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Does your school, music group, band or choir own customised gold blocked music folders with your logo or crest on the cover? The chances are we have your die on file at Black Cat Music. And if you want some more and wondered where they came from or who ordered them, then why not give us a call.

Marketing Manager, Alice Dagger asks, 'Did you know that we keep a library of customers' printing dies?' The gold-blocking team at Black Cat Music takes great pride and care in fulfilling printing orders for customers who opt to have their choral or orchestral folders gold-blocked. Every time that we create a printing die with a customer's school crest or logo, we keep that die stored away carefully for the customer's future use. Since we began gold-blocking folders over 20 years ago, we have built up an impressive store of printing dies. We are conscious that school teaching staff and company employees can change over the years, and we think that there are customers out there who may not be aware that we have their die in stock. Give us a call - we can create beautiful gold-blocked folders with school crests or company logos quickly and inexpensively - and they will look beautiful for years to come.'

Just to make ordering simpler we have recently introduced a new online ordering option. To use the new system simply click on the “Require gold-blocking” check box on the product page and complete the form that opens up.

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Music Education Expo organiser Rhinegold has announced some important dates ahead of the 2015 show which takes place from 12th to 13th March at the Barbican in London. Black Cat Music and sister company MusicPracticeRooms.com are both Platinum Sponsors and will be exhibiting and also participating in the associated conference.

The conference ‘Call for Papers’ is now open and will close 18th September, so now is the time to be putting forward ideas for papers that will be reviewed for possible inclusion in the Conference Programme.

Nominations for Awards meanwhile opens 4th August. There are a number of categories for the Annual Awards which are presented at the Gala Dinner being held at a new venue this year in the Wren Suite of the Grange St Paul’s Hotel. The closing date for nominations is 24th October and finalists will be announced on 21st November.

And finally, make a note that Registration opens 1st September. Don’t forget – it is free to attend.

You can keep in touch with news and announcements for Music Education Expo on all the Black Cat Music and MusicPracticeRooms.com news feeds and social media channels, or visit Music Education Expo

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The Jefferson Connection from Bloomington-Jefferson High School put Wenger StageTek through its paces recently and captured the results on video.

The great thing about StageTek is that it is quick and easy to set up and doesn’t even require any tools to assemble. Follow this link to YouTube now and see for yourself how 16, 4 ft x 8 ft StageTek platforms with 8 inch, 21 inch and 32 inch legs were set up to provide a great performance platform for Jefferson Connection to run through their performance.

Portable staging that is easy to transport and store, yet is strong, safe and configurable into any combination is setting new standards thanks to the Wenger StageTek™ system, available from Black Cat Music. StageTek™ is a refined smart staging system resulting from extensive research, engineering and technical advancements in materials and manufacturing. These technical advances have resulted in a staging system that is 20% lighter, stronger, easier to handle and faster to set up.

Affordably priced, when it comes to stretching investment across multiple needs like seated risers and performance stages, this new system has it all. But there is no compromise on performance, comfortably exceeding required standards on three critical loading capacity measures for uniform load, point load and dynamic load. Plus it is easy to handle, lighter to lift and with nice smooth edges for safety it is really easy to set up too. Anyone can set up StageTek in minutes, all without the need for any tools.

Configurations including single or multi-level stages, thrust stages, choral risers, runways and many more options become possible in both scale and shape facilitated by a selection of different height, ‘plug-in’ legs. These simple to use, economical but strong plug-in legs secured by hand-turned locking knobs make hundreds of configurations possible to meet a wide variety of needs.

When it is time to dismantle, legs can be stored on the underside of the deck and panels quickly loaded on to a storage and transport cart that fits through standard door sizes. Designed to save as much as 50% in storage space compared to other systems, StageTek can be wheeled to a storage place or transported to another venue.

Assembling Wenger 3-Step Choral Risers is a piece of cake thanks to a new explanatory video from Wenger.

In little more than 3 minutes the assembly instructions video steps through the assembly stages right from removing the shipping packaging to the completed system. Mostly a job for one person with a few basic tools, the Signature Risers are lightweight and easy to move around yet offer excellent stability. A back rail gives added safety for performers and it all folds down to a compact 1.8m wide x 0.7m deep x 1.7m high for storage.

With the summer solstice already behind us there is just one week left to take advantage of our June offer to buy Wenger Preface Conductor’s music stands at a 10% discount compared to the usual price.

Already affordably priced thanks to elegant design and clever engineering, the Preface Conductor’s stand still benefits from plenty of useful features. This stylish conductor's stand enjoys a large desk, a sleek, non-scratch black surface, and dual posts offering superb stability and strength. Although robust it's also extremely lightweight and easy to use and store. The tilting desk permits easy angle adjustment while integrated storage keeps all the conductor's needs nearby and out-of-sight. In fact, it's been exquisitely fine-tuned to give conductors more stand for less money. Plus each stand comes with a 5-year warranty.

For full details of the Preface Conductor’s stand and to take advantage of this special offer visit the Black Cat Music web site.

When cable storage looks like an out of control mass of spaghetti, then it is probably time to turn to Wenger Fixed Media Storage Cabinets, available from Black Cat Music.

Wenger Corporation has produced a video to show how an unruly space used to store lighting, sound, video equipment along with cables, connectors, stands and all the other accessories essential to the technical side of school theatrical and musical productions, can be tamed. Recognising that expensive equipment needs to be looked after to prevent damage and organised so that the right components can be quickly located, Wenger came up with a smart solution designed to bring organisation, protection and secure storage to the increasing inventory of media and AV equipment being used in schools.

It is not just the main assets but the all important adaptors, interconnecting cables and anciliary devices that are part of the package; frustrating and wasteful on teaching time if just one item is missing. Something that can easily happen without a well thought out storage solution for diverse equipment put away between the classes for which it is required.

Wenger’s fixed cabinets can help transform a chaotic storage area into one to be proud of. Perfect for storage rooms or in-classroom lockable storage, they come in three types -Standard, Rackmount and Organizer. Each allows a high degree of customisation through choosing which shelves, drawers and other accessories suits the requirement.

The system offers considerable flexibility with different sizes available, mix and match interior with adjustable components, shelves, slide out shelves, file drawer, 4" drawer. Rackmount sections available for easy access to electronic components with an organiser option available for fixed storage. 
Later, should things change, other components can be ordered to reconfigure existing cabinets.

Thanks to full-length wood doors, secured with metal lockable latch the storage units offer secure storage too. Durability comes courtesy of the their made-to-last bolt through construction on hinges and doors, polyester laminate and tested tested to withstand institutional use.

Black Cat Music and MusicPracticeRooms.com have confirmed they will again be Platinum Sponsors of Music Education Expo which returns to London, 12th & 13th March 2015.

Show organisers, Rhinegold Media & Events announced, “Once again, Music Education Expo returns to London's Barbican Exhibition Halls for two days of learning, browsing, playing, networking and saving. Created to help and inspire all types of music teachers the event offers:

* over 50 professional development sessions including debates, seminars and workshops
* more than 100 exhibitors showcasing new and exciting products
* countless networking opportunities with up to 2,500 other music educators.”

The event is also free to attend.

Black Cat Music will be exhibiting a wide range of its music performance equipment including music stands, staging, choral risers, music folders and conductors' equipment. Black Cat Music has exclusive distributorship of Wenger Corporation’s extensive product range - acknowledged as the largest manufacturer of fully-guaranteed staging and music performance equipment in the world.

When it comes to noise control problems Black Cat Music offers various standard and custom acoustic solutions including sound-isolating, modular Music Practice Rooms from MusicPracticeRooms.com.

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