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Black Cat Music exhibited a comprehensive range of equipment for music, performance, practice and theatre at the 2012 MMA Conference held at Rugby School, Warwickshire, 18th to 20th May. Products on show from the Black Cat Music range included music posture chairs, music stands, the z3 iPad stand, Preface Conductor's stand, Mighty Bright lights, music folders and of course sound-isolating practice rooms.

Alice Dagger, Marketing Manager of Black Cat Music said, “as usual, the MMA Conference was both fun and interesting for all involved. Congratulations to the organisers, and many thanks to Rugby School for kindly hosting the event'.

Sales Manager, Teresa Rogers, added, 'it was great to catch up with so many familiar faces from the MMA (Music Teaching Professionals) Association. We had plenty of new products to talk about, such as our new Wenger conBRIO music posture chair, the Edge instrument storage system, and our z3 iPad stand. It was great to see so much interest in our sound-isolating Music Practice Rooms, which are a really good cost-effective solution for creating extra space and solving noise problems in school music departments'.

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Black Cat Music will be exhibiting a comprehensive range of equipment for music, performance, practice and theatre at the 2012 MMA Conference taking place at Rugby School, Warwickshire, 18th to 20th May.

Performance equipment including examples of music stands, orchestral chairs, staging, choral risers, conductor’s equipment and music folders will be on show. In addition Black Cat Music offer a range of theatre products embracing, tiered audience seating, pit filler staging, make-up stations, costume racks and stage boxes. Black Cat Music is the Master Distributor in the UK and Ireland for Wenger Corporation a company widely recognised as world leaders in fully guaranteed staging and music performance equipment.

Also at the show are Music Practice Rooms offering an affordable and flexible solution to noise problems in schools. Music Practice Rooms [www.musicpracticerooms.com] allow music teachers and students to rehearse within a controlled environment that minimises the acoustic impact upon other classes. The flexibility of the modular design permits Music Practice Rooms to be configured to fit available spaces.

Expert staff, experienced at advising and supplying equipment for the diverse needs of performers, technicians, architects, events companies and teachers will be available on the stand to demonstrate products and provide advice. Whether looking for musical performance equipment, event staging, audience and performance seating, theatre equipment or acoustic solutions, Black Cat Music can provide high-quality equipment, which is as durable as it is elegant and easy to use.

The Black Cat team exhibited at the ISM 'Going for Gold' Conference 2012 showcasing some exciting new products and offering a special discount on Black Cat products to ISM delegates.

Martin Loft (pictured on the Black Cat stand) congratulated the organisers on an interesting conference programme including some great live music.

This year's annual conference held at LSO St Luke's and Guildhall School of Music & Drama (13 and 14 April) was described as “a hugely enjoyable event with performance at its heart.”

The ISM holds a unique position, with its membership reflecting the broad spectrum of activity in professional music making, composing and performing, along with those directly involved in music education at all levels, from nursery to conservatoire and university. The ISM conference is an essential calendar event.

This year's conference celebrated aspiration and achievement through a wide variety of thought-provoking talks, debate and live music, including legendary conductor Sir Colin Davis in conversation with journalist and writer Richard Morrison, a concert celebrating 100 years of jazz composer/arranger Gil Evans by the Guildhall Jazz Band, Professor John Irving’s talk on Mozart and a masterclass with Guildhall students led by soprano Amanda Roocroft.

During April, Black Cat Music is offering an additional 5 per cent discount on their best selling Classic 50 music stands. Quantity discount breaks allow purchase prices as low as £38.00. Schools and colleges looking to equip with new music stands designed for robust and regular handling can take advantage of this great offer throughout April.

Already a top seller, the popular Classic 50 Music Stand is tough enough to handle the hardships of regular classroom use thanks to a formula of advanced polymers offering inherent tensile strength that will not bend or dent like metal stands. Its elegant design makes it quiet and rattle-free during performances. And the scratch resistant desk surface also incorporates a unique recess for keeping pencils in place. The patented one-hand height adjustment of the music desk is simplicity itself, requiring no screw or locking collar adjustments. To learn more watch the Classic 50 put through its paces at YouTube.com For full details on the April offer can be found on the Black Cat Music web site.

Lancaster and Morecambe College discovered that by installing three Music Practice Rooms, the college not only made more effective use of available space, but was also able to reach out to support musicians in the local community.

Head of Music at Lancaster and Morecambe College, Pete French explained that “this is only the third year we have been running this course and we required proper facilities. There was a need for music practice rooms because we had facilities that were a little bit outdated and we wanted something new to accommodate the new course that we are building on.” Describing the new suite of music practice rooms supplied and installed by Black Cat Music he said, “the facility used to be a lecture theatre - it was just one space we could use - fortunately now we've got three spaces. The music practice rooms are being used every day with all three year groups time tabled in, so they are getting maximum use. We also have some work with an outside community organisation called ‘More Music in Morecombe’ who are now hiring them out on a Tuesday night, so we are getting use in the evenings as well, not just in the daytimes.” The opportunity for other local musicians to hire the facilities is also important for the college within the community.

