Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Installation

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Bahrain - Event design, technical and scenic production specialist Maestra Group has opened a base in Bahrain and announced a new partnership with the Ritz-Carlton resort and its 43,000sq.ft conference and exhibition facility.
As the resort’s exclusive event partner, Maestra will oversee all technical aspects of the new Arena facility, which offers a full set-up and capacity for large banquet receptions and global conferences.
Maestra’s Tom Clements comments: “We are extremely excited about this new venture and to be involved in such a high profile and incredibly well-designed event space. For Maestra Group, this is a logical expansion of our work in Dubai, and it will also be the first step in some strategic expansion plans for Maestra Group in the Middle East.”
“As Bahrain becomes a global destination for premiere conferences and events in the region

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South Africa - Joburg Theatre’s longstanding technical crew, headed by Enos Ramoroko, have taken delivery of new equipment to complement their busy theatre situated on Braamfontein Hill.
DWR Distribution delivered 20 Vari-Lite VL2600 Spots and four Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots to be used in the Mandela Theatre, while the audio in the Lesedi Theatre has been upgraded to an L-Acoustics ARCS Wide and Focus (WiFo) system.
“The Vari-Lite VL 2600 Spots met our needs for an LED spot,” says Enos Ramoroko, head of technical at Joburg Theatre. “The full blade shutters will be very useful for theatre applications.”
The crew are planning to use the new fixtures on productions like Sarafina, and this year’s annual pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk.
“The Mandela Theatre’s followspots, which have probably stood the test of time for aro

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USA - With five floors and four stages, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk and Rock ’n’ Roll Steakhouse is the largest and most advanced entertainment venue on Nashville’s always-crowded Broadway.
Thanks to a comprehensive audio installation from QSC, the sound from multiple live acts on different floors is audiophile-grade. “The entire venue holds about 2,000 guests, with up to 600 in the main room and mezzanine,” says lead sound engineer Josh Hastick. “During busy seasons, all four stages are going at once, and we host as many as 16 bands, each with a four-hour set, in a business day.” That kind of turnover requires equal measures of flexibility and predictability from a P.A. system, which Hastick says that “QSC delivers in spades”.
The stage in their main room is flanked by three KLA12 active line array cabinets per side, complemented by four KW181 ac

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Costa Rica - Colegio Humboldt is an international school in San José, Costa Rica, that serves preschool through secondary students. The school was founded in 1912 by Germans and emphasises a German-based education, Humboldt is also known for its profusion of extra-curricular activities. The school recently built a new performing arts space to further its programme, Auditorio Humboldt, a multi-purpose auditorium outfitted with Elation Professional luminaires.
Auditorio Humboldt is a modern, 238-capacity space where students conduct recitals and perform all manner of dance, music, theatre and debate. It houses top-of-the-line AV equipment with specialised technical personnel to provide support.
Elation dealer and distributor for Costa Rica, Darko Lighting of San José, completed the lighting project. They supplied, designed and installed new stage and architectural lig

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USA - Professional AV systems integrator Sound Designs has completed the design of a new sound system for St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Hockessin, Delaware. With roots that can be traced back to the 1700s, the current church was built in the 1960s with transepts forming its T-shaped layout and wooden pews facing a centre sanctuary stage area. With a large congregation, the church holds two daily mass services and six weekend services.
A number of contractors were invited to bid for the project, with Sound Designs’ Community E Series solution being chosen as the preferred design. John Dezell from Sound Designs explains: “Some proposed hanging array loudspeakers, but this would have disrupted the visual aesthetics of the space and blocked views of the recently installed stained glass windows. With a high, beamed ceiling and reflective surfaces we needed a s

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The Netherlands - Philips Stadion, home to PSV in Eindhoven, is the first venue in the world to install ArenaMatch DeltaQ loudspeaker line arrays and ArenaMatch Utility loudspeakers from Bose Professional.
Audio, video and lighting sales and rental firm Bazelmans AV completed the installation of the Bose loudspeakers at the 35,000-capacity stadium in time for kick off of the team’s first game of the second half of the season early this year.
"The design of the sound system was made especially for Philips Stadion,” says Wiljan Bazelmans, commercial director for Bazelmans AV, which is headquartered in Veldhoven. The combination of the latest Bose Professional loudspeakers, power amplifiers and signal processors enables Philips Stadion to play high-quality music via loudspeaker arrays while at the same time delivering clearly audible voice announcements to every seat

