VAL DI FIEMME, Italy — Trento, Italy-based Jam Session and PFM Showstructure teamed up to support the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship that took place here in late February and early March with a K-array sound system sourced through Exhibo, K-array’s distributor in Italy.
More details from K-array (www.k-array.com):
From February 20th to March 3rd Val di Fiemme welcomed over 700 athletes from 57 countries represented in cross country, ski jumping and Nordic combined competitions.
The Championship drew over 400,000 people who were geared up for winter sports, but not only… a lineup of live music shows and other events also drew in a crowd. The biggest challenge for the entertainment was to resist sub-zero temperatures, luckily the right professionals were called in for the 15-day sprint of events: the committee had no trouble appointing the rental company, which has a proven track record of impeccable service.
Jam Session, was founded in Trento (Italy) in the 90’s by Mauro Lusuardi who, after his professional experience in the music industry decided to start up a rental business: “The crisis requires top-notch quality on the job, and quality in music is my passion,” Lusuardi explained. In addition to the audio rental company, Jam Session has partnered with PFM Showstructure, to assist professionals from the conceptualization to the backline for both video and lighting for shows and events.
K-array is Lusuardi’s old friend, who he likes to thank the Italian distributor Exhibo for introducing; right from the first demo, the K-array systems convinced him of their uniformity and sound, so it’s no surprise that when he needed to choose the system for the World Championship, he went for a sure thing. “We needed to cover huge open-air spaces with a wide range of audience attendance, K-array has the capability to cover all those bases, in addition to its high sound pressure which is key in some contexts of the Championship. Moreover, we are keen on working in quality assurance, so the K-array brand is really appreciated. The system is light, compact, and easy to handle which sorted out a big problem for us: given the sub-zero temperatures in Val di Fiemme we needed to dismantle the system every night before nightfall and only K-array allowed us to do this in a timely manner. It was covered and kept at a warmer temperature then set up before 8:00am every morning ready for the races without any performance problems, this would have been impossible with a classic array. “
Exhibo, one of the main sponsors of the sporting event, and K-array, in part supplied added equipment to the ones already being used by Jam Session.
Jam Session worked in different spots, each one managed by a two-person team under the direct supervision of Lusuardi: the most complex location was probably the Gold Medal Plaza in Cavalese, at 5pm a live music show was scheduled; the stage was then transformed into a DJ session and then again for the awards ceremony at 7pm which was broadcasted live (no delays were allowed!). A huge commitment for the reference person in charge of it all, Jonni Pellegrini: “We chose a system to satisfy a crowded area and the needs of the live band: two KH4, four KS4 and two KO4 on each side in a L+R of the stage, KH15 in a front fill completed it all. The surrounding area around the clearing was about 100 meters, so we needed to cover that area too with an additional two KH15 ”.
Jam Session installed the same system as the Golden Medal Plaza except for the sub (just one KO70 on each side was enough) in the area around the ski jumping hill in Predazzo, which included the long ski run, and a 170x 200 m stage. The ski slope was covered with several speakers (by another manufacturer) that were used as a “monitor” for every 300-400 people. The challenge Jonni explained was “combining the two systems and managing the volume, especially for the broadcasting: from widespread sound to focused sound both on the slope and off, during jumps and at the landing point for the skiers interviews.” The parking area was also set up with four KH15 so that everyone could follow the races.
Before closing off, Lusuardi asked us to list off his team members: Michele Garbari, Michele Facchinelli, Gianluca Ferrari, Matteo Ischia and Luca Raffaelli. Above all a special thanks for the attendance of Andrea Torelli, Marketing Manager and Francesco Maffei, Product Specialist, who arrived in Val di Fiemme directly from K-array, with passion and dedication they joined up with the guys from Jam Session to get the best out of the installed systems.
How did Jam Session do it all? Easy, Jonni told us: “Everything was defined before-hand, doing an onsite walk through at the Pre-Championship at the beginning of February. We took care of every detail, from the lineup to the double-checking with the RAI’s technicians… we’ve been preparing for this event for over a year so we were able to set up in no time. At the end of the day we are “only” doing our job.
