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NEWS
Breaking News
New York City Opera Ends Use of Decade-Old "Sound Enhancement" Amplification System
October 23, 2009
New York City Opera's upcoming season will mark the end of the company's use of its controversial ten-year-old "sound-enhancement" amplification system following extensive renovations to its home, the David H. Koch Theater, the New York Times has reported.
The system — installed in 1999 under the tenure of City Opera's then general and artistic director Paul Kellogg — utilized several dozen microphones and 144 individual speakers in an effort to improve the acoustics of the 2,700-seat theater, which was originally designed to muffle the sounds of New York City Ballet dancers' feet. The move towards amplification followed two previous efforts to improve the acoustic balance of the venue formerly known as the New York State Theater, which City Opera still shares with the Ballet.
Changes to the Koch Theater's auditorium include new sound-channeling side walls adjacent to the stage, a pit elevator that can raise and lower the orchestra, the removal of sound-absorbing fabrics on the auditorium's walls and new seats that have been calibrated to mitigate sound absorption.
More information can be found at New York City Opera, the New York Times and the OPERA NEWS Archives (here and here).
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