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Russia - Recent years have seen the Russian Orthodox church expand its programme of church building. At Moscow’s Khodynka Field, worshippers at the new Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh were distracted by having problems hearing services, but Yamaha’s VXL Series slim line array speakers have solved the issue.
Khodynka Field, a few kilometres north-west of Moscow city centre, saw the first Russian flight in 1910 and quickly became the city’s first commercial airport. Finally closing to aviation in the early 2000s, since then the site has been redeveloped as housing, offices, sports venues and open spaces for Moscow’s expanding population.
Located at the end of one of the former airport runways, the Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh was opened in 2017 to honour one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints, as well as the many airmen and w

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UK - HK Audio’s Linear series of loudspeakers have been specified as part of the sound system at Nightrain, a new live music venue in Bradford.
Founded by Bradford trio Chris Dove, Andy Kettle and Keith Tempest, the club transformed the former Yates and Arena sports bar on Queensgate into a 400 capacity venue that plugs the gap between smaller venues and larger ones, such as St George’s Hall. Nightrain, named after a Guns N’ Roses song, is set to host a diverse selection of live acts every week-end and select weekdays, welcoming local as well as touring acts. The venue is also open throughout the day as a bar and games room.
Mike Smith and Brian Glover of Sound Alliance were commissioned to design and install an in-house sound and lighting system capable of satisfying the most demanding acts.
Having themselves relied on a variety of solutions from German ma

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Hungary - The open-air theatre in Nyíregyháza recently upgraded their stage lighting capabilities with Prolights.
Located in the heart of the city of Nyíregyháza, the 1,000-seat theatre has been a key attraction in the area since 1955. Previously fitted with halogen fixtures, the renovation focussed on re-invigorating the space throughout and upgrading the technology to reduce running costs, increase energy efficiency and increase light output.
The new stage lighting system contains 20 Prolights Eclipse HD2 TU fixtures that were chosen for their brightness, even beam and clean shutter cuts, along with 20 Prolights full colour LED fixtures which provide a dramatically higher lumen level than their halogen predecessors. Both ellipsoidal fixtures were chosen for their versatility, broad functionality options and outstanding output levels and completed the reinvigorati

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UK - Audio Light Systems called upon the expertise of Doughty Engineering to help deliver a new media studio at Edinburgh University's Argyle House.
The University which has a fast-developing programme of Distance Learning at Scale, had an existing media studio but was struggling to fully support the programme of media production required. Audio Light Systems was brought on board to assist with the creation of a new TV studio and gallery on floor D of Argyle house as Neil McLucas, Audio Light Systems' senior technician explains:
"The TV studio already had a space prepared with new wiring and decoration. Our task was to develop the gallery, housed in an existing acoustic sound booth adjacent to the studio. The specification was for the supply and installation of sound, video, studio lighting curtain and tracks and so we got in touch with Doughty Engineering to supply

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Ireland - Croke Park Stadium in Dublin has completed its programme of design and installation of a permanent PA/VA sound system, supplied by French manufacturer Nexo.
This sporting venue is the national stadium of Ireland and home to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The 82,300 capacity stadium has been at the heart of Irish sporting life for over 100 years and is the third largest in Europe behind Camp Nou in Barcelona and Wembley in London.
Less well-known is the fact that Croke Park is also the widest, its 88m-wide pitch (nearly twice the size of a football pitch) is designed to accommodate the Gaelic sports of Gaelic football, hurling and camogie.
Mongey Communications, full-service AV and communications provider from Kildare, has been involved with Croke Park for nearly 15 years. This year, the Mongey team finished its extensive upgrade of the audio f

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UK - The MJR Group has partnered with venues in Leeds and Southampton to develop and deliver their live events programmes and operations.
The Warehouse in Leeds will benefit from investment in its production infrastructure, with new staging, audio and lighting systems. The venue, which is marking its 40th anniversary this year, has been a regular venue on the touring circuit in the past, hosting the likes of U2, Oasis, Soft Cell, The Stone Roses and Pulp.
Over in Southampton, Switch, a 1,500-capacity former cinema theatre, has previously welcomed an international string of club and party bands and artists, hosting the likes of Stormzy, DJ EZ, Paul Woolford and Andy C. The MJR Group is planning to introduce live music events at the venue, which is already being refurbished, including new staging, lighting and screens throughout. An internal re-design will turn the club

