USA - When design group Lightswitch debuted Illumination: Tree Lights at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, in 2012, not only did they curate a series of attractions, they ushered in a whole new kind of experience.

As one of the nation’s most beloved light displays, Lightswitch works with the arboretum each year to develop new lighting elements for the wintertime walk in the woods and all-weather Elation luminaires continue to form the foundation of the magical lighting scheme. Lightswitch works closely with Intelligent Lighting Creations (ILC) on the Illumination project and again this year the Illinois-based design and rental house supplied the lighting fixtures.

As guests journey along a one-mile paved walking path amid festive music and lighting effects, they pass through enchanting woodlands and landscapes filled with dramatic l

Spain - Brigada Tech is a new Spanish TV series presented by Luján Argüelles, directed by Eva Castillejo, and lit by Manuel Ricoy. The format sees ‘digital mentors’ and popular ‘Social Media influencers’ assisting people with limited access to the information superhighway in tackling assorted digital challenges that can benefit their day-to-day living.

Each episode was recorded at a different location around Spain, including Avilés (Asturias), Laguna de Duero (Valladolid), Tudela (Navarra), Canas de Morrazo (Galicia), Altea (Alicante), Torrelavega (Cantabria) and Puertollano (Castilla la Mancha) – facilitating a pop-up studio segment, for which Manuel was DoP and LD.

He chose a selection of Robe moving light products – 12 x Fortes, eight MegaPointes, 12 x Pointes, 16 x LEDBeam 150s and 12 x LEDBeam 350s – which were supplied

Europe - Last November, Obsidian Control Systems initiated Train the Trainer workshops aimed at training its European partners on the specifics of the intuitive Onyx lighting control platform. The sessions, specifically designed to springboard an Obsidian awareness campaign and grow the Onyx community, are bearing fruit as trainers across Europe amplify the platform’s reach by training other partners and end-users.

One of the youngest participants in the Train the Trainer sessions, held at Obsidian’s European headquarters in Kerkrade, The Netherlands, is 16-year-old Martin Pokorný from the Czech Republic. Martin completed the training sessions in February alongside Obsidian’s three-day Onyx course and is now training Obsidian users in the Czech Republic.

“For young people just entering the lighting control market, I think Onyx is the best pl

USA/Europe - TMB has launched an initiative to help production companies in Ukraine. As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, Zinteco Productions, a cornerstone in Ukraine's entertainment production community for over 25 years, needs help.

The ongoing conflict has brought the Ukrainian entertainment industry, like all normal life, to a standstill, and Zinteco’s operations have been severely impacted. TMB has collaborated with Main Light LLC to make some of Zinteco’s Solaris Flare Q+ fixtures available to cross-rent in the U.S. market. One hundred per cent of the rental revenue generated will pass on to Zinteco, whose principals, good friends of TMB for many years, still live in Kyiv and whose time is now 100% devoted to supporting Ukrainian refugees and defence efforts.

Events like the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, supported by

UK - TV, broadcast and event lighting rental specialists, Version 2 Lights has announced the promotion of Joe Marter to general manager.

Marter joined V2 four years ago this week as a project manager, and has since worked on a number of high-profile productions, most notably the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

"Interestingly it was also this week, 10 years ago that Joe joined Aurora as a technician," the company says. "The progression is a testament to Joe's hard work, dedication, broad skill set and attention to detail which has seen him come through the ranks. Joe’s new role at V2 will see him assume full day to day internal responsibilities at our Childs Court Farm Campus. Joe will continue to project manage a small number of long-term clients, with Simon Perrott taking on a senior role within the rental team."

Portugal - 512 LiveDesign, a prominent lighting design studio specialising in live events, dance, theatre, and live performances, has announced its continued dedication to using CAST Group’s WYSIWYG in their creative process.

Led by Rui Daniel and Marco Dias, the company has been at the forefront of innovative lighting design for the past decade in Portugal and abroad, consistently relying on WYSIWYG as an indispensable tool in their projects. WYSIWYG technology has significantly streamlined the workflow at 512 LiveDesign, empowering their team to deliver immersive lighting experiences to audiences worldwide.

