USA - After more than 12 years of growth and success, West Kendall, Florida, chef Adrianne Calvo, the owner and manager of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar, decided it was time to move to a larger, more customised location.
Chef Adrianne took over and completely renovated an existing 8,000sq.ft restaurant space. The new space features a large indoor dining area, two private dining rooms, and a social-distance-friendly terrace outfitted with a large retractable projection screen and other AV tools throughout to accommodate special events. The new space has been designed with a warm, modern, Napa Valley wine country décor featuring tall ceilings and wide-open spaces. It can accommodate 270 patrons - a sizable jump from the old location's capacity of 60.
With audio support playing an essential part of the restaurant experience, Calvo turned to audio expert Ivan Sotomayor, president, and owner of ISF Enterprises, a south Florida-based audio and AV integration firm that focuses on restaurant, club, retail, and multi-use facilities.
“This installation was fun but also a bit challenging,” said Sotomayor. “There are multiple indoor audio zones we need to control, and outdoors, the facility is next to a waterway, so we needed an appropriate volume level and control for optimum sound quality and intelligibility for music as well as presentations - and they even needed surround-sound capabilities outdoors.”
Sotomayor explained that the team used a programme called Ease to help map out the number, size, and speakers' location
USA - When Athens First United Methodist Church in Texas decided to transform an old and seldom-used fellowship hall into a new contemporary worship space they selected an all ADJ, all LED-powered rig. Then, pleased with the quality and reliability of their lighting, the church again chose ADJ when it was time to replace the aging projectors in their main sanctuary with modern LED video walls.
A former paramedic/firefighter who then spent 10 years working in the oil and gas industry, Wes Akin felt a sense of calling to serve others again and began volunteering as the technical director at Athens First. Over time this simultaneously led to a full-time role at the church, overseeing business and operations, and a rekindling of his passion for technical production. Wes founded Gain Stage Productions to offer live audio and visual services to local venues as well as to provide installation services for churches in the area.
Wes’ first project was to design and install the audio and lighting system for Athens First’s new contemporary worship centre, which was created by renovating the church’s old fellowship hall. After meeting over coffee and donuts, members of the congregation now have two choices: a contemporary service in the new worship space or a more traditional service in the main sanctuary.
For the new contemporary venue, Wes designed a system that would offer a great deal of flexibility while also giving a very modern feel to the relatively small space. He also purposely selected all LED-powered fixtures, both to minimize future maintenan
UK - In these difficult times for the live entertainment industry, Yamaha is working with both practical measures and its #BringingLive2Life campaign to help audiences and performers alike to experience live entertainment again. One of its first successes was playing a key role in helping Boisdale of Belgravia - the first live venue in London to reopen.
Boisdale is a chain of four themed restaurants, located in London’s Belgravia, Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf and Mayfair. Before lockdown they featured live music every night, with a number of well-known artists - including Alexander O’Neal, Mica Paris, Natasha Hamilton, Rebecca Ferguson and Omar - booked for the Canary Wharf restaurant.
Boisdale managing director Ranald Macdonald has previously worked with Yamaha Music London and, as the national lockdown began to ease, contacted retail operations manager Stephen Davies to see if the company could help to restart live performances in a safe, sustainable way.
“Ranald and I came up with the idea of moving the artists they had booked for the 250-capacity Canary Wharf restaurant to the smaller Belgravia venue, playing two sets a night for two sittings of diners,” says Stephen.
As a result, on 15 August, Boisdale Belgravia was the first live London venue to reopen.
To make the initiative financially viable and ensure that live performances could be staged according to Government guidance, Yamaha Music London sponsored the stage and offered Ranald a combination of loaned and purchased equipment. This included a TF-RACK mixer and a pair of
Australia - Situated in Melbourne’s east, the community at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was being crowded out by a suburb fast-tracked for urban growth.
Needing to relocate to a quieter location with room to expand, they became aware that a short distance down the road the St. James Uniting Church, with its striking mid-century early modern architecture, was looking to sell.
A deal was done which duly led to a full-blown renovation of the church, including a sensitive, high quality audio visual fitout in the heritage-listed building. This included a Martin Audio O-Line as the sound reinforcement system.
St. Paul’s Lutheran found an integrator in Mozaix that really understood house of worship requirements, and director Paul Tucker immediately struck up a rapport with the church’s building committee.
