
Founded in 1993 by Owsiak, along with Lidia Nied wiedzka-Owsiak, Bohdan Maruszewski, and Piotr Burczy ski, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was intended to be just a one-time fundraiser to aid Children's Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw. However, the spectacular success of the first effort, which enabled the foundation to divide the money between all cardiology units treating children in Poland, inspired the establishment of the GOCC. Every year, the Grand Finale Fundraiser is organised locally, by volunteer-run Collection Centres, and is accompanied by various events such as concerts, sporting competitions, and a traditional firework display. The foundation also organizes one of the biggest open-air free entry music festivals in Europe in summer called Pol'and'Rock Festival as a thank you' to everyone getting involved and donating during winter season.
It was a privilege to be involved in this year's Grand Finale Fundraiser and support rental companies with state-of-the-art products for local activities, says Polsound's Sound Designer, Arkadiusz Wielgosik. Whilst normally every city and village would organise a physical activity to raise funds for GOCC, this year it had to be live streamed on TV due to the pandemic restrictions. We worked with several rental companies across the country who all provided their experienced crews, as well as took care of setting up the sound, the lights, and the audio - all free of charge.
One of Polsound's biggest tasks was offering support to rental companies by matching DiGiCo consoles with the specific needs they had for an event locally. The team also provided support on wireless systems as well as helping TVN, Polish free-to-air television station, with frequency management, when broadcasting the concert live from Warsaw's Main Stage located next to the Palace of Science and Culture.
Amongst rental companies involved which used DiGiCo consoles included Gigant Sound in Warsaw, which used SD12 for monitors; Airpol Sound & Light in G ra Kalwaria used SD11 with Waves and Optocore, with content streamed from an SD11 and, in Radom, used a SD11i with Waves for streaming; FS Audio deployed an SD5 for streaming; and, finally, Shadok AV Group in Gliwice is the Europe's first company to own a DiGiCo Quantum 5 console, which they used for monitors, as well as an SD12 with Waves for streaming.
Shadok AV Group, based in the South of Poland, used their Quantum 5 and SD12 to operate the show at their location, explains Wielgosik. The SD12 was used for streaming, including a Waves SuperRack and Waves Extreme C server setup as well as mastering plugins in audio chain, whilst the Quantum 5 was used for monitors on stage, with the team reporting that its Mustard and nodal processing were a huge benefit.
Both consoles were connected to an SD-Rack with 32bit ADC and 32bit DAC cards via an Optocore loop, along with an OrangeBox with DMI-Optocore and DMI-Dante 64 running at 96K. All eight channels of Shure ADX radio mics were connected by Dante and further eight channels of Shure PSM1000 were fed from SD-Rack.
The DiGiCo consoles provided the rental partners with unrivalled flexibility, concludes Wielgosik. This was especially useful as the January events do not generally follow a strict scenario, they're more freestyle-like, or rock'n'roll, as we say. As Owsiak mentions all the time this is what reality is like'. The shows are always very emotional, so it is difficult to stick to a step-by-step plan. And this is why we love doing this event. This is the main mission: for everyone to come together and collaborate as a community, doing good things for the benefit of others.
It was great to work with local rental companies and for the DiGiCo consoles to allow them to deliver amazing concerts across the country, sending a message to everyone, showing our unity and demonstrating how fun helping is!
Watch the video from Warsaw's main stage here
[ENDS] Images:
DiGiCo WOSP_1.jpg, DiGiCo WOSP_2.jpg and DiGiCo WOSP_3.jpg Gigant Sound's SD12 at the monitor position for the main stage in Warsaw.
DiGiCo WOSP_4.jpg Airpol Sound & Light's SD11i in Random.
Press Contacts:
Maria Fiorellino at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: maria@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digico.biz
Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1483 223333
Email: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com
More from DiGiCo
01/06/2025
Known for its avant-garde productions, the Musical Theatre in Toru took on the ambitious task of presenting Jesus Christ Superstar in a format never before see...
