After celebrating 15 years lighting My Morning Jacket (MMJ) – including seven design cycles – any LD could be forgiven for running out of fresh ideas.
But not Marc Janowitz, who recently started using GLP’s innovative KNV Dots – the latest in a long history of discovering solutions within the German company’s fast-evolving LED inventory.
When lighting designer Henning Schletter received a commission to develop a light art installation in a former study room of the Bauhaus building in Dessau, he didn’t have to think twice. As part of the Bauhaus Festival 2021, an interactive installation was created in which the building’s vertically opening windows, in combination with FUSION Exo Beam spotlights from GLP, sparked a light spectacle with contemporary relevance.
“For someone who is very interested in design himself, the Bauhaus is the Holy Grail,” says Schletter, who specializes in the theatre and installation sectors, as well as light art and video, and Berlin Fashion Week. “The Bauhaus was a breeding ground for everything that involves us today in terms of modern design. It was really great to be able to work in these ‘sacred halls’ for once.”
Elation Professional is pleased to welcome Ross Blitz to the company’s growing US sales team in the position of Channel Market Manager – East. Ross, who is based in New York City, started in the new position in late February with a primary focus on the key vertical markets of live entertainment and broadcast & film across the Eastern US.
Ross brings with him invaluable experience as a lighting director, programmer and production manager from years working in concert touring, television and broadcast. He spent the last 10 years as a concert touring lighting director, honing and expanding his lighting skills while developing important relationships in the live performance market. His many credits include working as Lighting and Media Director for Lionel Richie, as well as serving on the lighting team for three Olympic Games (2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2018 South Korea, and 2020 Tokyo).
Elation Professional is pleased to welcome experienced industry professional Jonas Stenvinkel to its European-based sales team. Jonas, a native Swede who works from a base in London, joined the growing Elation sales department on March 1st and is tasked with overseeing some of the company’s most important growth markets including Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Africa.
Jonas, a 20-year industry veteran, brings with him broad international sales and marketing experience and has a proven track record in leading sales teams to new goals and growth. He comes to Elation from a similar position at Ayrton. His industry journey began at Martin Professional in 2003, which included a 3-year assignment in Singapore as managing director for Martin’s APAC office. He later moved to London to work for Harman International in a senior EMEA role.
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that the industry mourns the loss of Juan ‘JC’ Faxas. A former employee of the ADJ Group of Companies and a beloved friend and colleague to many, JC sadly passed away unexpectedly on February 12, 2022. He leaves behind a devoted wife, two loving daughters, and many friends who were drawn to his outgoing personality, keen sense of humor, but most of all his big heart.
Juan Faxas, known to his many friends and colleagues as JC, was born on February 21st, 1962. At the age of six his family fled communist Cuba to build better lives for themselves in the United States. Settling in California, JC attended South California Military Academy, Long Beach, as well as Warren High School, and graduated in 1980. Music was a passion from an early age; JC enjoyed singing and playing guitar as well as playing other artistes’ music as a DJ. In 1977, while still at High School, he founded Discomania and performed at weddings and parties throughout Los Angeles. He quickly expanded his business to larger venues and clubs through the late ‘80s, and continued to create music and produced his own dance records while also opening for some of the top dance acts of the day.
Since its launch, Obsidian Control Systems has experienced sustained growth of its user base, along with a high demand for in-person ONYX console training. Obsidian is pleased to announce the expansion of our team with two experienced and knowledgeable members tasked with providing the support, programming advice and training capabilities Obsidian customers expect from a leading lighting controller brand.
Matthew Gerardi will lead Obsidian Control Systems’ Technical Support division with focus on ONYX, NETRON and Capture, working out of Obsidian’s headquarter office in Los Angeles. Matthew comes to Obsidian with an extensive background as a technical director and lighting technician and brings with him wide-ranging field experience with lighting control systems and AV networking across all major lighting control platforms. In his new role, Matthew will work alongside Obsidian users to evolve ONYX, and will focus on ONYX and NETRON training sessions throughout the US, in person and online.
Young German pop singer Nico Laska recently presented his debut album, NI/CO, at a sold-out event at the Frankfurt club Nachtleben. Working alongside him was lighting designer and operator Patrick Rabus, a long-time friend of the musician. In order to give the small basement club an atmosphere worthy of the occasion, Rabus turned to GLP’s JDC Line and FUSION Exo Wash.
“The Nachtleben is a typical basement club, with everything that basement clubs have to offer: low ceilings with nowhere to hang lamps, limited power availability, and very spartan house lights,” laughs Rabus. “And then I come in with my own lighting set when the house technicians haven’t worked in the club for months due to the pandemic. That was exciting for everyone involved.”
‘Nicky Romero and Friends Presents NewYear Show 2022’ was streamed exclusively on Nicky’s website from 10pm until 1am, local time. It featured warm up DJ Marc Benjamin, a guest performance from Wildstylez, and an hour-long set from Nicky himself to welcome in the New Year. Filmed outdoors in front of the iconic Kreelpoort (town gate) in Nicky’s hometown of Veenendaal in The Netherlands, the livestream was organized by his management company, Artist Division. Ronald de Man, through his company RDM Productions, was responsible for managing the project and brought in local rental company N.T. Sound to supply all the lighting and audio equipment, including over 100 ADJ fixtures. The company’s owner and manager, Jonathan Jansen, designed the lighting rig, while programming and operating duties were handled by Koen van Elderen, one of the most prolific Lighting Designers and Programmers in the Dutch EDM scene.
“The brief from the customer was to create something nice with LED strips and moving heads that would fill the street in front of monument and they liked the idea of curved lines,” explains Jonathan. “So, I came up with a design based on four arcs of fixtures in front of the DJ position and another arc, curving in the opposite direction, behind. This put Nicky and the other DJs right in the middle of the rig. Then we also lit the Kreelpoort itself and put moving heads behind and also within the structure, so that it could be filled with beams and GOBO projections. Koen did a really great job of using the rig to its full potential, he created a really interesting show that made good use of all the different fixture types and locations. He is a very talented programmer and operator; he is very creative and everything he does looks nice, so kudos to him on a great job!”
Nanolumens, world-class creators of creative LED displays, has partnered with Megapixel VR, innovators in LED technology, to offer their customers greater reliability and quality when selecting their displays. This partnership brings a secure and complete product offering with top-tier video performance and easier control for large and/or multiple displays. Both US-based manufacturers look to bring unsurpassed video performance for LED video wall projects with their alliance.
“Partnerships that enhance our product offering and provide our partners and clients with a total display solution are key to our success. We’re thrilled to collaborate with Megapixel VR and offer our clients a strong ecosystem alliance. Like our products, Megapixel VR’s products are TAA and NDAA 889 compliant which offers our clients a complete end-to-end solution for secure environments. When you see the difference in video quality, combined with the ease of controlling large and/or multiple displays, hands down Megapixel VR is the optimal partner to expand our product offering,” says Brice McPheeters, Vice President of Product and Planning for Nanolumens.
Leading full-service lighting, video, and rigging company 4Wall Entertainment has added a number of Elation lighting products to its rental inventory across its US locations, acquisitions that included Elation’s award-winning Artiste™, Proteus™ and Smarty™ series luminaires, as well as other products.
“Elation continues to impress us with consistent quality and a robust feature set of their products,” said Senior VP of Operations & Product Strategy, Brett Puwalski. “The Artiste series will be a workhorse for our clients and adding the Proteus Lucius was a natural fit next to the IP65-rated Proteus Maximus and Hybrid fixtures that have been very successful for us over the past few years.”
