PHOENIX – Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, Performing Arts/Media Facilities Planning and Design, has completed work on the Musical Instrument Museum in collaboration with RSP Architects. Auerbach Pollock Friedlander provided theatre and audio-video systems consulting services for the MIM Music Theater, a 299-seat recital hall as well as audio-video consulting services for the recording studio.
Auerbach Pollock Friedlander worked closely with RSP Architects and the acoustics consultant, Shen Milsom Wilke, Inc. to craft an intimate "jewel box" Music Theater – a primary venue in the programming of the Museum. The Music Theater was designed to host a wide variety of performance types and groups, ranging from the Boulder Acoustic Society to the Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars.
The broad range of music types and their associated acoustical requirements is basic to the Museum's mission – to showcase a wide variety of instruments and performers in the context of an unusual and visually-compelling array of instruments gathered from around the globe.
In addition to the flexible performance aspects of the Music Theater, the room is equipped with sound and video recording technology so performances may be captured for archival purposes. Auerbach Pollock Friedlander also provided audio-video consulting services for the audio recording system in the Museum's recording studio.
"Auerbach Pollock Friedlander were amazing partners throughout the whole process of building the MIM Music Theater. They talked with us – not to us – about our needs and goals for the space, and they went above and beyond to create an intimate venue that is outstanding, down to the last detail. The MIM Music Theater is truly a regional jewel, thanks to their efforts," said Sunni Fass, artistic and managing director for the MIM Music
Theater.
Made possible through a donation by Robert J. Ulrich, former chairman and CEO of Target, and a variety of corporate and individual donors, the Musical Instrument Museum includes five Geo-Galleries focusing on
instruments from different parts of the world.
An artist gallery highlights the instruments and stories of musical icons. Additional facilities include a classroom, garden courtyard, restaurant, café and museum store. The modern design of the two-story building is suggestive of the desert landscape of the surrounding Arizona landscape.
For the opening on April 24, 2010, the Museum held a civic dedication, celebrations and performances lasting through the weekend. On display were 3,000 instruments from the Museum's collection of approximately 10,000 instruments. The collection features instruments from every country in the world with the goal of "preserving, protecting and sharing these gifts with future generations."
For more information, please visit www.auerbachconsultants.com .
