“In total silence, one of the world’s foremost acousticians bent over a sound board and slid a button forward,” writes Andrew Meacham in Wednesday’s (10/4) Tampa Bay Times. “Rick Talaske, 65, was testing a new, $1.8 million acoustic ‘shell’ his Chicago firm designed for the Florida Orchestra” at its home, the Mahaffey Theater. “To the audience, the eight panels stretching high above the stage might look like a rear wall. But they can be moved, as can a 4-inch thick, pockmarked ceilinglike structure that weighs several tons and hangs over the musicians. Both parts of the shell should enhance both the audience’s ability to hear the orchestra clearly, and help musicians to hear each other. The goal, Talaske said, is to ‘allow musicians to create the most beautiful music.’ The orchestra, which opens its 50th season this weekend with Carmina Burana, has waited four years for this day. That’s when a plan was hatched to replace the existing shell, installed more than 30 years ago … ‘This is a special moment,’ orchestra president Michael Pastreich said. … Workers finished installing the shell Monday. Talaske wrapped up his tests Tuesday morning.”
Posted October 5, 2017
