Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier is one of the largest cultural complexes in the world, combining cultural institutions with recreational facilities and uniting baroque buildings with new architecture in a single 60,000-square-meter location. The venue recently replaced the existing analogue console in its main performance hall with Allen & Heath’s modular iLive digital system.
MuseumsQuartier’s facilities range from art museums such as the Leopold Museum and the MUMOK (Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna), to contemporary exhibition spaces like the Kunsthalle. The international TanzQuartier centre for dance is based there, as well as the Architektur Zentrum production studios for new media, and various artists-in-residence studios, and there is an oasis of terrace cafés, bars, shops, and bookstores.
Halls E + G are the exclusive event venues, two large multi-purpose halls hosting a variety of international productions in the fields of music, theatre, and dance, as well as public performances by TanzQuartier, and Vienna’s annual summer festival, the Festwochen.
The new iLive system, comprising an iDR10 stage rack and iLive-144 control surface, has been installed as the new FOH and monitor console in the 279-square-meter Hall G, complemented by the existing house PA system, comprising an Acoustic Design TB1 line array loudspeaker system and Kling & Freitag monitors, with signal processing by a Yamaha DME32 digital mixing engine.
Head of sound, Walter Novacek, comments, “We configured and used the new system on a live performance straight away after very little training and it went very smoothly. The layout and functionality of iLive is remarkably easy to understand, which is essential given the number of visiting engineers we have throughout the year who may not be familiar with the new digital system. It’s so easy to work with, sounds fantastic, and has the capacity to cope with whatever we throw at it. We are very happy with it!