Paradoxically, the original St James space had been too acoustically ‘dead’ - which is an unusual problem to find in a church building. Due to its carpeted floors and construction of the vaulted ceiling, in its previous unrenovated form it didn’t suit St Paul’s style of ‘call and response’ congregational worship.
Acoustic engineer, Andrew Nicol, thus applied acoustic treatment in the form of an array of signature reflective diffusers for the front wall and behind the band stage, as well as hard stone tile flooring, acoustic panels on the rear wall and acoustic absorption on the balcony fascia. The result is an acoustically lively but controlled space that suits congregational involvement and accommodates high SPL sound rein
USA - Since its start in 2013, Faith Family Church in Baytown, TX has seen continued growth, quickly outgrowing its roots as a portable house of worship. Land was acquired, a campus was planned, and a 60,000sq.ft. facility with a 1400-seat sanctuary was opened in early March 2020. The integration of the church’s audio, video and lighting systems across the main auditorium and several ancillary rooms was handled by worship AV specialists Ellis Pro Media, a Continuant company.
“This was a design-build, and great client to work with,” says Austin Hess of Ellis Pro Media. “We knew that Electro-Voice would be a great solution, especially paired with the new Dynacord IPX series amplifiers. It’s a product we wholeheartedly believe in, to the point where many of the designers and staff at Ellis Pro Media have EV products in the churches we attend.”
A combination of EV loudspeaker models ensures a consistently high level of sound quality in spaces across the campus. The loudspeakers are powered by Dynacord IPX amplifiers configured as a centralised Dante/OCA audio/control network, and operated by SONICUE sound system software. “This is the first X2 rig we’ve deployed using SONICUE for processing,” says Hess. “It allowed us to be up and running more efficiently than in the past, and both our team and the client appreciated that.”
The main system in the sanctuary consists of twin X2 line arrays; six with a 90° horizontal dispersion above two 120° models. These are augmented by two EVF-1122D/126 loudspeakers for front fill and three EV
USA - 5 Words Media (5WM) is a US systems integrator based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2011, principally as a design/build company for houses of worship, its team also designs and installs audio, lighting and AVL systems regionally across the entertainment, education and corporate sectors
In recent months, 5WM has been working through a programme of audio installations in houses of worship using Coda Audio loudspeakers. Whilst the challenges of the Coronavirus have impacted the audio industry as never before, owner and design principal, Daniel Gourley and his team have worked tirelessly within regulatory constraints to install the systems whilst churches have been temporarily closed.
A recent initiative by 5WM was its #FreeChurchAV contest which invited churches across the US to pitch for a new AV system by telling their story and highlighting the benefits that upgrading technology within their church could bring. Music and the spoken word play a fundamental part in a church’s activities, so in tandem with a number of their suppliers, 5WM put together an AV offer which attracted more than 500 entries across the country.
The lucky recipient of the system was Hope Church in Danville, Virginia, where 5 Words felt that a new system would have the greatest impact. Having taken account of the Church’s requirements, Daniel undertook a thorough design process, before arranging the shipment of all materials and sending a team from Arizona to complete the install. A major part of the project was the purchase of a Coda Audio N-APS system, which was ins
Japan - When LD&K purchased a former theatre with the intention of converting it into a live music venue, there was no question about the fixtures that would make up its lighting rig. The company, which operates ‘live houses’ throughout Japan, had almost always used halogen fixtures, and it was set to do the same at its newest venue, the 1000 Club, located just three blocks from the bustling Yokohama train station.
That was until its management sat down and talked to the team at Hibino Lighting. Surveying the 1000-capacity room, Hibino recommended that, given the limited power supply available, it would make more sense to install Chauvet Professional LED fixtures. LD&K was hesitant, but trusting its vendor it agreed.
As a result, when the club opened (as a livestream venue) in August, it featured a powerful and versatile lighting rig comprised of 56 COLORado, COLORdash and Ovation fixtures. Arranged along the upstage deck, hung on overhead truss, and positioned on stage left and stage right poles as well as upstage stands, this collection of fixtures provides designers with a diverse range of options when lighting artists like Razor Oneman who perform at the club.
Key to this versatility are the 22 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom wash units in the new rig. Drawing on the wide 14ﹾ - 44ﹾ zoom range of the fixture, designers can easily use it to change coverage areas on the stage, moving from total color wash saturation to more focused spot effects.
