UK - One of the keynote sessions at this year's PLASA Show (11-14 September, Earls Court 1, London) will be an audience with American lighting veteran Sonny Sonnenfeld (Tuesday 13 September, 4.30pm). Sonnenfeld has been involved in theatre and architectural lighting for over 60 years: his career started at Century Lighting (now Strand) in 1945, where he became New York sales manager. In 1961, he co-founded Lighting & Electronics, rejoining what had then become Strand Century between 1975-85. In the intervening years, he's also been a sales representative for Colortran, Wybron and ETC.

During his professional career, he has taught lighting, won several awards, written numerous articles and founded the Broadway Lighting Master Classes, making a major contribution to the professional development of many of today's leading architectural and theatre lighting designers. After almost 60 years of selling in New York, Sonny retired to Las Vegas, only to un-retire earlier this year to rejoin Strand Lighting as their New York representative for theatre and television lighting.

In this special session, he will be introduced by ALD chairman Rick Fisher and will talk about his career, the companies he's worked for, the changes he's seen in lighting and the people he has met along the way. The session is just part of a much wider seminar and workshop programme. Topics include Digital Scenography; Three-Dimensional Imaging; System Integration; Screen Technologies; Energy Efficient LEDs; Digital Audio Networking and the Safe Use of Lasers, as well as a business-focused session looking at how the industry's leading innovators took their Ideas from Concept to Reality.

An Audience with Sonny Sonnenfeld takes place at 4.30pm-5.30pm on Tuesday 13 September in the show's dedicated Seminar Theatre. If you pre-register before September 3rd, the cost of attending a single session is £7.50 (inc VAT) or you can get a 3-session pass for £15.00 (inc VAT).

The full seminar programme can be found online at the PLASA Show website.

(Ruth Rossington)


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