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Howards win Silver Jupiter for Australia
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7.8.2008
Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics have won the Silver Jupiter at the prestigious International Des Feux Loto-Quebec held in La Rhonde, Montreal, Canada.
 Up against the who’s who of the world pyrotechnic wizards, Howard & Sons powerful pyromusical titled ‘Evolve’ lit up the Six Flags them park in a way rarely seen over the last quarter century that the competition has been held in Montréal. At a special Grand Finale ceremony, the Australian consulate official Peter Evans, accepted on behalf of Howard & Sons, the jury’s award of the Silver Jupiter which is the highest level of achievement for an Australian pyrotechnics firm at the competition.
The Aussie team came with no less than 30 pontoons to deploy into the La Ronde lake with "close proximity pyrotechnics" deployed across the entire lake. Stuart Bensley, the show designer and programmer used light and sound to showcase well-known pieces of music that have "evolved" through new covers, arrangement, remixes, and rerecording. Howard & Sons mixed just about every style of music - classical, electronic, pop, and rock - through La Rhonde’s enormous sound system.
The Howard & Sons crew of five (5) pyrotechnicians worked tirelessly over 5 days to install the display. Competing against teams of ten (10) from the USA and China with eleven (11) technicians, it was a superb achievement for the hardworking Australian team.
The Gold Jupiter was won by USA who produced a very grand pyromusical; titled ‘Rock Loves’ and the Bronze Jupiter was won by China with their traditional tale titled, ‘Forever Love’
“We had a very enjoyable trip to Montreal, it’s a beautiful site to produce a pyromusical and I’m very happy with how the show was designed, installed and performed. Stuart’s show design and chorography was just amazing, his unique style and firing techniques really brought the site to life with brilliant rays of pyrotechnic effects that not only illuminated the entire Le Ronde site but the greater area of Montreal with massive 300mm Aerial Shells that proved to be a real crowd pleaser” recalls Christian Howard.
“The Fire One computer firing system performed beautifully and was the biggest FireOne system ever deployed during the competition’s 25 year history and we were very, very happy. In fact we used the latest ‘Ultra-Fire’ software released just the week prior to the show, to fire from 172 modules with the greatest precision and we can confirm it works brilliantly.”
“We had a very successful display and we had a great time working with the entire local La Ronde team, who are a great bunch of guys and girls to work with. The ovation we received after the show and the positive feedback from the La Ronde crew and many regular audience members was very satisfying and to win the Silver Jupiter is just a brilliant result.”
A worldwide pyrotechnical leader, Howard & Sons remains a family business, as is often the case in this field. Since 1922, the company has been headed by four generations of the Howard family. In other words, three generations have produced "pyrotechnical" offspring. And the tradition is continuing: the fifth generation is already under way! Andrew, Kellie Howard and older brother Henry welcomed a beautiful little girl (a change in the boy tradition) Ella Grace Howard on the Friday 1st August 2008.
Official Results:
Gold Jupiter - USA
Silver Jupiter - Australia
Bronze Jupiter - China
Other Competitors:
Italy
France
Portugal
Korea
Austria
Canada
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all content © 2008 Australasian Special Events
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