Added colour is provided by the rig’s 22 COLORdash Par-Quad 18 fixtures, which feature ambe
Austria - The Vienna State Opera has replaced its 20-year-old Amptown Washlights with 70 SolaWash 1000 High CRI from High End Systems.
The upgrade was a challenge, as the new LED spotlights must be able to reproduce the characteristic old-fashioned light qualities of their predecessors and illuminate new productions in a contemporary way. The State Opera House has almost 200 repertoire pieces in its programme and the spotlights are in use for almost every piece.
Robert Eisenstein, vice-director of lighting at the Vienna State Opera, comments: "We had the pleasure of getting our hands on the first SolaWash 1000 in Austria. Together with Preworks and ETC, we were able to realise this project professionally, by implementing our own programme. Many companies presented us with a spotlight and offered to make the necessary changes by hand. With almost 200 performances and no rehearsal days available, this would have been an impossible undertaking in terms of time.”
The solution was developed together. Eisenstein explains: "Over the past year and a half, we worked with Preworks and ETC to write a great programme that gives the new SolaWash 1000 the exact data of the old Amptown Washlight. It must mix colour values in the same way as its 20-year-old predecessor. We determined values - colour values and position values. Of course, we also had to reduce the intensity because the new spotlight is much brighter, in spite of its far lower power consumption thanks to LED technology.
“The biggest challenge was reproducing the colour mix of the old fixt
Belgium - Allen & Heath Avantis and SQ mixing systems have been installed as part of a major update of Music Centre De Bijloke in Gent.
The venue reopened in September, resuming its role as a focal point for classical music in the region following a one-year refurbishment. Although Music Centre De Bijloke has been hosting performances since 1988, the building dates all the way back to 1228, when it served as a hospital.
A team of experts has enhanced the experience for performers and audiences in the main performance hall, going so far as to lower the floor and install extensive wood panelling to bring its unruly acoustics into the twenty-first century without detracting from its medieval oak ceiling and stone walls.
With the acoustics finely honed, the venue turned to its AV partners, City Sound Rent, to identify a mixing system capable of delivering excellent sound quality while being easy to use for in-house and visiting engineers. The centrepiece of the new setup is a 96kHz A&H Avantis at FoH. “I fell in love with the Allen & Heath Avantis mixing console from the first moment I used it,” comments Pieter Kinoli, sound engineer at Music Centre De Bijloke. “It’s so intuitive, easy-to-use and trustworthy. It’s definitely a step forward for us and the live performances we mix for.”
The Avantis is teamed up over a digital split with an SQ-6 on monitors. A GX4816 AudioRack provides the main I/O, with a portable DX168 stagebox giving Peter further I/O and added flexibility. A 64 channel Dante card in the Avantis gives the o
Japan - The Kaho Theatre in Iizuka City, Fukuoka, has survived many difficulties since the original building appeared in1922 and along the way this playhouse has been designated a Japanese ‘national registered tangible cultural property’.
The predecessor of the current Kaho Theatre, Nakaza, was originally opened as an entertainment place for people working in coal mines in the Chikuho region. Mainly traditional drama, Kabuki, standup comedy, juggling and silent films were performed during that era.
In recent years, it has been used as a multi-purpose event venue, and at full capacity can host audiences of 1,200. In addition to traditional performing arts, various events such as music plays, lectures, talk shows and concerts have all been staged there.
Because of Covid-19, the theatre was recently forced to close, but in collaboration with rental company, Toyo Amuse, who own a Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Compact (WPC) rig, they have been able to stream live online various performances at the theatre, creating a lot of impact in the media.
This is known as the ‘Yumebutai Project’. With fewer professionals coming to play at the theatre because of the pandemic, the production team decided to embark on a policy of open recruitment of performers, who in turn can feature their work online via a livestreaming service.
Mr. Masanori Keuchi, CEO of Toyo Amuse explains: “When all events and concerts were cancelled due to Covid-19, the theatre decided to collaborate with us to record and deliver performance online, to make people happ
India - Sighapandi Electronics recently equipped Royal China with a JBL Professional networked audio system to deliver the audio in the restaurant and nightclub areas.
