Finland - Kullervo, Op. 7, is a suite of symphonic movements by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Although often referred to as a "choral symphony", the work avoids traditional symphonic structure, and its five movements constitute a set of related but independent tone poems.

Based on the character of Kullervo in the epic poem Kalevala and using texts from that poem, the work premiered to critical acclaim on 28 April 1892. Now lighting, screen and set designer Miki Kunttu has given the work, currently being performed at the Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, a com

World Music - De La Soul will be the headline act at this year's Womad, the festival's organisers have announced. Other highlights at the world music festival will include Tinariwen and folk music band Bellowhead. Festival director, Chris Smith said: "I'm really excited about De La Soul, hip hop is a big thing for Womad." Last year the event sold out for the first time since it relocated from Reading in 2007 to Charlton Park near Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

Hearing Health - People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World He

The Netherlands - As a way to better serve the Dutch market, ETC is changing their sales structure in the Netherlands from a distributor based model to a dealer based model. That means that beginning on 1 March 2014, a sales structure will be set up where ETC will handle promotions and sell through a dealer network.

Lightco Nederland B.V. has been ETC's distributor for many years and has done great work promoting ETC. However, ETC's continued growth and product family expansions make it a challenge for distributors to promote the complete ETC product portfolio. "It's a very big j

UK / Germany - AED Distribution, the exclusive distributor of QSC Pro Audio in Germany and the UK since 1 November 2014, has taken its first steps in building a QSC Pro Audio retail network in those countries. Partnering with selected dealers that are specialised in QSC's product portfolio of speakers, amplifiers and digital mixers, the company has officially appointed Leisuretec in the UK and Starpoint in Germany.

"Our selected dealer network allows us to redefine the local QSC Pro Audio market and the presence of the QSC brand in these two countries," says Kenneth Bremer,

Israel - You would expect an impressive and memorable show to accompany the launch of the newest and largest expo hall in the Middle East ... and that was exactly the brief received by lighting designer Eran Klein of Tel Aviv based creative design practice Cochavi & Klein from show producers The Gallery.

Eran rose to the occasion, adding a generous helping of his visual magic to the occasion assisted by around 160 Robe moving lights - including 28 x BMFL Spots, 36 x MMX Spots, 24 x LEDWash 1200s, 54 x Pointes, 16 x MMX WashBeams and 16 x LEDBeam100s.

The gala opening show, directed

USA - Such is the abundant talent of Sara Bareilles that 2015 will see her score a new theatre musical, record her next album, and no doubt add one or two performances for the Nation's First Family for whom she has performed numerous times. All this from an artist who only recently completed her first full production headline tour, travelling right across the USA, rounded off with visits to Australia, New Zealand, and several Asian cities.

Trey Smith, who has worked for her since 2008, was particularly careful in his choice of audio system for the Bareilles tour.

"For about fiv

USA - Scottsdale is some 260 miles from Las Vegas, but for four nights in early February, visitors to this Phoenix suburb could have thought they were on the Vegas Strip; at least if they were among the 8,000 fans who turned out for The Coors Light Birds Nest.

A four day festival held in conjunction with the Waste Management Open, Birds Nest is one of the most eagerly anticipated 19th hole events on the PGA tour. This year's edition didn't disappoint, bringing in acts like Kid Rock, Capital Cities, Darius Rucker and Afrojack who performed in a 50,000sq.ft tent shipped in from Germany

USA - Vail Beaver Creek in Colorado recently hosted this year's FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015, with athletes representing 68 nations participating in this grand event, which was viewed by an estimated television audience of 1 billion. This is the third time the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado has welcomed the Championships, which are spread over 13 days and two weekends of events and races.

A full programme of events was preceded by a magnificent opening ceremony. Theatrical Media Services Inc. (TMS) provided a full service package consisting of lighting, truss structures,

UK - London based events production company PR Live ensured the Warner Music 2015 Brits After-party really rocked for 1,100 guests at the Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden, supplying all elements of the design and technical production - sound, lighting, video, rigging, set and staging, assorted custom built props - complete with lighting and sound design and bespoke video content.

The project - managed for PR Live by Justin Hammond - included spectacular large format projections onto the exterior of the building to welcome the guests, and pixel mapping a wall of LED battens in the mai

Korea - The AmorePacific Beautiful Life Centre in Osan, Korea, has reinvented the factory tour and brand centre with the award-winning Story Garden, an interactive multisensory and multimedia experience, involving sight, sound and touch. BRC Imagination Arts hired Electrosonic to do the initial audio-visual design and provide AV support for the Story Garden on the cosmetic company's expansive campus.

Story Garden will receive a Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement at a black-tie gala on 21 March 2015, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Califor

USA - After struggling with a challenging acoustical environment and a sound-reinforcement system that couldn't distribute sound consistently throughout all areas of their sanctuary, Prescott, Arizona, United Methodist Church decided enough was enough. After all, if the congregation can't hear clearly, the message is lost. To solve the problem, church management upgraded to a line array system drawn from the TrueLine catalogue of Greensboro, North Carolina-based WorxAudio Technologies, a division of PreSonus.

