UK - Sennheiser UK has released the dates for its first training courses for 2015, which include new location Theatr Clwyd in Mold, Wales.

For new and existing users of wireless microphones and in-ear monitor systems wishing to further their understanding, the Basic Wireless Mics and Monitoring Course is suitable. Anyone wishing to attend should register for the session at Theatr Clwyd on 14 January, or on 14 April at Sennheiser UK's headquarters in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Wireless Mics and Monitoring: The Master Class Course will run on 15 March at Sennheiser UK in Marlow. This intensive two-day course is designed for those who have already completed the Basic Wireless Mics and Monitoring Course.

Both courses are run by Sennheiser UK's engineering and technical services manager, Tim Sherratt, and chief engineer Andy Lillywhite.

(Jim Evans)

Turkey - Asimetrik hosted an open day on 5 November for Clay Paky, DiGiCo and Meyer Sound's newest and latest technology products. The event was held on Asimetrik's HQ and Kucukciftlik Park (Outdoor Culture and entertainment centre). VPs of sales and Europe sales managers Alberico D'Amato from Clay Paky, James Bradley from Digico and Scott Gledhill from Meyer Sound also attended the event.

The event attracted considerable interest from sector professionals all around Turkey. All day long, brands' representatives continuously showcased their latest technological developments and products.

Clay Paky introduced the brand new masters of light 'The Projectors': SuperSharpy - a powerful beam light for long throw applications, Mythos - the most advanced combined spot light and beam light and Stormy - a strobe that uses ultra-modern LEDs, but still offers classic strobe effects as wel

Italy - Robe's new Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire (BMFL) Spots made their debut on the vibrant Italian electronic music and arts scene, featuring prominently on the main stage at the two-day C2C (Club2Club) International Festival of Music & Arts in Turin, where they were specified by production lighting designer Walter Lutzu.

Walter also utilised 16 x Pointes, 12 x MMX Spots and 12 x LEDWash 600s on his versatile and spectacular design, which had to be flexible enough to deal with an action-packed line-up of DJs and artists, all requiring their own distinctive visual styling and settings.

It was Walter's second year lighting the main stage at the multi-venue event which was again set in an atmospheric disused former industrial plant in the Lingotto area of the city.

As well as offering the best in Italian and international electronic and experimental music with over 48 si

UK - Debenhams flagship Oxford Street store revealed a spectacular Christmas lighting display at the beginning of November, which was delivered by lighting design and installation specialists Mushroom Lighting.

Mushroom's managing director Paul Butler was contacted by the Debenhams team at the beginning of September and asked to come up with some ideas that were worthy of a flagship store, particularly as the Oxford Street Debenhams had recently undergone a complete modernisation - including the exterior - which was designed by Ned Kahn.

"I met with Ian Dorsett, creative windows designer at Debenhams to show him some lighting products," says Paul. "One of things I took with me was LED fluorescent tubes. I suggested that we could do something similar to a sculpture I had seen that had a seemingly random design.

"We played around with the idea and I ordered

UK - The hugely successful musical Jersey Boys recently set out on its first ever tour of the UK and Ireland, complete with a sizeable sound system based on Steve Canyon Kennedy's original design delivering the high octane Four Seasons' show sound. At the heart of the system is the Meyer Sound M'elodie ultra compact high-powered curvilinear array speaker, complemented by d&b audiotechnik E5 and E6 compact speakers and, for the first time on a Jersey Boys' production, a DiGiCo SD10 mixing console.

Jersey Boys is no stranger to the touring scene, with two US productions plus South Africa and Australia already notched up, so the teams already have a great deal of experience behind them. For the UK version, associate sound designer Andrew Keister and his team did an extensive study of some 18 venues in order to arrive at the a "best fit" touring design

USA - Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor, Washington, recently converted the visual platform in their main worship space from a traditional projector and screen system to Elation EZ Series LED video screens, a high-resolution system designed, integrated and installed by Agility AVL.

Church personnel were looking to replace a pair of 10,000 lumen projectors whose optics were going bad and initially looked at two 15,000 lumen projectors as replacements. "The church was ready to go with projectors and they seemed to have already had their mind set on it," states Agility's Kevin Hill, account manager on the project. "They had a few companies come in with projectors but there were issues with the ambient light that comes in from some windows overhead that can wash out the screens. Although the new projectors looked good they just weren't bright enough. They

USA - The School of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) is once again getting into the holiday spirit with DPA Microphones for its third annual Keyboards and Carols at Christmas event.