Royal China is a fine dining restaurant in Kolkata, serving authentic Cantonese cuisine in a chic and upscale environment. Located in the Forum Courtyard Mall, Royal China also features a small nightclub.
During the design phase, the owners of Royal China recognised that the restaurant needed a flexible loudspeaker system that offered a clear, high quality sound. However, due to the low ceilings in the venue, they required a compact solution that would not detract from the décor. The owners of Royal China worked with Sighapandi Electronics to install a JBL Professional network audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers, JBL and Crown amplifiers and a BSS signal processor.
“The ceiling height of nine feet was a big challenge,” said Jagjeet Singh Bhatti, Sighapandit Electronics. “We obviously had to be very careful about reflections in the live room and ensure that the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio was kept high for every audience member.”
Sighapandi Electronics chose four JBL AM7212/95 loudspeakers with two JBL ASB6125 subwoofers for the club area. Sighapandi Electronics also designed brackets for the JBL AM7212/95 loudspeakers, as there was no option to fly the speakers with such a low ceiling.
In the restaurant, the team installed 12 JBL 8128 in-ceiling loudspeakers along with four JBL 8124 in-ceiling loudspeakers. These full range high fidelity speakers deli
Germany - Decisions often involve a trade-off, as taking steps to address one challenge may complicate another. Philipp Reister, the event technician at the famed Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, understands this issue first hand.
Reister values the flexibility of moving fixtures, especially since changing lights on the Z Bridge at the school’s performance hall is a time-consuming process involving a mobile crane. On the other hand, the moving fixtures that had previously been installed at the school, while providing the desired flexibility, raised the issue of noise.
In the past Reister and the team at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg have worked diligently to balance these issues. This summer they enlisted the help of a new “partner” to their cause: the Chauvet Professional Maverick Silens 2 Profile.
“We needed to improve our flexibility because our hall is a fixed installation,” said Reister. “Therefore, we have relied on moving heads, which are flexible in all areas - as spots but also as wash and with colours. However, some of the events we have also demand absolute silence. This is why we were so happy to see the new Maverick moving profiles. The Silens are as promised: they are operating completely in silence, especially when their Absolute Silence mode is enabled.”
The Z Bridge at the school’s hall is divided into three sections, with a single Maverick Silens 2 Profile controlled via sACN, positioned in each. Reister is quick to point out that the value of these fixtures extends far beyond their flexibility and silent op
USA - “You can tell a successful church just from the vibe,” said Mark Salamone, sales manager at All Pro Integrated Systems. “The first time I visited Wellspring Community Church in Ruskin, Florida, they had a red movie theatre carpet, velvet ropes, popcorn, and Star Wars stuff for the kids. There were a lot of young families, and it felt progressive and brimming with good energy.
“The service was amazing - full hands-in-the-air singing from everyone led by a charismatic pastor and a praise band loaded with talented musicians. The sound system was just ok, but Preston Eaves, technical arts director, was squeezing everything he could out of it. In terms of community service, Wellspring made it clear that they weren’t just talking the talk – they are actively working to improve access to the material and spiritual needs of the community.”
Salamone, who has a long history of critical listening in the role of recording and mixing engineer, attended that service in anticipation of Wellspring’s move to a new, larger sanctuary that would eventually benefit from Danley Sound Labs point-source loudspeakers, subwoofers, and DSP-enabled amplifiers. Wellspring Community Church’s existing sanctuary held only 180 people, and congregants were regularly overflowing into the lobby even though the church was holding five all-live services every weekend.
“We could see where we were at and where we were going, and a bigger space was definitely needed,” explained Eaves. “Our new sanctuary seats 550. We have a high-energy praise band with drums,
World - The #WeMakeEvents campaign has been ramping up activity in order to highlight how the global live events industry urgently needs to get back to work. Over 30 million people in 25 countries would usually work in the events industry, but with social distancing measures in place, there is no possibility of a financially viable return for the foreseeable future.
Over the past weeks, events have happened around the world - including in the US, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain and the UK - to raise awareness of those impacted in the event supply chain, from manufacturers, production companies, catering, transport, security and others, to the huge freelance community that works within the industry.
The majority of the industry has had no income since the beginning of the crisis in March, and with a global second wave of COVID-19 imminent, a date to return to work has become impossible to predict, leaving many companies and individuals devastated, both financially and personally.
