WASHINGTON, DC — The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts has recently upgraded the audio system used for nine of its performance spaces with Soundcraft and Studer digital mixing consoles.
The venue’s opera house seats nearly 2,300 guests and is home to the Washington National Opera and the annual Kennedy Center Honors. It is also used for ballets, operas and a variety of Broadway road shows. The Terrace Theater seats 513 for performances of chamber music, jazz and children’s productions.
The Kennedy Center’s production operations department selected three Soundcraft Vi6s, one Soundcraft Vi4 and a Studer Vista 5 console for each of those halls. “The boards sound outstanding and the user interface is great,” said John Burke, the department’s AV system designer. “The audio capabilities have improved remarkably.
“One thing that I have noticed is that people want the shows archived,” Burke added. “The Vi6 allows engineers to record everything in HD. It gives the engineers the ability to take the MADI data streams and put it right into a multi-track recorder without worrying about splitters, and it makes recording shows much easier.”
Along with the Opera House and Terrace Theater, the Soundcraft Vi6 was also integrated into the Concert Hall, the 2,400-seat home of the National Symphony Orchestra.
The Studer Vista 5 also provides sound reinforcement for the venue’s smaller performance spaces, including the Eisenhower Theater, which hosts a range of smaller-scale operas, plays, musicals and ballets.
“The renovation to the Kennedy Center is very extensive and requires a lot of versatility on the part of the Soundcraft and Studer consoles,” said Burke. “In the Eisenhower Theater, for example, the Vista 5 is utilized to its full potential, as the entire system is CobraNet.
“The success we’ve had in the Eisenhower Theater has led to the expansion into the Concert Hall as well,” Burke added. “These Vi series products and the Vista 5 have been really great in stability and haven’t caused any problems. The much smaller footprint has been a tremendous benefit and the Vistonics are incredible as well.
“The opportunities are endless with the Soundcraft and Studer consoles,” Burke added. “As an example, in the concert hall, we are able to remotely control the racks from all positions and easily ship the signals, which has been an incredible step into the future. The transformation into digital with the Vi4, Vi6 and Vista 5 has increased our production, performance and accessibility.”
Soundcraft and Studer are units of Harman International Industries, Inc.
For more information, please visit www.harman.com.
