NEWS
07
MAKEOVER AT MANCHESTER
The University of Manchester has upgraded its Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, home to two key performance venues – the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall and the John Thaw Studio Theatre – equipped with EM Acoustics audio systems. This makeover allows the centre to meet the evolving needs of the university, improving the AV experience for students, teachers, performers and audiences. To support a variety of events – including classical-music concerts, comedy performances, poetry readings and more – the centre installed eight Halo-C line array loudspeakers on each side of the concert hall, as well as two R8 loudspeakers at stage level and two supporting S-15 subwoofers. In the Studio Theatre – which doubles as a teaching space – there are seven R8 hangs on the left, right and in the centre, 12 EMS-51X speakers and two S-15 subs. Now, both venues – and those who use them – benefit from state-of-the-art audio technology. “The recent upgrade has significantly improved operations,
which makes life easier for everyone,” remarked Karl Spencer, senior technical and buildings manager at the Martin Harris Centre. “Students enjoy a higher-quality experience, and our teaching and technical-support teams can focus on their work without the burden of lengthy set-up times or complicated systems.”
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL
“During planning, we proposed L2 as mains with Kara sides for smaller venues, scaling up to K1 for arenas, with L2 as sides,” said Chris Beddall, Il Divo’s FOH engineer. With Adlib, he prioritised vocal clarity while acknowledging each venue’s unique architecture – a decision that was transformative for audio quality.
Il Divo, a classical quartet with unparalleled international reach, recently wrapped its UK and European tour. With the help of event technology specialists Adlib, the group employed an L-Acoustics L Series sound system, with number and placement of speakers and subwoofers dependent on venue.
Powered by FlippingBook