With 13 Steinway Grand Pianos, one organ and a choir of over 180 adults and children, student and professional musicians performed holiday songs for the packed house at the 3,500-seat venue. In addition to using a stereo pair of d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones on each of the pianos, the school also utilized four wireless d:facto Vocal Microphones for the event's soloists.

DPA mics were chosen for their clear, pristine sound as well as their ability to reproduce the natural beauty of both the Steinway pianos and the exceptional voices of the singers. With the addition of the large choir, this year's event featured a significant change in the setup from prev

World - For Judas Priest's world tour, FOH engineer and production manager Martin Walker has selected Leo-M and Lyon linear line array loudspeakers from Meyer Sound's growing Leo Family of products. With the power and linear response of both products, the crew can easily adapt the system for a wide range of venues, which includes casino showrooms, arenas, large theatres, outdoor amphitheatres, and festivals.

"The response of the system is pretty seamless, whether going from main Leo arrays to Lyon side arrays, or going from a main Leo hang in an arena to a Lyon hang in a theatre," Walker says. "You turn on the PA and there's really no difference to worry about. The headroom is there, the weight saving is there, and the clarity and fidelity are there. It's a great system with either box out front."

The main and side arrays for the tour are assembled from the

Bulgaria - L-Acoustics has announced that Forte Music has signed on as the distributor of L-Acoustics systems in Bulgaria, a country enjoying rapid growth following its recent entry into the European Union.

More and more customers in the region are seeking high-end professional audio solutions according to L-Acoustics sales manager Tim McCall, who comments, "We have been monitoring Bulgaria for some time and we believe it is the right time for L-Acoustics to have a reliable partner there. Forte is a strong local player and we feel they are the perfect partner to bring our products to this market."

Forte joins a strong worldwide network of L-Acoustics provider distributors and has already sold an important system to rental stager Joker Media after inviting them to a K2 demo at L-Acoustics headquarters. The purchase, which includes an inventory of L-Acoustics K2, KARAs

UK - Dubstep/garage star Katy B's current UK tour is bringing a moody nightclub atmosphere to venues up and down the country thanks to Tom Campbell's audience engaging, silhouette rich, strobe heavy lighting design. Built around the dramatic effects that the new Clay Paky Stormy CC and the award-winning A.leda B-EYE K20 and K10 can deliver, Campbell has created a stunning design with relatively few fixtures.

Campbell's budget defying rig comprises his own floor package, however he also has to rely on venue house rigs for the overheads. This means he chooses his floor package carefully and works it hard to bring the signature look he wants to every venue. To that end Campbell has specified Clay Paky Stormys, alongside just four Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20s and ten B-EYE K20s from Siyan Ltd.

"I'm using the RGBW Stormys as block colour washes," explains Campbell. "T

The Netherlands - Innovox Audio has named Tau Audio Solutions of Groningen, The Netherlands, as its European distribution partner.

This new arrangement means that Innovox's SL and SLA model ranges, which feature ribbon-type high frequency drivers for extremely fast and controlled transient response, will be available within the European market for the first time.

The SL series models feature ultra-thin point source designs, with enclosure depths ranging from just 45 to 50 mm. The series is designed for high quality presentation and conference rooms up to six meters long.

The SLA series, meanwhile, are frequency-shaded columnar array speakers that are designed for larger conference rooms, university classrooms, churches and other reverberant spaces. All Innovox Audio loudspeakers are made in the USA.

"We're delighted to add Innovox to our range of products," says

Italy - ArKaos PRO has announced the appointment of Music & Lights as its exclusive distributor for Italy.

With immediate effect, Music & Lights will handle the full portfolio of ArKaos products which includes ArKaos Stage, Studio and Stadium media servers, the dynamic MediaMaster PRO and MediaMaster Express software and Kling-Net, ArKaos' user-friendly control protocol.

Music & Lights first made the headlines with ArKaos PRO in October 2014 when it adopted ArKaos Kling-Net into a number of its pixel-based LED lighting fixtures.

The arrangement between the two companies proved such a success that ArKaos PRO expanded the collaboration to incorporate the full promotion, sales and support of all ArKaos products across Italy.

"We are happy to increase the range of our solutions for the AVL market through the ArKaos brand," says Fabio Sorabella, product manager at M &

UK - Premier Cardiff nightclub and live music venue, Clwb Ifor Bach - originally set up in 1983 as a Welsh-language club and community centre - has continued its long tradition of using Soundcraft mixing consoles, by purchasing a next generation Vi3000 digital mixing console and Vi Stagebox from nearby dealers, AB Acoustics.