01/06/2025
Known for its avant-garde productions, the Musical Theatre in Toru took on the ambitious task of presenting Jesus Christ Superstar in a format never before see...
01/06/2025
NEW YORK CITY - June 2025 - To honor the legacy of the Allman Brothers Band, godfathers of Southern Rock, the musical supergroup known as The Brothers recently ...
01/06/2025
The theatre's nightly performances are not limited to a single genre and span a full spectrum of theatrical, dance and musical performance. Sound engineer, ...
01/06/2025
LOS ANGELES, California - June 2025 - In just a few short years, Benson Boone has gone from a brief stint on American Idol and his first chart-topping single to...
01/05/2025
The brand-new Danish translation of We Will Rock You opened in the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen ahead of a nationwide tour, and is produced by Lion Enterta...
01/05/2025
CLINTON, Mississippi - May 2025 - Morrison Heights Baptist Church is everything you'd expect from its name: theologically conventional and traditionally ori...
01/05/2025
The venue's size ensures that every audience member has a perfect view of the stage, but it also means that every piece of equipment must earn its place and...
01/05/2025
The tour is all about letting every audience member really enjoy the music, Li Wenhao, Senior Product Manager of RAC, Technical support for the FUN! ONLY tour ...
01/05/2025
ESCONDIDO, California - May 2025 - Multi-Grammy-winner Lenny Kravitz is currently on the US leg of his Blue Electric Light tour, which kicked off in Europe in J...
01/05/2025
Prochazka knows the power of relationships, so it has always been important to him that ATEC Pro be renowned for more than just supplying great equipment. Becom...
01/05/2025
With my previous console, Freeman recalls, I always had to run a Waves server for EQ and compression, but when I switched to DiGiCo, I found it was such an op...
01/04/2025
Organized by the Association of Audio-Video Producers and the Phonographic Academy, this huge celebration of Polish music took place in three different cities. ...
01/04/2025
Organized by the Association of Audio-Video Producers and the Phonographic Academy, this huge celebration of Polish music took place in three different cities. ...
01/04/2025
Nina is an incredible artist, and I'm truly grateful to be part of her journey, Plaschke explains. I used the Quantum 338 throughout the year, for both th...
01/04/2025
COSTA MESA, California - April 2025 - The 2004 comedy-drama The Terminal had Tom Hanks' character trapped in New York's JFK airport due to a diplomatic ...
01/04/2025
Wilkinson has worked with Craig David since 2013. For him, choosing DiGiCo is all about flexibility. Working with an artist who is performing across a wide rang...
01/04/2025
Luna Park is a historic venue and occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of Argentinians. It was built in 1932 on the site of the Luna Park open-air s...
01/04/2025
Ampli, the primary AV supplier for the Clouseau tour, delivered an extensive ran...
01/04/2025
LOS ANGELES - April 2025 - After a seven-year hiatus, two-time Grammy Award winners Linkin Park are back on the road. Their 50-plus-show From Zero World Tour wi...
01/04/2025
The Quantum 338's ease of use and bright screens are a welcome upgrade and perfect over the summer for outdoor concerts, Collis says. When we are travelin...
01/04/2025
Polesi ski made a name for himself early in his career. Renowned for his attention to detail and ability to mix his creative and technical skills, Polesi ski st...
01/03/2025
CHESSINGTON, UK - March 31, 2025 - DiGiCo's mixing consoles have long been praised for many reasons, including their pristine sound, intuitive operation, an...
01/03/2025
The Mazowsze Auditorium is housed in the Karolin complex, which offers a full cultural experience. There is everything from hotels to education on site, with th...
01/03/2025
NEW YORK CITY - March 2025 - A 50th anniversary is a once-in-a-lifetime milestone, but in the fleeting world of television, even a decade on air is a rare achie...
01/03/2025
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania - March 2025 - Delaware County Christian School in southeastern Pennsylvania has undergone the initial phase of a major refresh of ...