Rui Daniel, founder and lead designer at 512 Live Design, comments, "For the past decade, WYSIWYG has been an integral part of our design process. Its intuitive interface and powerful capabilities have enabled us to bring our creative visions

France - Things do not always go as planned with outdoor affairs, and the Kandahar, Chamonix FIS World Ski Cup was no exception. Unseasonably warm weather caused the cancelation of the widely anticipated downhill competition that was scheduled to take place over the first two days of the three-day event.

However, not all was lost. Those who stayed for the entire three-days got to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of this resort, located at the base of Mont Blanc, the highest summit in the Alps. They also enjoyed a breathtaking bit of skiing history, at the La Verte des Houches slope, as Switzerland’s Daniel Yule became the first FIS Alpine skier ever to win a slalom race after staring out in 30th (last) position.

Another thing that generated excitement and raised spirits at this famed resort (the first Winter Olympics took place here in 1924), was the

Portugal - Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe recently held a workshop on lighting at the Teatro Ibérico in Lisbon.

In the tenth edition of the seminar Lighting The Stars, Patrick Woodroffe, who has designed the lighting for the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, the London Olympic Games and numerous other events of international significance, shared his most notable and thrilling experiences, including a touching tribute to Michael Jackson, with whom he was preparing a tour mere days prior to Michael's early demise.

He then proceeded with a live practical exercise, in which he created a lighting design for a musical piece chosen without his knowledge, revealing some of the secrets of his art and technique.

The event was organised by SLS, Claypaky's distributor for Portugal, with the support of Claypaky itself, which was present with an extens

Ireland - PSI Production (PSI), a lighting, visuals and rigging production specialist with offices based in Belfast and Dublin, recently made a significant investment in Martin Professional MAC Ultra Performance fixtures through Ireland’s official Martin distributor, Entedi.

This new addition to PSI's inventory complements last year’s investments in the MAC Aura XIP, MAC Aura PXL, and MAC One.

"The acquisition of the Martin MAC Ultra Performance units not only elevates our portfolio but assures our clients that they are working with a company at the forefront of live production capabilities," said Brian Reilly of PSI. "I was particularly impressed by the impactful punch and striking beams that are sure to redefine audience experiences at live events."

Brian further commented, "It is always a pleasure to work with the Entedi team. Their to

UK - The Profile Awards, a new lighting design awards programme, has launched in the UK. Created and coordinated by Durham and Jennie Marenghi in association with the ABTT, the ALPD and the STLD, the awards recognise lighting design excellence in Theatre and Television in the UK and will take place at the Alexandra Palace theatre on the 6 June 2024.
Alongside eight Theatre awards and six TV awards there will be a Student Virtual Lighting Design competition and the Richard Pilbrow Lifetime Recognition Award in the name of Richard Pilbrow, by kind agreement with Richard’s family and sponsored by Theatre Projects.
The Theatre Awards are judged by UK theatre critics and are not open to nominations, whereas the Television Awards are judged by broadcast professionals and can be nominated by anyone. Winners will receive special trophies - Patt 23M fixtures on

USA - Bandit Lites has announced the promotion of Craig Richter to project manager- designer. With more than 14 years at the company, Richter began his touring career at Bandit as a lighting technician on Rascal Flatts, and then progressed as an LD for various artists, including Seether, Miranda Lambert, Chevelle and Halestorm. He’s also acted as crew chief for countless productions such as Bonnaroo’s Main Stage, Firefly Festival Main Stage and Nashville’s NYE Mainstage.
“One of the best things I have always liked about working at Bandit is the stability and ability to grow through the company,” said Richter.
“Craig and I have worked closely during his entire tenure at Bandit,” said Jake Tickle, Bandit’s vice president of business and innovation. “He brings bold ideas, a truck load of passion and well-seasoned knowledge base that will help Bandit to

UAE - The 2023 UAE Union Day Ceremony is one of the highest profile annual spectacular events staged in the United Arab Emirates, created by the event’s creative director, Es Devlin at Dubai’s Expo City.
Lighting was crafted by Bruno Poet working with project co-lighting designer Max Narula, and the event reunited most of the technical and production team that had delivered the highly successful 2022 event.
Bruno and Max decided to run this show, directed by Fransisco Negrin and Gavin Robins, as an all-grandMA3 control system, running mode 3, making use of several features to improve the complete production workflow, from drawing to remote updates on stage.
The system comprised six grandMA3 full-size consoles (three pairs each with fully redundant backup) and three grandMA3 lights which were used for technical desks, running with 11 grandMA3 processing unit