The industry is now joining together as a worldwide force on 30 September for a Global Day of Action. This marks the start of a new phase of the #WeMakeEvents campaign which will continue to alert governments to the disastrous situation the sector faces.
“The situation in Spain is terrible and we’re working very hard to highlight that to our government,” says Juan Jose Villa, from Spanish trade association, AFIAL. “Our event on 17th September got coverage on most of Spain’s regional television and radio stations, and we believe that we have shown ho
UK - Since opening its doors 17 years ago, Suffolk creative entertainment, education and enterprise hub, the New Cuts Art Centre (The Cut), has gone from strength to strength, becoming a centre for arts in the community, and now offers a full programme of activities, including a weekly cinema, theatre, music, regular art exhibitions and an educational programme.
Looking to the future, the venue decided it was time to upgrade their existing lighting rig in the theatre to LED. As the space is used for a variety of performances and events, they needed fixtures that were versatile, easy to use and that could work for a range of styles - Prolights fixtures proved to be the answer.
Callum Macdonald of CM Lighting oversaw the specification and install of the lighting fixtures. He commented: “The theatre is a small community theatre that doubles up as a cinema. The programme mostly contains one-nighters and musical acts, so I wanted to create an easy to use fixed rig. There are no dedicated in-house technicians, so re-rigging for each act was not a viable option.”
After discussions and product demonstrations given by Benjamin Taylor of A.C. Entertainment Technologies - Prolights’ exclusive UK distributor - The Cut chose to invest in Prolights EclFresnels, EclProfile and Studio Cob PARs .
Callum continued: “I chose these Prolights products because of the light quality, colour and ease of use. In my opinion, the output of the saturated colours produced by the Studio Cobs exceeds that of some of the more expensive and popular equivalents out the
South Africa - Whilst South Africa has just moved to Level 1 allowing events for up to 250 guests indoors and 500 people outdoor, technical supplier Multi-Media has utilised the past few months to establish a virtual platform for the future and something that can be expanded upon with the new eased restrictions while adhering to strict safety protocols.
Multi-Media has seven virtual studios based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, which have opened doors for businesses and financial institutions, to continue communicating with their audience during this time. The multi-purpose studio spaces have been used for live events, virtual events and broadcasts (complete with customised 3D virtual sets) and product launches. In addition, Multi-Media has partnered with Century City Conference Centre (CCCC) in the Western Cape, to create additional virtual space.
Event planners and businesses are encouraged to use their imaginations as, thanks to Level 1, the diverse Multi-Media stages could serve as a hybrid event, live show or an option to host multiple satellite venues, all linked up, across the country.
“It took us time to mobilize and adapt to a different way of doing business, but the main concern was trying to communicate to clients how our service could add value,” explains Tim Fish, owner of Multi-Media. The eye-catching virtual studio has been used for a wide variety of events including talk shows, successful car and product launches, educational programmes and various broadcasts. More recently, the green screen formed the backdrop for a music video w
USA - Earlier this month, Essential Church in Huntsville, Alabama, upgraded their stage lighting to improve the production quality of both in-person services and the footage they capture for online broadcast. Conventional fixtures were replaced by energy efficient LED lighting from ADJ and sister company Elation Professional, improving the aesthetic appeal of the stage and at the same time reducing the church’s energy bill.
Like most religious congregations around the world, Essential Church have made online services a major priority this year. However, as they experimented with filming their worship and teaching in their auditorium, they realized that the lighting setup, while adequate for those attending in person, was limiting the quality of their video recordings. They brought in Christopher Watts of Watts Technology to advise on a cost effective, efficient and effective solution to add creativity to their stage lighting and also improve the quality of their online broadcasts. In turn, Christopher brought in lighting designer and regular collaborator Thomas Griffin of Lti Productions.
After visiting the church and discussing with leadership what they were looking to achieve from their lighting, Thomas designed and specified a new system. The current conventional front lighting fixtures were replace with LED fixtures, new LED pars and battens were installed above the stage, while a small number of existing LED fixtures were repurposed and integrated into a new DMX control system, which Thomas programmed to be easily operated by the church’s volunte
USA/Europe - During the COVID-19 pandemic, literally every aspect of life has had to be rethought, but few verticals have faced hurdles like education is facing today. Whether or not to hold classes in person or remotely has become literally a fundamental choice. Marist College, a private liberal arts college founded in 1905 in Poughkeepsie, NY, faced those same difficult options as it readied itself to start the new school year in late August.
