Funktion-One co-founder John Newsham was recently invited to speak at the Congreso Internacional de Sonido in Santiago, Chile.

The conference – organised by INACAP, a non-profit educational institution comprising the Chilean University of Technology, the Centre for Technical Training, and the Professional Institute for technology – ran from 4-5 October.

Newsham joined a programme of speakers from Mexico, Argentina and Brazil to deliver a two-hour presentation on the history of audio as it relates to the work of Funktion-One.

According to Cristián Jiménez Rosas, course coordinator at INACAP, talks like these are essential in forging a link between theoretical studies and real-world application. “For our students, it is very important to listen to a global icon in the design of loudspeaker systems and allow them to associate what they have learned in the university with real practical experiences,” he said. “Visits from professionals with such vast experience in the audio market is always beneficial for our students, both for the anecdotes full of history they relate and for how simple the solutions they have implemented seem to be.”

For Newsham, the enthusiastic response of the students alone was worth the 7,000-mile trip. “It was really great to meet the next generation of Chilean sound engineers and to discuss the principles that the Funktion-One team apply to our everyday work,” he said. “Judging by the young talent coming through INACAP, I’d say Chile’s live music scene is in safe hands.”

In addition to inspiring the next generation, Newsham’s trip to Santiago provided an opportunity to catch up with Funktion-One’s Chilean distributor Púrpura Producciones. It was through Púrpura – and its work providing high-end rental and installation audio to the domestic market – that INACAP first became aware of Funktion-One.

From standout gigs working with producer Alain Johannes (Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age), to working with iconic Chilean legends, Electrodomésticos, at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago, and further afield to the first ever Festivale Nomade, the southernmost festival in the world, some 1,000km south of Santiago – Púrpura has helped raise the standard of the Chilean live music scene.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure visiting Joaquín and seeing first-hand the great work that’s been achieved over the last seven years,” remarked Newsham of his time in Chile. “In particular, it’s incredibly heartening to see how Funktion-One has been enthusiastically embraced here in the live music world – and that’s due in no small part to the example set by the Púrpura team on touchstone projects like the Cariola.”

(Pictured: In Flames performing at Teatro Cariola in Santiago with a Funktion-One system)