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Meet the team from Black Cat Music and MusicPracticeRooms.com who dealt with a very busy exhibition stand at the inaugural Music Education Expo ovr the last two days.

Reporting on the highlights of the first day, 20th March at Music Education Expo from the Barbican in London.

Event Platinum sponsors Black Cat Music exhibited on stand E19 a wide range of 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. Commenting on the opening day, manager of Black Cat Music, Teresa Rogers said, ”the show has generated a lot of enquiries about our products - even the Royal Marines have visited us.”

Meanwhile fellow Platinum sponsors MusicPracticeRooms.com had installed a fully functioning sound isolating music practice room at the show which visitors were quick to experience for themselves. "We announced this room will be sold after the show at a special ex-demo price'. Marketing Manager, Alice Dagger said, “In fact it has already been sold!.”

in Seminar Theatre 1, Wednesday 20th March at 10.15 am it was Black Cat Acoustics in the spotlight when Martin and Mark Rasmussen spoke to the subject of 'Simple solutions to noise problems'. Delegates to the seminar session were able to enjoy complimentary coffee and pastries courtesy of Black Cat Music and leave with a free conductor's baton.

At the inaugural Music Teacher Awards & Gala evening organized by the publishers of Music Teacher magazine to celebrate excellence within the UK’s music education scene and staged in the Barbican’s Conservatory and Garden Room Black Cat Music sponsored The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Peter Dunkley(retired chief executive, Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Service) by Guy Dagger

Already a top seller, the popular Classic 50 Music Stand does not compromise on a design that is tough enough to handle the hardships of regular classroom use. Thanks to a formula of advanced polymers offering inherent tensile strength, it will not bend or dent like metal stands - a design that also makes it quiet and rattle-free during performances. And the scratch resistant desk surface also incorporates a unique recess for keeping pencils in place.

It might only be a music stand but the Classic 50 is feature-rich.
• Rounded edges for safe and comfortable handling
• Scratch-resistant, elegant concert black finish
• 340mm x 510mm desk – large enough for orchestral scores
• Recessed ledge that stops pencils interfering with turning music
• Desk rotates full circle and tilts up to half circle
• Tough – almost unbreakable
• Bolt-through desk attachment holds tight and secure – Always!
• Adjustable for desk stiffness.
• Quiet patented Teflon coated slider
• Quiet patented Teflon coated slider means no fiddly knobs and screws
• A virtually unbreakable tripod base with shaped feet to avoid damage to the floor

And when the performance, rehearsal or class is over, stands can be stacked on the easy to load Move & Store Cart for transport and convenient, compact storage.

Just over one week to go to Music Education Expo and Black Cat Music and partner company MusicPracticeRooms.com - Platinum Sponsors of the event at London’s Barbican venue, 20/21 March 2013 - are counting down the days.

Talking about the sponsorship tie in, Black Cat Music’s marketing manager Alice Dagger said, “We are delighted to be involved as Platinum Sponsors of this exciting new event and to also be providing the Lifetime Achievement Award.”

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 at the show. 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 you visit the Black Cat Music/MusicPracticeRooms.com stand (E19) not only can you see a fully functioning sound isolating music practice room and try it out for yourself, but you can buy this very same room for a special ex-demo price after the show. While you are thinking about acoustics, make sure you attend the Black Cat Acoustics presentation in Seminar Theatre 1, Wednesday 20th March at 10.15 am on the subject of 'Simple solutions to noise problems'. Enjoy our free coffee and pastries, served to everyone who attends the seminar and don’t forget to collect your free conductor's baton.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at the inaugural Music Teacher Awards & Gala evening which is organized by the publishers of Music Teacher magazine to celebrate excellence within the UK’s music education scene and takes place on the evening of the 20th March in the Barbican’s Conservatory and Garden Room.

Described as “the largest gathering of music education professionals in the UK,” organisers Rhinegold promise, “The UK’s most comprehensive music education event. Comprising a major exhibition, a dynamic educational programme and exceptional networking opportunities. This two-day event offers music educational professionals a highly rewarding experience - both professionally and personally.” And it is not too late to register for Music Expo.

Saturday 16th March is National Learn to Play Day when over one hundred locations all over the UK will be offering everyone free taster music lessons across a broad range of instruments.

The organisers have enlisted the support of “comedian and drummer Al Murray and a host of other rock stars, musicians and celebrities.” Citing a recent survey by Arts Council England in conjunction with parenting web site Netmums, “ nearly three-quarters of parents (73%) thought access to a free taster session would be a good way to encourage their child to take up an instrument.”

The National Learn to Play Day is organised by the charity Music for All in partnership with the Musicians’ Union, Arts Council England’s Take it away scheme, MusicTeachers.co.uk and Musicradar.com.

Are you taking part in The National Learn to Play Day? Why not contact us on Facebook and let us know what you are doing?

The installation of a large 6m x 4.8m Music Practice Room at Trent College has dramatically transformed the facilities available to the school’s music department. This important new structure provided by MusicPracticeRooms.com now provides a dedicated percussion room located in the existing music school, allowing the percussion teacher to hold lessons without disturbing other music classes taking place in the rest of the facility.

Director of Music, Steven Henderson, was clearly thrilled with the results when he explained: “As soon as it was installed, the percussion department could see that it was going to make an immediate difference. The percussion teacher, who spends four days of the week inside the practice room teaching, just loved it straight away.” Steven continued: “Now we can have string quartet rehearsals in one room and percussion going on in another room, and various other things happening at the same time as each other, and that’s really made a difference for us.”

Talking about Trent College’s experience of the installation of the Music Practice Room, Steven remarked: “It was done in a few days and we were able to get in and start using it straight away.”

Overall, Steven was delighted with the immediate difference the new Music Practice Room made to his Music Department: “It provided a space which worked really well, it answered the question really quickly, and it offers me flexibility for the future, and those are the three key criteria that I needed it to meet.”

Black Cat Music’s sound-isolating music practice rooms offer a solution that controls noise at source, providing an ideal rehearsal space for musicians and singers. The modular design allows for a wide range of sizes to accommodate musicians from a solo singer to a choir or a band. The rooms can be relocated, if and when major changes in use and allocation of space are planned. For comfort and to create a pleasant environment, the rooms are supplied fitted with integral lighting and fan-assisted ventilation. Thanks to balanced internal acoustics they also make excellent recording studios with high sound quality.