AB Acoustics director, Rob Ashton,said that the venue's technical team of Phil Williams and Richard 'Chill' Hawkins had been quite specific in their requirement when they placed the order, and had wanted to remain loyal to the Soundcraft brand. "Many bands started off playing there and they host a lot of different music genres, which is why they wanted the 64 channel capacity of the stagebox."

Bands that have played at the club over the years include Strokes, Killers, Pavement, Coldplay, Bloc Party, Foals, Kiesza as well as locals such as Super F

UK - Amp Pack Cases and Packhorse enjoyed a successful PLASA show at Excel London in October. Both companies were showcasing their wide range of innovative cases and received a fantastic response.

John O'Neill, Founder of Amp Pack Cases, commented: "The show was a very successful event and we received a great response for our products. As well as showcasing our range of Amp Pack cases we were exhibiting the Packhorse range, which also witnessed a great deal of interest from potential clients. We very much enjoyed the show, meeting new and existing customers and are definitely planning to attend next year."

With over 100 years of combined experience, Amp Pack Cases design and hand-build flightcases for the music, TV, science, motorsport and military industries. By producing the best quality cases for all types of high value and delicate equipment, the company have bui

UK - Festival Republic called Midas into Blondin Park, Ealing in December, to provide power for the first Plant to the Beat, a Trees for Cities initiative.

More than 200 volunteers met the challenge of planting a mixture of 10,000 trees in a day, sowing the seeds for biodiversity in Ealing, and Midas provided for Festival Republic's 'Beat'.

The 'woodland village' featured a stage for a choir, drummers and DJs, along with structures providing participants with free vegetarian food, hot drinks and arts facilities for children.

Laura Pando, Festival Republic's sustainability co-ordinator, comments, "We worked with Trees for Cities to make Plant to the Beat a sustainable event and Midas' commitment to 100 per cent biodiesel was a perfect fit."

Buoyed by their Ealing success, Trees for Cities/Festival Republic have big ambitions for the event, in multiple cities, plan

UK - High up in the north east of England, Graeme Sewell first started lighting local bands around the Durham area more than 30 years ago, and after setting up Vortex Lighting was an early investor in 'intelligent' products. Today, Vortex Lighting supplies major hire companies and venues throughout the UK, specialising in concert touring.

In the early Nineties, Graeme developed a relationship with Ian Kirby and Clive Bailey, who now head up SGM UK, and news that Peter Johansen had taken over the Italian lighting company and relocated it to Denmark quickly ignited his interest.

After making an initial investment in X-5 white LED strobes he was soon captivated by the P-5. "It was a combination of the compact form factor and high power output that impressed me and my customers - as well as the quality of the colours," he said. "We use them for up-lighting buildings

Denmark - Elation Professional's new SixPar Series of indoor and outdoor PAR colour changers is providing dynamic colour wash for skate boarders and other street sport enthusiasts at StreetDome, a one-of-a-kind modern skate park in Haderslev, Denmark.

Designed by CEBRA Architects, StreetDome is an open playground and the biggest skating facility in northern Europe with both indoor and outdoor areas for skateboarding, BMX, bouldering, street ball, parkour, rollerblading, street dance, and more. Serving as a social meeting place for kids of all ages, skill levels and cultures, if street sports are your bag then this is the place for you.

Central to the StreetDome complex, primarily indoor activities like skateboarding, basketball and bouldering, is the 1,500 sq.m StreetDome Igloo. Unheated and lit primarily through sunlight during daylight hours, the dome-shaped roof hovers over

USA - Red-hot rapper Machine Gun Kelly lives up to his name with a rapid fire delivery and crackling stage presence that, in the words of one of his trademark songs, get crowds to "lace up", for a spiky, hard-edged experience. Any lightshow at a concert by 'MGK', as the lanky rapper is affectionately known to his legion of fans, better be able to blow past conventional expectations with brain searing intensity, which is precisely what lighting designer Alex Kay delivered for the rapper's recent No Class Tour, a 40 city escapade done with iconic metal band Limp Bizkit.