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Egypt - The Al Masah Hotel and Spa in Cairo has installed 16 Claypaky Supersharpy moving heads provided by AV equipment retailer, Audio Technology. The fixtures were part of a new build phase at the luxury hotel, a favourite for hosting prestigious weddings and events in the capital.
The Supersharpys were installed in the lighting grid of the hotel’s Andalusite Hall, one of the largest ballrooms in Cairo. It seats up to 1,200 guests and features 15 balconies for private celebrity and VIP invitees.
“We know the outstanding performance of the Supersharpy with its powerful beam light and recommended it to the client,” says Emad Adly, Audio Technology’s president.
“The fixtures are used in many different set ups as required by the events staged in the ballroom,” adds Adly. “The Supersharpys offer diversity and flexibility for these events and have been

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Australia - Tokyo Sing Song is located in the basement of the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, Sydney and although the 200-capacity venue is compact, since it opened in 2014 it’s earned a reputation for its loud late-night parties and electric atmosphere.
In late 2018, Harold Dumke, Tokyo Sing Song’s marketing and entertainment coordinator, was made an offer he couldn’t refuse. In partnership with DJW Projects, Pioneer Pro Audio gave him the opportunity to install the brand’s first sound system in Australasia, replacing the club’s old PA. “I was completely blown away,” remembers Dumke. “I thought we were very lucky to be able to have a top-tier product from Pioneer Pro Audio that no one had seen or heard before in Australia.”
The musical offering at Tokyo Sing Song is so diverse - with DJs and live acts playing everything from hip-hop, disco, and soul, t

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UK - A Zero 88 lighting control solution - including FLX S48 lighting console and Bypass dimmer / switchpacks - has been supplied to St Andrew’s School in Woking, Surrey, UK, by rental, sales and installations specialist Henley Theatre Services (HTS).
The school, founded in 1937, is a respected co-educational prep school for around 300 children aged 3 to 13. As part of a commitment to deliver a stimulating and vibrant educational and developmental environment for its pupils, last year St Andrew’s invested in a new, 230-capacity purpose-built theatre - the Little Field Theatre - and rehearsal space in its 11-acre grounds.
The venue’s technical specification - including the Zero 88 elements - was delivered by consultants Theatre tech who designed the production lighting, sound and comms systems. A tender issued for the equipment supply was won by HTS who liaised c

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USA - Vari-Lite and Strand, part of Signify, are meeting the demand for state-of-the-art technology at the new $88m Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas. The flagship education and arts facility benefits from over 600 lighting fixtures as well as control and networking technology from the two lighting equipment brands.
Designed by Gensler Architects, the HSPVA features an 800-seat main theatre, plus a Black Box theatre, a mini theatre, recital hall, dance studios and recording studio. In addition to its educational programme, it will also play a lead role in the cultural life of Houston’s thriving downtown arts district.
“This is not your typical high school space,” says Chris Purpura, who led the project on behalf of theatre consultancy WJHW Inc. “This is a state-of-the-art performing arts facility with many different

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USA - Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Centre, home to the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Seattle Opera, upgraded its wireless intercoms with four Radio Active Designs (RAD) UV-1G base stations and 24 belt packs provided by Lift AV, also of Seattle.
“When we heard about the frequency restack we immediately worked on getting ahead of it,” explains John Coulter, AV technician for Seattle Centre. “We compared three or four different intercom systems but, in the end, the RAD units provided the frequency agility and signal latency our residents needed.”
McCaw Hall opened in 2003 after a $127m renovation of the Seattle Opera House. The Hall is owned by the City of Seattle and operated by Seattle Center. McCaw Hall is home to the 2,900-seat Susan Brotman Auditorium, the 380-seat Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, multiple lobbies and a public plaza that serves as entry int

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Canada - Based in Ottawa, and designed in the brutalist architectural style, Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) has been serving the performing arts since 1969.
A bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for Canada’s most creative artists, the NAC strives to be artistically adventurous in each of its programming streams - the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre and NAC Presents. Offering a variety of free programming and events, The Centre collaborates with artists and arts organizations across the country, invests in ambitious new works and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada.
As part of a recent $110m overhaul, globally-renowned integrators, Engineering Harmonics, were hired to design a comprehensive audio/visual system that would service their needs for the next 15 years and beyond.
The

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USA - Hollywood venue The Hotel Café has become a go-to place for intimate sets by singer-songwriters, both in its main room, opened in 2000, and the second room, opened in 2016.
The venue, whose two intimate spaces accommodate between 50 and 180 people, respectively, has hosted performances by such artists as John Mayer, Katy Perry, Adele, Sara Bareilles, Hozier, Ed Sheeran and Lucinda Williams. These rooms are capable of some very big sound, with sonic quality provided by systems from Bose Professional.
Hotel Café’s main room is equipped with a Bose Professional RoomMatch DeltaQ Array Loudspeaker system - one RoomMatch module on each side of the stage buttressed with a RoomMatch RMS218 dual-18 subwoofer (powered by one PowerMatch PM8500N networked amplifier for the RoomMatch speakers and an additional PM8500N for the subwoofer).
The club’s second room has