01/03/2025
LONG BEACH, California - March 2025 - Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center's Terrace Theater is said to hold a special place in the hearts of comedi...
01/03/2025
I love the Quantum 225 and 338, Clements explains. Their size is just right, the frames are easy to manoeuvre into any venue, and the small FOH footprint and ...
01/03/2025
It was the start of a new cycle and a new era in terms of venue sizes, Pike recalls. Solotech were able to help us out in terms of budget, so for our first gi...
01/02/2025
Radzimir D bski, professionally known as JIMEK, is a composer and conductor, well known for blending classical sounds with modern music genres. His Subclassics ...
01/02/2025
WEST POINT, New York - February 2025 - The Eisenhower Hall Theatre on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point is celebrating its 50th an...
01/02/2025
OAKLAND, California - February 2025 - Oakland, California-born Kehlani recently embarked on the third and final leg of their Crash World Tour, which, since Sept...
01/02/2025
2024 was Afrikaans is Groot's biggest year yet, boasting nine shows over two weekends, with over 70,000 people enjoying the spectacular cultural experience....
01/02/2025
As a child, Daniela knew she wanted to be involved in the live music industry. She loved music but was not keen on performing. Watching a gig at 13, she caught...
01/02/2025
The show is very heavy on Snapshots and MIDI recalls. Dilijit is very active on social media, so we use a lot of busses, too, Narayan explains. The console re...
01/02/2025
Touring arena sized venues is a massive logistical undertaking and juggling a mixture of full production shows and fly-ins means that finding the path to consis...
01/02/2025
BARCELONA, Spain - ISE stand #7F300 - February 2025 - It's no secret that many of Broadway's and West End's largest theatrical houses steadfastly ch...
01/01/2025
North joins DiGiCo following an extensive career in the audio industry. He trained at the University of Salford, gaining a BA in Popular Music and Recording wit...
01/01/2025
The DiGiCo S31 is favoured by engineers from all over the world because of the power and flexibility housed within the compact frame that offers three 10-inch t...
01/01/2025
ANAHEIM, California - January 2025 - NAMM Stand #17901, ACC North Level 2 - When Fourier Audio's transform.engine began shipping to sound reinforcement comp...
01/01/2025
FARMINGDALE, New York - January 2025 - Long Island, New York-based Group One Limited, the US distributor for DiGiCo, Solid State Logic, Calrec, KLANG, Fourier A...
01/01/2025
Ben Evans has been Audio Operations Manager since 2021. He was part of the team who instigated the Hall's first in-house audio team and is well placed to un...
01/12/2024
CERRITOS, California - December 2024 - Who says local governments can't get big projects done and done right? The City of Cerritos, California is the owner ...
01/12/2024
Cantonese Opera is one of the traditional Chinese opera genres, with a history spanning more than 300 years. The art-form is popular in the area of Zhujiang Riv...
01/12/2024
BERGEN, Norway - December 2024 - From the 2013 release of his remix of Ed Sheeran's track, I See Fire, chased by his own hit, Firestone featuring Conrad...
01/12/2024
Like all houses of worship, The Crossing, a 1,400-seat Christian church in Columbia, Missouri, seeks to craft a clear and consistent message for its visitors an...
01/11/2024
We introduced our SD8 back in 2012, updating the SD with a 32-bit card in 2019, so when the time came to upgrade our system, we asked various people about the Q...
01/11/2024
We introduced our SD8 back in 2012, updating the SD with a 32-bit card in 2019, so when the time came to upgrade our system, we asked various people about the Q...
01/11/2024
SOUTH KOREA - November 2024 - The words Sold Out appear next to every single date on the schedule of The first HOWL tour for Japanese-born/South Korea-based g...
01/11/2024
The DiGiCo Quantum 338 is a powerful digital mixing console with 128 input channels, 64 aux/subgroups and a 24 x 24 full processing matrix. Based on seventh gen...