UK - MA Lighting has announced that from 1 April, Glyn O'Donoghue will support and strengthen its UK team as general manager. This is a part-time role which will allow Glyn to fulfil a new Business Development role, working alongside Ashley Lewis at Clay Paky UK. Glyn, who previously worked for 20 years at A.C. Lighting, knows both manufacturers and the UK lighting and control market extremely well.

MA Lighting's managing director Michael Althaus comments: "With Glyn, we are aiming to further develop and strengthen our market position and to enter the next level of customer suppo

UK - Prolyte Products UK Limited (formerly Litestructures) has announced the appointment of Miles Marsden as head of UK sales. Formerly sales director and shareholder of Bradford based The Music Company, Marsden brings with him a raft of experience in all sectors of the entertainment business allied to an intuitive commercial approach.

One of his first tasks was to integrate a hugely increased product portfolio, and this was coordinated directly with support from the technical team at Prolyte Leek. Also joining at the turn of the year was Debbie Powell as a new and valued addition to

UK - DiGiCo has appointed Ian Staddon as vice-president of sales. Staddon's lengthy tenure with the Harman Group included working for Soundcraft, and more recently as VP sales for Studer.

"In our industry, it's good to watch what others are doing," he says. "DiGiCo has always been an interesting company and, with the arrival of the SD Range and Stealth Digital Processing you really couldn't help but notice them.

"Since the introduction of the SD7, in late 2007, they have consistently launched products that meet the market's requirements. At PLASA 2010, the SD-Rac

USA/UK - High End Systems has announced the hiring of Chris Ferrante as an international sales manager. Ferrante returns to High End Systems after spending the last two years working in the concert touring department of XL Video in the UK. In his new role at High End Systems, he is responsible for the territories of the UK, Ireland, Southern Europe, the Middles East, Africa, and India.

Ferrante says, "I am very pleased to be returning to High End Systems. The recent and upcoming fixture releases along with the product road map are very exciting. It is thrilling to get back to the

UK - Paul Molyneux, managing director of Sharp UK, has been appointed COO and deputy group general manager of Europe Group, and vice president of Sharp Electronics European Group (SEEG). The appointment comes following Molyneux's success heading up Sharp UK over the last six years, including relocating the business to London, rolling out the This Is Whybrand ethos, and achieving the accolade of one of Britain's top employers.

Molyneux, who was the first non-Japanese UK MD, will be responsible for all of Sharp's European sales subsidiaries and Sharp Microelectronics Europe, as w

USA - EAW is expanding the capabilities of its Application Support Group (ASG) by appointing Jerrold Stevens to the position of director, EAW Application Support Group (ASG), effective mid-May 2011. The announcement was made by Jeff Rocha, EAW vice president and general manager, and further underscores EAW's commitment to customer support, education and the ongoing development of market-driven products.

The director of application support is the worldwide technical liaison between EAW's customers and their sales and product development organizations. This role includes direct oversigh

USA - Liberty AV Solutions has named Tony Carr as its new Southwestern territory manager. An accomplished industry veteran who comes to the post from Samsung Electronics, Carr will assist in directing Liberty's sales efforts in Southern California, Arizona, Southern Nevada, and Hawaii.

Reporting directly to Liberty's director of Western regional sales David Ellis, Carr will work hand-in-hand with the company's independent manufacturer's reps to serve customers throughout his territory. As the latest addition to an overall sales force reorganization that began last year, he will be sup

UK - Orbital Sound has expanded its project and support team with two new appointments. Carl Rutherford has joined as project manager, while Lucy Jenkins is the new face on the rental desk.

Rutherford's background includes the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, and general manager of the National Youth Music Theatre. As part of Orbital's expanding project management team, he will be responsible for managing a wide portfolio, across the spectrum of entertainment industry events.

Director of Theatrical Operations, Luke Hyde comments, "Orbital's reputation is based on being able t

UK - Philips Entertainment Lighting has promoted Amber Tomlin to the position of key account manager for the UK, effective immediately. For the past five years Tomlin has been the company's demonstration and training manager for Philips Strand Lighting's range of Palette consoles.

"I'm delighted to have been promoted," says Tomlin. "Since working for Philips Entertainment Lighting, I've been impressed with the company's innovative and sustainable approach to lighting technology. Today Strand Lighting products are top contenders in the marketplace and it's been great to

Italy - SGM has added two vastly experienced personnel to its sales force as it seeks to increase its profile in the key export markets. Announced at the Prolight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, where the company unveiled seven new products, was the news that Troels V°lver has taken on the role of new export manager for North America and Asia Pacific, based in Denmark, while Steen V. Geertsen will operate in a similar area manager capacity, focusing on sales and business development of the SGM brand in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia and part of the Arab regions.

Troels V°l

UK - GDS has announced that Nick Read has joined the company as head of its newly created special projects division - GDS Specials. Read has over 22 years experience in the entertainments industry and brings with him wide range of skills, working recently as the head of hire and events for Northern Light and previously running his own successful hire company.

With an electrical engineering background he also boasts experience as a project manager, overseeing the €1m technical-build of Wexford opera house. He has worked around the UK and Europe as a freelance engineer and lighting des

UK - Blinding Light Ltd has announced that industry-renowned lighting designer Anthony Hall ("Turbo") will be joining its team this April. The addition of Turbo to Blinding Light's team will help to enhance the company's already established in-house design capability to offer its clients a comprehensive service, says Blinding Light.

