Archives August 2026

Melbourne’s live music scene has always been shaped by people willing to create spaces where musicians and audiences can come together.

Michael Tortoni has been doing exactly that for decades.

Now, a new performance room is taking shape at The JazzLab in Brunswick, and LightEFX is pleased to be part of what comes next.

A new room at The JazzLab

The project is an extension of what The JazzLab has always been about – creating an intimate environment where the performance, the room and the audience all become part of the experience.

For the new space, the ceiling needed to contribute to more than just the appearance of the room.

LightEFX StarEFX acoustic starlight panels are being incorporated into the ceiling, combining PET acoustic treatment with fibre-optic ambient lighting within the same modular system.

The result is a ceiling surface designed to contribute to the acoustic environment while also giving The JazzLab another layer of control over the atmosphere of the room.

More than lighting

StarEFX was developed around the idea that lighting does not always need to come from a conventional fixture.

Fibre-optic points create a low-glare field of light across the ceiling, while the acoustic PET panel forms part of the architectural surface itself.

For a performance environment, that means the ceiling can become part of the experience without competing visually with what is happening on stage.

The next chapter

There is still more to come as the new JazzLab space moves through installation and completion.

For now, we wanted to share this first look at Michael Tortoni, The JazzLab and the thinking behind the new room.

We’ll follow the project through installation, completion and ultimately the first performances beneath the new StarEFX ceiling.