Technology solutions from Audio-Technica made that task i easier and successful. The school acquired and installed 150 Audio-Technica U851RO Omnidirectional Condenser Boundary Microphones and 50 ATDM-0604 SmartMixers, which now outfit 50 classrooms at the school. But the story of how this project came about is an education in itself.
“We wanted to offer a learning experience as close to traditional in-person classes, using a blended synchronous model in which the teacher and half the class are live and the other half are remote, while still conforming to all the New York State and Department of Health requirements and staying within our budget,” explains Lee Walis, manager of technical services at Marist College, an AVIXA certified technology specialist who would design and install the systems.
“At first, I thought we’d need a high microphone count in each room, at least five in the smaller classrooms and a minimum of ten in the larger lecture halls, as well as multiple mixers per room to handle a variety of different processing needs. An additional design requirement is to include a voice-lift feat
India - AM Integrated Solutions and GRS AV Solutions recently outfitted RYU Bar with a complete Harman Professional sound reinforcement solution to ensure quality audio quality for patrons and party-goers alike.
Opened in January, RYU Bar is one of the latest additions to the popular nightlife scene in the bustling city of Gurgaon. Named after the Japanese word for dragon, RYU Bar delivers a pan-Asian experience, bringing together food, cocktails, music and décor from Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian cultures. To ensure immersive sound throughout the main space, rooftop terrace and private lounges, the owner hired AM Integrated Solutions and GRS AV Solutions to install a complete Harman Professional sound system, consisting of JBL loudspeakers and subwoofers, Crown amplifiers and BSS digital audio processors.
“RYU was a uniquely challenging project for us, in terms of finding ways around the venue’s low height limitations while meeting the client’s vision of a bar that transforms into a nightclub in the evening,” comments Aashish Mahindru, consultant, AM Integrated Solutions. “I am very happy with what the compact JBL AC28 speakers and ASB6128 subwoofers deliver with some excellent sound tuning.”
In order to meet the client’s volume requirements and work within the limited height of the venue, the installation team required a compact PA design with high SPL output and balanced coverage. AM Integrated Solutions and GRS AV Solution outfitted the main venue space with four JBL AC28/26 two-way loudspeakers and two ASB6128 double 18-inch s
UK - Responding to the effects of COVID-19 on their business, Johnny Palmer, managing director of SXS Events, promptly rebranded his Bristol-based company to Pytch, and constructed The Virtual Venue in one of the empty warehouses on the industrial estate in Brislington which he owns.
“We rationalised that the world was in chaos, and in any case our old name was a mouthful. Our industry is full of three-letter acronymed companies, so we came up with Pytch instead.”
Explaining the ethos, he says, “We are here to share messages and create memorable experiences. We decided the broadcast model was better, so I built TV studios.” This includes a 12m x 15m main stage and a Green Room.
Aside from attracting new business Pytch also has a number of clients on retainer in the corporate, conference and exhibition sectors. “We knew we had to deliver something serious and provide extra value to them.”
Occupying a prominent position in this immersive broadcast soundstage and studio space are Martin Audio’s DD12, DD6 and WS218X subs.
Born in Australia, Johnny Palmer’s history with Martin Audio goes way back. “When I was a 14-year-old farm boy in Tasmania, and first saw a picture of the old Martin Audio W8C in a magazine, I knew I had to have it,” he says. A year later he heard the system for the first time, and so began his love affair with the brand.
“The first time I experienced the sound I noticed the pure headroom was amazing - it was a magical thing.”
With SXS Events he continued to invest heavily in Martin Audi
Austria - The Vienna Volksoper, or People’s Opera, is Vienna’s largest theatre for opera, musicals, classical concerts and ballet. The theatre offers one of the most diverse musical programmes in the country, ranging from Carmen to Kiss Me Kate, and Coppelia to Cabaret, as well as productions for schools, lots of local German operetta performances and much more besides.
The venue is also the first in Vienna to open its doors to the public after the summer break, but more importantly in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, with a performance of Strauss’s Die Fledermaus on 1 September followed by a revival of Cole Porter’s classic musical, Kiss Me Kate on 2 September. Both will be benefitting from the audio reproduction of a new KV2 audio system, which also happens to be the first ever to use KV2’s new control & diagnostics tool for remote system management and control.
