Testimonials
Congo jr gives me direct access to my sequences. And with no set song list in a touring-show context, I really need to be fast. The Congo jr makes it easy for me to work as a lighting designer. I can design spontaneously, responding to the mood of the music and the intent of the lyrics. This desk lets me focus on my art, rather than on console commands. I can concentrate on what’s going on onstage instead of having to focus on complicated actions on the board.
- Emma Westerberg, concert lighting desinger
With Congo’s powerful capabilities and ease of use, I’m positive we’ve made the right choice. Congo satisfies all of our moving light control needs. Now our theater can handle any performance.
- Ziyun He, lighting designer, Zhongshan Cultural and Arts Center
Once I got my head around Congo jr’s syntax, I loved the console! I had so much flexibility right at my fingertips. The dynamic programming was such a life-saver given what little time we had to get the show up and running. The show used two different sets of lead actors with different blocking for a number of the songs, and the Congo jr system made it a snap to switch between cues, and tweak on the fly for each version.
- Tristan Decker, lighting designer, High School Musical: On Stage, Fort Worth, Texas
This is a very powerful design tool. I’ve used all of the other popular intelligent lighting consoles and I’m pleased we chose Congo.
- Scott Wasson, master electrician, Holland Performing Arts Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Congo jr controls moving lights with ease, and the ability to set up presets and groups on faders makes it easy for the novice to operate the board when necessary. A volunteer who only needs to be able to turn on and off lights for a show can learn how to do this in a very short period of time using the Master Playback Wing. On the other hand, our more experienced media professionals can program a more complex and difficult show with ease after a short learning curve.
- Russell Valentine, media operations manager, Cherry Hills Community Church, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Congo has the ability to control conventional theatrical fixtures and modern, complex concert equipment. This type of system configuration is especially important in musical theater. That’s why Congo is also used in St. Petersburg theaters such as the Mariinsky. With Congo, you can control individual channels, responsible for – for example – worklights, director’s board illumination and smoke machines, yet not deter from the main lighting.
- Mikhail Mekler, head lighting designer, Mikhailovsky Theater of Opera and Ballet, St. Petersburg, Russia
The Congo jr is so much easier than any of the other boards I‘ve worked with. I like the way this console is built up. “It’s so logical. I can set the times for every parameter and not even think about it.
- Emma Westerberg, concert lighting designer
Congo lets us do a lot of things in a much more elegant, much simpler way than we could with a conventional desk.
- Jim McCandliss, Sound Investment Enterprises, talking about Hope Chapel in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
We have one Congo for each of the two auditoriums, one for touring and the other two consoles provide the backup facilities. With a lighting inventory that consists of PAR cans, 24 of which are ETC Source Four PARs, a range of profiles, including 65 Source Four Zooms and 48 Source Four jrs, fresnels, floods and moving heads, we needed a console that could look after everything. With Congo it is easy to be a lighting designer – it’s a good theater desk with powerful features and is very logical.
- Nils Haagenrud, resident lighting designer, Hålogaland Teater, Tromsø, Norway
In our theater, the Congo console became an 'extension' of the lighting designer's hand, binding art and technology and making it possible to personify any artistic vision.
- Vladislav Frolov, lighting designer, N. P. Fomenko Theater, Moscow, Russia
Installations
Polish Public Television (TVP S.A.), Poland
Poland’s broadcasting market is one of the largest in Eastern and Central Europe. Polish Public Television (TVP S.A.) is the largest broadcaster in the country – with an average of eight million viewers – and is one of the largest public stations in Europe. Steeped in history, TVP was created in 1937, the first television channel in Poland. Transmission was short-lived when the studio was destroyed in 1939 by the advancing German army. The studio officially reopened on October 25th, 1952, with the first Polish telecast following the war.
Westlake Village Studios, CA
In 2006, the Dole Foods Corporation decided to extend its message of healthy living by opening the Westlake Village Studios, a 40,000-square-foot TV broadcast facility that is part of the Four Seasons Westlake Village Hotel in California. The studios’ productions focus on wellness and include viewer-education on nutrition, exercise and health. Outfitted for professional-grade production, the studios employ a full ETC lighting control system.
Rent, Johannesburg, South Africa
ETC, through dealer Prosound, has supplied equipment for the South African production of Rent, which opened at the Alexander Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July, and has now gone on tour across the country. Included in the rig are some 75 ETC Source Four® spotlights -- 10º, 19º, 26º and 36º field angles -- controlled by an ETC Congo™ lighting control console and SmartPack® dimming.
Cherry Hills Church, Highlands Ranch, CO
“We are very aware of how lighting can enhance services and programs,” says Media Operations Manager Russell Valentine of Cherry Hills Community Church (CHCC), in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. “So in our church, we have worked hard to design and implement lighting systems that bring excellence and professionalism to the services and programs that we produce. We want our lighting systems to be as versatile as possible. Ease of programming, interface with various intelligent lighting instruments, reliability and factory support were very important in our decision-making process.”