Birmingham bases respectively on 5 and 7 February.

The days will follow an interactive format and will provide attendees with an overview of the digital switchover to Channel 38, due to come into force at the end of January, and future spectrum related plans, an overview of wireless systems and how to set them up, as well as basic radio frequency (RF) training, which will cover frequency choices, basics of intermod, programming, wireless systems management and multichannel setups.

"LMC's training days offer an easy to understand format for anyone using wireless systems," says Gerry Forde, director - Professional Division, Sennheiser UK. "The Channel 38 switchover over is a particularly hot topic and one that is sti

USA - Rycote, the UK-based manufacturer of advanced microphone windshields and suspension systems, has announced a strategic collaboration with Røde Microphones of Australia.

Under the terms of the new arrangement, Røde will be including patented Lyre technology with selected microphones, beginning with the popular VideoMic range, designed for use with camcorders and video-capable DSLRs. All future Røde microphones that include Rycote's technology will be prominently branded 'Rycote Onboard' on their packaging and other marketing materials.

The Lyre is a non-elasticated suspension web composed of a hard-wearing thermoplastic, Hytrel, and is markedly more effective at acoustically decoupling microphones from unwanted vibrations, handling and cable-borne noise than elasticated suspensions. Since 2008 the world-patented Lyre design has featured in many succes

UK - Digital solutions company DiGiCo has announced Steve Watson, Simon Honywill and Rob Collins as winners of its Olympics UB MADI competition, which it ran during the Games to celebrate the efforts of the engineers involved, without whom the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies would not have been heard.

"As a UK manufacturer, we were delighted to have our consoles on the events, a total of 13 consoles, including eight SD7s, plus 12 SD racks and 13 Purple Boxes, for what was probably the biggest event this country has ever seen," says DiGiCo's managing director, James Gordon. "But it's the work of the designers and engineers who used them that truly deserves recognition.

"The UB MADI competition was our way of doing this, saying thank you to them and adding a little light relief during such an intense period of pressure. The winners picked were pulled o

UK - Leading UK lighting rental company Siyan invested in additional Robe MMX Spots to keep up with the demand for these popular fixtures and a busy autumn order book.

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire based Siyan, headed by Nick Valdez, services numerous tours, shows and events including a healthy pick of exciting 'bands of the moment'. The company also has a reputation for nurturing and producing new and emerging young lighting designers, operators / programmers and technicians.

Half of the new 24 MMX fixtures went directly out on tour with Feeder, where they were specified by LD Ewan McRobb and used as the main lights on the rig. McRobb had also taken some of Siyan's original batch of MMXs out on the Bryan Adams tour at the end of 2011. Siyan recently had MMX Spots out on Skunk Anansie's European tour with LD Andy 'Foxy' Smyth, which ran throughout November.

Nick Valdez expla

USA - The New York City Performing Arts Centre recently benefitted from a major renovation programme which has transformed the iconic venue into a premium destination for world-class drama and music performances. The full system audio upgrade was designed by NYCC's Augie J Propersi in association with Scott Lehrer, with acoustic consultancy from Kierkegaard Associates.

Following on-site demos by TiMax distributor Duncan Crundwell of 1602Group LLC, TiMax2 Soundhub was specified as the overall system processor to provide routing, EQ and zone management plus the ground-breaking audio localization capabilities of its automated dynamic delay-matrix.

Propersi explains, "We wanted the TiMax Soundhub to matrix the main house sound system and manage speaker alignment and sound imaging within the performance space - so for all the system timings as well as room tuning. The EQ secti

UK - Not only is Irish comedian Dara O Briain charming and funny, he is also very clever it would appear! Perhaps it is his enthusiasm for things or our constant desire to learn more, but it would seem that something 'adds up' for us, as comedy game show School of Hard Sums is back for a new series.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provide the lights for the show which is designed by LD Michael Sutcliffe aka Sooty. The rig comprises of Pixel Par 90s, Chroma Floods, Alpha Beam 300's and 900mm Chroma Strips. The simple yet effective look ensures that you keep your mind focused on the job in hand.

School of Hard Sums is the last show to be filmed in TC4 of the iconic BBC Studios in London White City before it closes. It is scheduled to be aired in April on Dave.

(Jim Evans)

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