The new sound system for the 1339-capacity venue was designed by Martin Lukesch, director of sound and media technology at Vienna Volksoper. “Here, it’s all about the music!” explains Lukesch. “As a repertory theatre with a hugely varied performance range - we can be staging a rock musical one night and a classical ballet the next - the demands on the sound system are enormous. Our season starts on 1 September and we have rehearsals every morning and performances every evening, non-stop, until 30 June. This was my starting point when it came to designing a new system. It had to be able to fulfil the needs of all the different types
USA - Pensacola Christian College teaches over 4,500 students at its Pensacola, Florida campus. Its students gather in the nearly 6,000-seat Crowne Centre frequently for community-building, events, chapel, for concerts, and church services on Sunday morning, and Sunday and Wednesday evenings.
Sunday morning services are recorded and broadcast as Rejoice in the Lord on the Daystar Television Network. All Pro Integrated Systems, a locally-based AV integration firm with international reach, recently replaced a number of loudspeakers, subwoofers and amplifiers in the Crowne Centre with a smaller number of Danley products, including Danley Jericho Horns, TH118XL subwoofers and DNA-series amplifiers with onboard DSP and optional Dante connectivity.
“We put the original sound system in the Crowne Centre when the building was new almost 20 years ago,” explained Scott Vegte, director of sales operations at All Pro Integrated Systems. “It performed well for technology of the time, but it had passed its sunset age. Components were failing, and the manufacturer was no longer making replacements. We started talking about upgrading in 2018 and moved into planning in 2019. Because the Crowne Centre gets used almost daily, we knew we would have a short window to do the actual installation. Everyone involved knew there would have to be plenty of planning to make the installation smooth and successful.”
“We travelled with the team from All Pro to InfoComm 2019 in Orlando to ‘go shopping’ for possible replacement systems,” said Greg Moses, TV
USA - Located in Westfield, Indiana, the mission of Westfield High School is to provide rigorous and engaging experiences for all students with a performing arts programme dedicated to creating a lifelong appreciation for the arts.
With a busy annual event schedule which keeps their 868-seat auditorium in regular use, the antiquated house lighting design was often struggling to provide the illumination desired. Working with long-time partner Associated Controls + Design, the school decided it was time to renovate the aging house system for a brighter and more visually engaging environment using Altman Lighting Chalice LED downlights installed by Huston Electric.
“Westfield High School has been a long-time client of ours and we even sold them the first lighting control system when they originally built the auditorium,” began Mike Brubaker, Associated Controls + Design. “We’ve been involved at the building for about 20 years now, but this transformation from halogen downlights to Chalice LED luminaires is probably the change with the biggest visual impact.”
As with many high schools across the nation, the auditorium is not only the main performance venue for the arts program, it is also serves as the primary gathering space for numerous events and meetings. Needing a house system that could keep pace with the schedule at hand, the antiquated system currently in place was falling behind with a heavy power consumption.
“They’ve been working towards converting the entire lighting system to LED for a while now, so the house lighting u
Switzerland - In the age of social distancing, how can an orchestra and choir create a great musical performance when they cannot be in close proximity to each other? During the coming season, Switzerland’s Zurich Opera House will rely on Lawo IP technology to solve this problem.
The need to find a solution for future performances became clear in early 2020, after Switzerland’s lockdown went into effect on 15 March. That solution came in the form of an IP-based remote production installation from Lawo, designed specially for WAN-based remote productions.
Equipment includes a Lawo mc²36 console, Compact I/O stagebox units, and V__remote4 devices to transport and process video and audio signals, plus an upgrade of the Lawo Nova73 HD Core already installed at the Opera House which adds Ravenna networking and additional SFP Ethernet ports.
“At first we sat at home, puzzled and surprised, but pretty quickly we were thinking about how to move forward,” says Oleg Surgutschow, head of the Opera House’s sound department. “While some departments, like the workshops and costume departments, were able to continue working under the prescribed anti-corona measures, the sound department’s activities were pretty limited. So we had to quickly find a way to cope to ensure effective rehearsal operations and, later on, and deliver opera, operetta and ballet performances of the usual high level for the 2020-2021 season.”
Since the orchestra pit proved to be too small for the required minimum distances between the musicians and choir members would