UK - Busking Tom Odell’s Black Friday Tour on a ChamSys MagicQ 250M Stadium console, Joe Beardsmore of Phosphor moved seamlessly in sync with the Brit Award winning singer-songwriter and his seven-piece band, blending shadows and brightness, silhouettes, and distinctive light angles to underscore the heartfelt narrative of this roughly 90-minute show.
Helping him accomplish this was a collection of Chauvet Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12, Color STRIKE M and Maverick Storm 4 Profile fixtures, which like the rest of the kit, were supplied by Colour Sound Experiment. (Phosphor supplied two ChamSys consoles.)
Beardsmore positioned 32 of his PXL Curve 12 fixtures around the top of his flared truss. He then arranged 28 additional units on the floor. The fully pixel mappable motorised battens with 12 independently controlled heads helped him achieve his vision

USA - Illuminate Production Services (IPS) once again played an integral role in creating the visual magic that is The Thorn and once more enhanced the drama using a large package of Elation lighting.
The Thorn is a modern-day passion play, a theatrical depiction of the life and death of Jesus, yet with a modern touch. The immersive theatrical show combines modern dance, music, martial arts, aerial acrobatics, and emotionally powerful performances, with lighting and visuals. This year’s spring tour kicked off in early February and travels to venues across the U.S., ending in early May in Miami, Florida.
This year, IPS provided audio, video, lighting, staging and special FX, their 11th year working with this production. Caleb Franke, IPS vice president of design & operations, has been entrusted with lighting the show since he was 14 and again served as lea

Belgium - Ruben Block, frontman for the rock band Triggerfinger, took a temporary pause to record his solo album Looking To Glide. On his recent tour of the same name, supporting his solo performance on stage was a diverse lighting design by Erwin Van Lokeren that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Splendit.
Van Lokeren’s lighting was varied, engaging audiences throughout the 90-minute show by changing looks and relying now and then on the element of surprise. His navigation between light and shadows, along with the clever use of his rig’s 18 EPIX Strip IP fixtures, helped him achieve this effect.
“The whole idea for this tour was working with shadows and different contrast with lights on the backdrops and on the artist himself,” said Van Lokeren. “There a lot of different effects coming from Ruben and his guitar in the songs, and this

The Netherlands - De Goudse Schouwburg (Gouda Schouwburg) is a busy municipal theatre and hub of the arts community in the city of Gouda.
As part of a recent major technical upgrade on lighting, it has taken delivery of a substantial quantity of over 200 Robe LED luminaires, including 94 x T11 Profiles, 40 x ParFect 150s and 32 x iBar 15s, the latter specifically for cyc lighting, plus 34 x T1 Profiles, 20 x T2 Profiles, 24 x LEDBeam 150s and 32 x LEDBeam 350s.
The new lights have transformed the venue into an all-LED house for stage lighting, and the project was driven by the desire to shift to greener and more sustainable lighting that is more cost-effective to run. It is the first time that Robe products have been in the theatre, and they are already making a massive difference to the quality and potential of the lighting offered to all productions in De Goudse Sch

Germany - With the new L-Series Plus, ARRI has announced ‘a new generation of LED Fresnels’. Up to 90% brighter than the original L-Series, direct network data input and the intuitive onboard control interface known from ARRI SkyPanel, the new L-Series Plus provides additional benefits while retaining appreciated features such as continuous focusability from spot to flood; a smooth, homogenous light field; and complete control over the colour and intensity of light.
Originally introduced in 2011, ARRI L-Series LED luminaires were the first professional alternatives to popular tungsten Fresnels on a like-for-like basis, offering additional LED advantages like independent control of colour temperature and brightness along with instant cost savings through major reductions in power draw and cooling requirements.
Precise light field control can still be achieved with

UK - Stage Electrics has supported the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) in successfully upgrading from tungsten to new, energy-efficient LED lighting, which empowers the next generation of performers.
Lead production technician at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts Matthew Weeks approached the Stage Electrics team about upgrading their existing tungsten lights to LED and enhancing their existing LED rig.
Working closely with Matthew, Matt Jones and Jonathan Thornhill, production technicians at the University, the Stage Electrics team conducted extensive trials with various demo kits from multiple brands. This ensured that the chosen solution would align with LIPA's requirements and performance standards.
LIPA chose an ETC LED lighting rig, consisting of 36 ColorSource V Fresnel lights, 12 ColorSource V Profile 25/50 fixtures, 26 Lustr 2’s, and