"2010 was a milestone year for Blinding Light," commented managing director, Patrick Stacey. "In August, as a result of the company's growth, we moved into brand new premises that met our requirements for increased warehouse and pr

UK - Rigging Services has announced the appointment of Scott McAughtrie as manager of its North West branch in Manchester, UK. McAughtrie has a strong event industry background spanning more than 20 years. Formerly with well known AV providers Gearhouse, Blitz and MCL he brings a wealth of maturity and experience with him, which is already proving beneficial to the development of new business as well as growth with existing clients.

Rigging Services has opened its third location in the UK just over two years ago in Manchester and has great aspirations for business growth regionally.

USA - An audio industry pioneer, Roger Nichols played an instrumental role in a Meyer Sound milestone when he inspired the company to develop the HD-1 reference loudspeaker into a near-field monitoring system for recording studios and live mixing environments. Nichols was the first engineer to use HD-1 monitors for a recording - Flying Cowboys by Rickie Lee Jones. Other artists who worked with Nichols include Placido Domingo, Roseanne Cash, Frank Sinatra, and The Beach Boys.

"It takes a visionary like Roger to steer change and break new grounds in technology," says John Meye

USA / Germany - Bosch Security Systems, Inc., Communications Systems Division has announced that Phillip Scobee will join the Electro-Voice team as product manager, Electro-Voice Concert Sound.

Best-known as the designer of high-end touring sound systems for artists such as Kenny Chesney and Sugarland, Scobee brings long experience and an end-user's perspective to his new position, where he will be responsible for both new and existing Electro-Voice concert product lines.

Scobee's connection to Electro-Voice equipment dates back to his early-career involvement with installed sound a

Denmark - SGM has added two experienced personnel to its sales force as it seeks to increase its profile in the key export markets. The company has announced that Troels V°lver has taken on the role of new export manager, North America and Asia Pacific, based in Denmark.

V°lver built up a large distributor network during his time in the industry and was CEO of Martin Professional Inc before leaving in 2005 to take up an export role with another Danish company.

At the same time SGM has announced that Steen V. Geertsen will operate in a similar area manager capacity, focusing

UK - As the company becomes engaged in more and more projects around the world, independent media and communications technology consultancy

Visual Acuity has made a key new appointment to strengthen its technical system design resource.

Luke George joins the team this month as a technical design consultant, reporting directly to the Visual Acuity board. George is an InfoComm CTS-qualified professional who joins after spells with Creative Technology, Roger Preston & Partners and, most recently, Mark Johnson Consultants.

Explaining the significance of the appointment, Frank Sheehan,

UK - Mark Millar has joined Tannoy's expanding marketing team, based at the UK-based company's headquarters in Coatbridge, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Millar will "bring new capabilities and added bandwidth" to the team under the remit of communications manager Mark Flanagan, pursing related editorial and media opportunities for Tannoy, as well as sister brands Lab.gruppen and Lake.

Having worked in magazine journalism at senior editorial level for over 10 years, Millar brings to his new role a wealth of experience within the music and audio press sector.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Autograph has announced the appointment of Scott Fraser as technical sales manager, for their Sales & Installations division.

Scott joins Autograph following 5 years at Yamaha Commercial Audio, where he specialised in system design and networked audio projects, varying from Westminster Abbey to the Pyramid State at Glastonbury.

"I am excited to join Autograph, at such a pivotal time," Scott explains. "I feel I am well positioned to help expand their already hugely successful installations division. Having worked with the sister company as a supplier, I've seen fi

Belgium - APart Audio has appointed Romano M. Cunsolo as their new account manager export for Central Europe.

Cunsolo has worked in the professional Audio industry since 1984 and brings a wide range of experience in acoustics and electronics. During his career he worked as sales, marketing and product manager for Dynacord and Electro Voice. After eight years as a regional manager for central and Eastern Europe at Biamp Systems he now joins APart as from 1 May 2011.

"I am very happy to start at APart Audio, a young and very dedicated team of people, who want to make a difference

UK - Avid has appointed Mick Brophy as European sales manager for its Live Sound division. Mick will be heading up Avid's Live Sound European sales team, with a focus on driving sales of the Avid VENUE live sound console range.

Mick brings with him over 25 years' experience in the live sound industry. Before joining Avid, he spent four years in Barcelona as the international sales and marketing director of professional products for Vieta, based at SeeSound, Avid's Spanish and Portuguese distributor. In this role he drove sales of the VENUE product range in Portugal, gaining extensive

Germany - Effective from 1 August 2011, Peter Claussen will take over responsibility of the Installed Sound Business Division at audio specialist Sennheiser. Claussen joins Sennheiser from the IT company Höft & Wessel AG. His last post at the company was as deputy chairman of the management board. The Installed Sound Business Division has until now been provisionally led by Dr. Heinrich Esser. As divisional president, Claussen will become a member of Sennheiser's Executive Management Board.

In his new post, Peter Claussen will be responsible for installed sound technology. His core r

UK - After nearly five years at Mondiale Publishing, TPi editor Rachel Esson has left to try her hand at PR & Marketing with Yorkshire's newly re-branded rehearsal and production facility LS-Live.

Rachel will be co-ordinating all aspects of PR and marketing for the company, based at the South Kirkby headquarters initially and then working remotely from London. She commented: "I'm very sad to leave TPi but equally excited to be taking on a new challenge at LS-Live. It's a new role and there will be lots to get my teeth into considering it has undergone a dramatic transformation wi

UK - Content production provider, Bracken Media has teamed up with industry PR and new-media specialist Stephanie Dell of Sound Marketing to form partnership in the emerging micro film market.

Mark Bracken and Stephanie Dell have over 35 years combined experience in the professional audio and lighting industry and have worked together in various roles over the past two decades. The pair announced the launch of their new partnership at this year's PLASA Focus show, whilst working on their first commercial projects together.

Bracken Media produces professional video content including,

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