CSD Group was contracted to design and install the church's new sound system

The Netherlands - Visual Productions is technology partner of the 2014 Amsterdam Light Festival. For the third year in a row the Visual Productions' Solid State lighting controllers helped visualise the lighting designs of worldwide artists during this 10 week-long festival. The CueCore, IoCore and DIN Rail DMX Splitter were used to control the lighting for 12 exhibits of the festival. Light-works in both the Water Colors route and the Illuminade utilised the Visual Productions control solutions. These consisted of exhibits from around the world including, 'Water Fun' from New Zealand d

Sweden - The opening of AF's new office building in Gothenburg was marked by a spectacular light show, putting the 66m high building on the map. For one evening the façades of AF's new domicile were staged with a combination of colours, graphical patterns and images expressing AF's values in a festive manner.

Being Skanska's third most eco-friendly building in the Gothenburg region, and having received Platinum environmental certification by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), it was important to AF Lighting to further communicate and demonstrate its green values. S

UK - XL Video supplied projection, LED screens and a camera / PPU package to the Paolo Nutini UK arena tour which completed a busy year of touring and live performances from the artist following the release of his album Caustic Love.

The show design was originated by a creative team comprising tour director James Monkman, lighting designer Jason Hyne and video producer and co-ordinator Tom Wexler. XL Video's project manager was Paul "Macca" McCauley and their crew chief on the road was Stuart Heaney. Production manager for the tour was Tony Gittins.

There were three

UK - Ayrton is the latest manufacturer to join the family at Ambersphere Solutions who have exclusive distribution and customer service for the Ayrton range of products in the UK. Amongst the new 'R' (Radical) range is the Magicblade-R, a moving-head luminaire comprising 7 x 15W LED sources, flicker free management that make it ideal for TV and video applications together with continuous pan and tilt rotation. However, the basic technical specification does little to demonstrate the dynamic and exciting effect capabilities of this innovative piece of kit.

Darren Parker, MD of DPL Ligh

Czech Republic - Robe Lighting has announced 2014 as the best year in the company's history, together with comprehensive expansion plans for its HQ and production operation in the Czech Republic, which is ramping up again in response to demand for Robe's products worldwide.

This is part related to the company's planned medium-term expansion strategy and also in response to the success of the new BMFL range of moving lights - the first of which was launched in September 2014, plus the continued demand for other popular moving light fixtures like the Pointe and the LEDWash series.

Rob

Italy - The Nordeon-Group, a leading European lighting company has further strengthened its comprehensive proposition to the market through the strategic acquisition of Italian-based Griven. Griven specializes in architectural lighting solutions and is very complimentary to the Hess product portfolio and offerings to architects and lighting designers across the globe. As part of the Nordeon-Group, Griven will continue to operate independently under its own brand through its existing organization and management team in Castel Goffredo, Italy.

Patrick van Rossum, Partner of Varova, the

India - Tannoy and Lab.gruppen's quality sound was recently sought after for one of the country's most luxurious hotels - the five-star JW Marriot in Pune, India.

In the world of luxury hotels, sound systems might not always come on top of the agenda when it comes to capturing opulence. However, the JW Marriot is one such residence which has managed to gather the required demeanour to gain its five-star status, and now, thanks to Tannoy and Lab.gruppen's sound technology, it has the kind of technology fit for such surroundings - inside and outside the building.

The project to bring

Spain - XL Video supplied a substantial projection system and control together with HD cameras / PPU, HD LED screen, several hundred monitors, networking and fibre infrastructure plus audio systems for two high profile Microsoft events staged back-to-back at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via convention centre in Barcelona, Spain.

TechEd is Microsoft's premier event for IT professionals and enterprise developers, and this was followed immediately by Convergence, the Microsoft community's chance to network with other users, share and expand their experience and realise their potential.

X

UK - Green Hippo has always placed a great importance on creating good relationships with its clients and supports them with their needs when designing, programming or operating shows.

To catch up with a long-standing client and friend, Green Hippo's Mercedes Stevao-Boase and Stefanie Mueller made their way to Elstree Studios at the end of January 2015.

The latest Celebrity Big Brother season had reached its halfway point and the pair went to meet up with loyal HippoExpert Russ Grubiak.

Russ is a Lighting and video programmer specialising in TV and he has been involved in a

Italy - Piccolo Teatro in Milan was Italy's first permanent theatre and was declared a theatre of major European importance by Ministerial Decree in 1991. It was founded in the immediate post-war period by Paolo Grassi, Giorgio Strehler, Mario Apollonio, Virgilio Tosi and Nina Vinchi.

The Piccolo consists of three venues: the Sala Grassi, the 19th-century Teatro Fossati, which reopened in 1986 under the name Teatro Studio Melato, and the Teatro Strehler.

The Teatro Studio Melato started life as an experimental theatre, a training ground for the young students from the Piccolo Theatr

UK - PLASA's Technical Resources Office would like to remind LSiOnline readers that the European RDM and sACN Developers Conference and Plugfest for 2015 will take place from 22-24 April, in the UK, at Gatwick Manor, London Road at Lowfield Heath, just south of Gatwick Airport.

The Developers Conference provides a European forum for manufacturers, designers, consultants and prospective users; and aims to ensure that the adoption of these new standards achieves desired levels of interoperability and reliability.

Conference sessions will cover the understanding, implementation and use

Australia - TDC - Technical Direction Company enabled graffiti artists to express their artworks using technology in a true world first as part of this year's White Night Melbourne, one of Australia's most celebrated cultural events, which took place on Saturday, 21 February 2015.

TDC provided the technology and expertise behind a world first graffiti-mapping artwork projected onto the largest mural in Melbourne - spanning five stories high and 70m long. This groundbreaking piece of street art was one of the highlights of White Night Melbourne 2015, a 12-hour nocturnal extravaganza ru

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