USA - Classic rock band Kansas is extending The 50th Anniversary Tour into 2024, commemorating their first year as a band. With the release of their newest box set, Another Fork in the Road, Kansas is bringing even more song selections to their performances, including some deep cuts fans haven’t heard live in decades.
“Kansas is a legendary act and Bandit is honoured to be a part of the team,” said Bandit Lites chair Michael T. Strickland. “Phil Ehart and I are good friends and that adds a great layer to the relationship. An evening with Kansas is a magical experience and their music leaves everyone amazed.”
Lighting designer Scott Pearson has spent a decade working with Kansas, giving him a keen awareness to the band’s preferences and style of performing. The backdrop of every performance features UV elements, making the lighting even more integral.

USA - As the cornerstone of its 50th Anniversary Season, the Orlando Ballet commissioned a spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, which debuted last December.
Billed as “bigger, brighter, and full of surprises” as well as the largest ballet ever created by an Orlando-based performing arts organisation, the production was staged in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Centre for Performing Arts. New choreography, all new sets, costumes, and an updated storyline by Jorden Morris, who also serves as the ballet’s artistic director, brought an exciting edge to a timeless classic, combined with a host of interesting and innovative staging elements including a lighting design by Joseph R. Walls.
Joseph incorporated Robe Forte moving lights and Footsie LED foot lights into his lighting scheme to bring extra vibrance and flair as the onstage action unfolded.<

USA - Elation has announced William Irwin as a new regional sales representative for the U.S. Mountain States region.
William has been involved in production and systems integration since 2006, including as business development director for Clearwing Productions. Prior to joining Elation, he worked at GLP as a brand manager and product developer for Scenex Lighting, the company’s custom LED solutions division. He has also been active with IATSE, specializing in atmospheric and pyrotechnics for film.
William comments, “I’m looking forward to being a driving force behind a company that values cutting-edge excellence and innovation, while building relationships with our clients and end-users.”
John Dunn, director of sales at Elation, adds, “With William’s ambition and know-how, he’s set to play an instrumental part in forging a path of continued succ

Greece - Lighting designer and programmer Kostantinos Ntovas lit a 2.5-hour show by award winning singer Petros Iakovidis at Thessaloniki’s Club Vogue, one of the largest nightclubs in Greece. Ntovas wasn’t relying solely on the lights he controlled with his ChamSys MagicQ Stadium Connect to change perceptions. He also called upon the profound power of dark space.
Using a variety of off-centre light angles and creating distinct fields of bright and dark spaces around his sometimes-silhouetted client, the Greek designer created an engaging narrative that opened new perspectives to fans.
“In general, I really like putting the singer in black space between light beams,” said Ntovas. “In that way, I can create an extraterrestrial look in an infinite environment. These scenes will transport viewers, creating a different experience than what they find in usual show

USA - Country music group Midland is out on the road with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. Comprised of Mark Wystrach (lead vocals, guitar), Jess Carson (guitar, vocals), and Cameron Duddy (bass guitar, vocals), Midland’s neotraditional country sound has led to their three studio albums resulting in seven singles landing on the Billboard country chart.
With two years of touring with Midland under his belt, lighting designer Drew Lombana was confident in his ability to both create something that was as unique as the trailblazing country band as well as his aptitude to ascertain their lighting preferences: avoid fixture pixels, pointless eye candy and instead focus on using lights to compliment the story within the music, and not simply the music itself.
“We determined a design that hid itself well was crucial, with the exception of the Circa Scoops,”

Hungary - Máté Lukacsovics and Ale Geszler from Budapest-based lighting design studio Highlight Studios created the design for a high-profile one-off sold out concert by Hungarian artist and pop-rock band Valmar at the 12,500-capacity Budapest Arena.
It was the band’s largest concert to date, and the brief was to create a memorable lighting design that met the occasion and thrilled everyone involved, from the artist and his production team to his enthusiastic and ever-growing fanbase.
Máté and Ale utilised over 150 Robe moving lights – a combination of iFORTES, Pointes and Tarrantulas – to help energise the show.
Their starting point for lighting the show was the production design idea from show director Roland Mák who imagined the stage as a gigantic time machine, with the concert designed as a two-hour gameplay session hosted by an AI character lurk

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