The rooms, from MusicPracticeRooms.com , use a prefabricated panel design that is affordable, easy to install and allows rooms to be custom configured to suit available space. “We are very happy having them here,” continued Pete French. “After the college had planned how we were going to use the existing space they built in the floor plinth in what was the old lecture theatre and got the maximum use of space available. Black Cat Music then came up and erected the music practice rooms in a pretty short period of time, last summer. The service we got from Black Cat was absolutely spot on,” said Pete. “The music practice rooms have changed the whole nature of the course, because they are so sound-proofed. Before we had a big echoing lecture theatre, now we have three contained spaces. The students love them and yes, they work very effectively.”

“We found out about MusicPracticeRoms.com on the Internet. We got prices from several other possibilities, some of which were a lot more than Black Cat Music, which came out the best in terms of overall cost.” Information and technical specifications for Music Practice Rooms can be found at MusicPracticeRooms.com or by contacting MPR on 0844 846 9740 for a free consultation.

During March Black Cat Music is offering an additional 5% discount on the top selling Mighty Bright Duet 2 music stand lights. Dual LEDs provide smooth illumination across two sheets of music and the good news is these light bulbs never need replacement. Cool to touch and battery powered with no trailing wires, they are very safe to use.

Utilising two fully adjustable LED head units, the Duet 2 can evenly light two pages of music thanks to optical grade lenses that avoid any hot spots. The new Duet 2 is twice as bright as the previous model and offers four selectable light levels. Sensor switch operation allows, one, or both LEDs to be turned on with just a gentle tap. An extra strong clip attaches the Duet 2 to any music stand and with two flexible arms, the lighting heads can be fully adjusted as required, or bent to a compact position for ease of storage.

Three AAA size batteries offer up to 20 hours continuous operation. Alternatively an optional AC adaptor additionally allows a series of Duet 2 units to be connected together for lighting control for band or orchestral users.

Full details of this offer are published on the Black Cat Music web site.

Black Cat Music and MusicPracticeRooms.com are looking forward with anticipation to the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year Competition 2012 which takes place this Sunday 11th March at The Stag Community Theatre in Sevenoaks. The event starts at 10.30 am, concluding with Presentations at about 5.45 pm.

Marketing Manager, Alice Dagger said, “ We are delighted to have the opportunity to be involved with the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year Competition and wish all the participants the very best of luck for what we a sure will be a wonderful musical occasion for both performers and audience.”

Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year is a competition open to instrumentalists aged 21 years and under and with a minimum Grade 8. The final heats of the competition take place on Sunday when the Sevenoaks District Arts Council presents the winner with a Silver Memorial Medal in memory of June Clements who founded the competition in 1995.

Tonbridge based Black Cat Music supplies a comprehensive range of equipment for music, performance, practice and theatre including music stands, orchestral chairs, staging, choral risers, conductor’s equipment and music folders. In addition there is a range of theatre products embracing staging, tiered audience seating, make-up stations, costume racks and instrument storage cabinets. MusicPracticeRooms.com supplies sound-isolating, modular Music Practice Rooms for schools, recording studios and for home use. MusicPracticeRooms.com is proud to offer superb acoustic performance at an affordable price, enabling musicians to rehearse and perform in controlled acoustic environments.

Black Cat Music would like to congratulate Lana Trimmer for winning the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year competition 2012. Lana is a highly talented violinist from Clifton College, Bristol. Our congratulations also to all the competitors, who achieved a superb standard of performance in the competition.

Fifteen year old Lana began learning the violin with Bristol Suzuki at the age of 3 and, at 7, won a place at the RCM Junior Department to study with Marius Bedeschi, and did very well in the Hugh Bean Competition. Continuing studies at Guildhall SMD, Lana also gained success in a competition in Italy. At Clifton College she obtained Grade 8 Distinction aged 10 but then changed to viola! In 2009 Lana took up the violin again, with Mr Bedeschi and has enjoyed successes - winning the King Thelma Award at Bath, the ‘overall best performer’ in South Glamorgan and in 2011 winning both the Bristol Rotary and Bath Young Musician of the Year competitions. She loves fashion and shopping!

Marketing Manager, Alice Dagger said, “ We are delighted to have had the opportunity to be involved with the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year Competition.

Black Cat Music, manufacturers of a comprehensive range of music education and performance equipment, announce the launch of a new web site to coincide with the newly released 2006-7 catalogue.

Showcasing a broad range of ancillary equipment ideally suited for school and college music requirements, as well as professional orchestras, the new site at www.blackcatmusic.co.uk includes music stands, chairs, storage and staging. The site also presents useful specialist equipment such as personalised music folders, conductor’s equipment, piano accessories, classroom and music technology furniture, staging, risers and theatre products.

Full product specifications can be downloaded and items purchased online by means of school purchase orders or credit cards. Orders for all catalogue items can also be placed by fax or using a freephone number. All UK-based schools and colleges can also benefit from registering with the Black Cat Music Education discount programme.

Copies of Black Cat’s new 2006-7 education catalogue can be requested online or direct from the company.

Black Cat Music has introduced a new price list catalogue for 2007 offering a comprehensive range of affordably priced music performance equipment.

Copies of this new price list are available on request in print or CD versions. Links from the CD to the web site www.blackcatmusic.co.uk provide access to further information such as downloadable data sheets and the facility to purchase products online. With a full line of musical accessory equipment including music stands, music folders, music chairs, storage, conductor’s equipment, piano accessories, staging, risers and acoustic shells, the Black Cat range provides a wide selection of products conveniently available from a single source. The new price list should prove of particular value to orchestras, bands, choirs, theatre companies and individual musicians.