The wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco to Charlene Wittstock will be remembered as one of the media highlights of the year 2011: countless TV stations all over the world broadcast the entire ceremony live. In fact, the passionate enthusiasm of the population of Monte Carlo spilled over into neighbouring France with no less fervour, with over 7.5 million viewers following the proceedings live in the Hexagon on July 1st and 2nd.

Running from August to October each year, the Ruhrtriennale international festival brings music, dance, theatre, performance and other arts together in the former industrial buildings of Germany’s Ruhr region. The festival’s focal point is the Jahrhunderthalle, a former boiler house for the vast Krupp steelworks in Bochum. Its acoustics provide many challenges for audio engineers, but this year a Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 console helped to tame the sound for the opera Alceste.

In cooperation with its Russian partner Sovremenniye Tekhnologiyi Zvuka, Stage Tec, the Berlin-based digital audio equipment manufacturer, has just completed a fascinating project. An AURUS platinum mixing console and a large NEXUS routing network were installed in Skolkovo, which is situated just outside Moscow. This is where one of the world's largest technology centres is being built, a kind of Russian Silicon Valley. Previously home to 400 people, in future 25,000 are expected to live and work here.

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama - Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru – National Conservatoire of Wales in Cardiff, UK provides specialist practical and performance-based training that enables young professional artists to enter and influence the world of music, theatre and related professions, and offers acclaimed undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Technical Theatre and Stage & Event Management. These have spawned many future entertainment technology industry professionals.

Set designer Sid Scott worked closely with lighting designer Nigel Catmur on crafting the aesthetic for the main hub of the event, the Pafiliwn, an 1800 capacity theatre space which hosts various live performances, competitions and the main crowning ceremonies held throughout the week long event.

This year for the first time the Pafiliwn was staged in a new venue - a 60 metre long by 40 metre deep pavilion structure from staging specialist Neptunus Structures, based on their fully insulated Evolution II temporary building system and featuring around 9 lofty metres of headroom.

The main hub of the BBC’s 2015 Children in Need telethon was again Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, where the marathon 7 hour live broadcast on BBC One united a glittering array of stars and a myriad of special collaborations all of which – along with thousands of activities taking place nationwide – helped raise an incredible 37 million pounds for the fundraising campaign.

The soundscape imagined by director Andreas Kriegenburg for the new production of “Don Juan kommt aus dem Krieg” at the Salzburg Festival (18 July through 31 August 2014) required top-notch equipment and talented engineers. Managing the high number of cues and microphone signals was only possible thanks to the decision of Salzburg Festival’s technical director, Andreas Zechner, to use a Salzbrenner Polaris Touch mixing console consisting of three modules. Renowned for their reliability, product quality and scalability, this German-made solution was deemed indispensable for the sound effects and other audio props requested by the director.

The Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup has come to be considered one of the leading system integrators for turnkey solutions all over the world, with over 50 years experience gathered in both small and large venues. Its services include consulting and planning activities, system installation and delivery and, as a matter of course, providing support. The company’s track record almost reads like a who’s who: Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), Zurich Opera House, Dutch National Opera, Baku Drama Theatre (Azerbaijan), Vienna’s State Opera, Volkstheater and State Theatre, Munich’s Kammerspiele and State Opera, the State Theatres in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt and Kassel, Bonn Opera, Münster Theatre, Hamburg’s State Opera and Semperoper in Dresden.

As we all go through the COVID 19 situation, a great many sayings have emerged. Most were, at first, clever, uplifting, and catchy. Now, as we enter weeks nine and beyond, some of them do not ring so true to many people. Perhaps the most problematic catch phrase is now “We Are All In This Together.” As many people have now been without any form of income for eight weeks, a clear distinction has come to the forefront. Yes, we are all in this together, but it is deeper than that.

San Antonio’s new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts will open in September with a complement of Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 fixtures dedicated to both the H-E-B Performance Hall and the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater.

The courtyard of the castle St. Emmaran in Regensburg, Germany, has provided the location for the Thurn-and-Taxis festival (“Schlossfestspiele”) since 2002. As in previous years, the festival’s patroness, princess Gloria, took the opportunity to appear as a supporting actress.  During the “Rocky Horror Show”, she roared onto the stage on a Harley Davidson, and later took a small speaking part and appeared in the chorus.

Picture the scene. You are visiting an art exhibition, but the only things you can see are blank canvases. Yet the room is filling up with expectant visitors, and four people begin to fill the canvases with words. Suddenly, you recognise yourself in those words! This is exactly what has been happening in early July at the Cologne Artothek, where Juergen Staack is presenting “Script”, his latest art project, using Sennheiser wireless technology.

The Zurich Opera House is internationally recognized as one of the world’s most successful theatres. Year after year it hosts over 300 opera and ballet performances, concerts and recitals, all at the highest artistic level. This season, the programme included Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’, as well as a premiere of Rossini’s ‘The Silken Ladder’. And now, in two stages, an upgrade of the opera house audio system has been completed with a Lawo mc²66 console at its heart.

The organizers of the papal visit to Berlin, Freiburg and Erfurt used comprehensive communication and AV systems from Riedel Communications to ensure successful events. Riedel, one of the leading manufacturers of real-time networks for video, audio and communications delivered a solution that included digital trunked radios (TETRA), Artist digital matrix intercom, as well as the fiber based media network MediorNet and the digital audio network RockNet.

The amphitheater in the Austrian town of Bregenz is known worldwide. The venue is located directly on the shore of Lake Constance and the stage itself floats on the water. But not just the place is remarkable. The stage designs are equally beautiful and impressive - created for two-year productions, which on its own enlarges the borders for creativity. This year, luminaires from SGM Light played an important role in Markus Holdermann’s stage concept.