Kay, who has been working with Kelly since the 24-year-old rapper was doing local shows in his hometown of Cleveland, used a power blasting collection of fixtures provided by 4Wall Entertainment Lighting's Los Angeles office that utilized aerial beams, strobes, colourized foggers and a collection of super

USA - The Austin City Limits Music Festival recently returned to Zilker Park to showcase more than 130 rock, pop and hip hop artists on eight stages, including Outkast, Beck, Eminem, Skrillex, Calvin Harris and Pearl Jam. grandMA2 full-size consoles were on hand to provide control for festival performers. Seth Jackson served as festival lighting designer and lighting coordinator.

grandMA2 full-size consoles were found "everywhere you turned" at the festival, Jackson explained. "It looked like an MA showroom! There were grandMA2 consoles on every stage. We had two at every station, and sometimes the bands brought their own.

"Ninety percent of the artists used grandMA2," Jackson reported, "and they brought their own show files. With grandMA2's networking capabilities people could work on systems simultaneously: Two artists could program their respec

Australia - Indie dance trio RÜFÜS recently embarked on their latest Australian tour, with lighting designers Matthew James Smith and Lynden Gare of Colourblind incorporating some Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20s into their production for one of the first times in Australia, wowing audiences with the fixtures' never-seen-before effects.

Smith and Gare's clean, silhouetted design evoked a 'club' vibe, and was based around a 3D, trapezoid-shaped custom LED set piece provided by Eness that was positioned in the centre of the stage. The B-EYEs, supplied by Alive Technologies, were part of the floor package around the piece.

"We used the B-EYEs in the Shapes mode, with the on-board macros and effects giving us a fantastic way to open the show and the battery-powered menu system making them easy to prep - it's a nice feature that Clay Paky has been doing for some time." says

USA - The Behind the Scenes Happy Hour, hosted by PLASA, was the biggest pre-LDI party of the year, with over 400 guests attending. Twenty-three sponsors donated towards the event, and all proceeds were able to go to the Behind the Scenes charity, totalling over $18,000.

Event co-chair Steven Way, President of ALPS, said, "Our entire committee was very pleased with the new 'happy hour' format for this PLASA event. Our sponsors really stepped up, allowing us to expand the food and drink offerings, reach a wider audience of industry professionals and as important, present the Behind the Scenes charity with a wonderful donation. Many attendees said this was our best event with amazing networking and they look forward to next year."

"It was a terrific night and it was great to see the industry show so much support for the charity. The support was fantastic and I was

Guatemala - Funktion-One has extended its reach around the globe with an installation at Central America's 'first super club'. Blue Box, the company responsible for introducing the loudspeaker manufacturer to Ibiza over a decade ago, has continued its pioneering ways with the first ever Funktion-One installation in Guatemala - at One Club in Guatemala City.

The new 1,200-capacity venue boasts a forward-thinking design that fuses the appeal of an exclusive lounge with a high-energy nightclub. Technology is at the heart of its operation. Along with some of the latest Funktion-One speakers, the club features a video mapping system, which brings colour and movement to its architecture.

Blue Box's Mark Metcalf comments, "Funktion-One contacted me to say they had an interesting project in Guatemala. I have a long standing client in Ecuador and tend to help Funktion-One with new

Austria - Die Große Chance (A Great Opportunity) is one of Austria's leading talent competitions. The 2014 final staged in Studio 1 at national broadcaster ORF's HQ in Vienna was lit in great style by lighting director Thomas Kruder using nearly 300 Robe moving lights.

It was also Kruder's first chance to use Robe's new Bright Multi-Functional Luminaires (BMFLs) of which he had eight on the rig. "It's one of the most powerful fixtures I have ever used," he states.

In addition to the BMFL Spots, he utilised 133 x Pointes and 146 x LEDBeam 100s, all supplied by rental company Supporting Role, also based in Vienna.

Kruder has lit the last two editions of Die Große Chance. In 2011 the original concept of the show - popular throughout the 1980s - was reformatted and presented in a contemporary context, complete with tele-voting to decide on the winner ou

UK - Flightcase Warehouse (FCW) is pleased to announce the achievement of ISO9001 accreditation.

"By demonstrating and verifying our compliance to the requirements of ISO 9001, FCW are actively advertising the company's commitment to quality, traceability and continual improvements," said FCW's Sam Austin.

ISO 9001 promotes the development of continual improvement, customer satisfaction and traceability through the implementation of various management system processes.

"ISO9001 accreditation will drive Flightcase Warehouse forward and assist in constantly improving our quality management systems. This is key criteria in showing our existing clients our commitment to quality management and will assist in convincing potential clients to utilise our products and services," the company says.

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