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China - With over 100 years of history behind it, Nantong Middle School in China’s Jiangsu Province is looking to the future thanks to a new auditorium equipped with Martin Audio loudspeaker systems.
Founded in 1909 by Qing era industrialist and educator Zhang Jian, Jiangsu Nantong Middle School is well known across the province and the country. It is one of the first middle schools in the province set up in the modern fashion and its alumni include politicians, nationally renowned artists, award winning scientists and five Olympic gold medallists.
The new multi-purpose hall in the Chongya Building on the main campus was dedicated to celebrate the school’s 110th anniversary, and the school required a high-quality sound system to suit the building. Their choice was the Martin Audio MLA Mini, for its consistent sound field coverage and high resolution, as well as th

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The Netherlands - The Wilminktheater & Muziekcentrum concert hall in Enschede have recently benefited from an investment in Robe’s T1 Profile LED moving lights.
Lighting specialist Paul de Vries has been involved since the facility opened 11 years ago and so has most of the lighting kit, including some legacy Robe fixtures from the ColorSpot and Wash 575 series. Whilst still fully functional, the time came to freshen up and reinvest in new lighting to ensure the venues kept up with the latest technologies.
This has come with the 12 Robe T1 Profiles which are replacing the older moving lights for use in both the theatre and the concert hall.
To pick the most suitable fixtures, De Vries organised a ‘shootout’ between six major brands, with Jeroen van Aalst from Robe’s Benelux distributor Controllux demo’ing the T1. This demo impressed De Vries and his

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Denmark - The Rytmisk Sal of Musikhuset Aarhus - the largest music house in the Nordic region - has upgraded its stage machinery system with ETC’s Prodigy P2 hoist and QuickTouch+ 12 controller.
The popular culture and events house draws over a million visitors each year for concerts, musicals, theatre shows, opera and much more. The building’s lighting and technical teams had been looking to renovate the rigging system in the Rytmisk Sal (or rhythmic hall), also known as the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll hall’ in the music house.
Head of lighting at Musikhuset Aarhus, Ole Nielsen, came across ETC’s range of upper stage machinery products during a visit to the renowned ETC factory in Middleton, USA and was keen to find out more. He recommended the equipment to head of production Jonas Knive, which lead to Atendi, the Danish distributor of ETC, being contacted to supply

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Belarus - Kraftwerk Trade LLC, the exclusive distributor for Adamson Systems Engineering in the Republic of Belarus, has installed the country’s first permanent S-Series solution in the Grodno Regional Philharmonic’s new concert hall.
In addition to being the professional home for the philharmonic, known locally as Kapella Grodno, the hall will serve as a creative and cultural hub for both the city and wider region of Grodno in Western Belarus, presenting various artistic disciplines for residents and visitors alike.
“As the new, state-of-the-art home for arts and culture in Grodno, this venue will showcase world-class artists and performers, so we were tasked with installing a world-class audio system that would properly cater to their needs,” shares Ulyana Barkova, deputy commercial director, sales & field services division, with Kraftwerk Trade. “Adams

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South Africa - Saint Thomas Church in Linden sought to upgrade its sound, with a quality solution that would not detract from the church’s looks and not break the bank. They got their solution from DWR Distribution in the form of Quest Audio and Audix microphones.
“We didn’t want it to look out of place and we did need to get better sound,” says Gift Chanza the head of Sound Ministry at Saint Thomas, “The Quest loudspeakers were exactly what we needed”. Three HPI Quest speakers were installed in the main hall. The left and right being handled by two Quest HPI8i two-way passive loudspeakers hidden within the Churches woodwork and the centre speaker, a Quest HPI111 compact loudspeaker, hangs from the middle of the ceiling.
An additional White HPI5 high output loudspeaker sits in the room adjacent main hall. These speakers have the church fully covered for sou
  1. Martin illuminates Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque
  2. Claypaky lights Moscow’s Zaryadye concert hall
  3. Prolights LED lights Acorn Theatre upgrade
  4. EM Acoustics revives Hastings’ White Rock Theatre
  5. Brooklyn Tabernacle upgrades with ChamSys
  6. K-array solution for Romeo and Juliet at LIPA
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