MEET THE CAST OF WASHINGTON'S HARMAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

In late 2007, Sidney Harman Hall, an innovative addition to the home of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, was officially opened with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Located in the heart of downtown Washington, D.C., the newly built 775-seat Sidney Harman Hall joins the existing451-seat Lansburgh Theatre; together, they make up the new Harman Center for the Arts, named for the founder and chairman of Harman International, Sidney Harman. Funded with the generous support of Dr. Harman, Sidney Harman Hall is a uniquely flexible space that sets new standards in integrated-audio technology and quality. In the Harman Center for the Arts, Washington, D.C., now has an ideal venue for showcasing its many distinguished performing-arts groups.

Any building bearing the name of Harman must include top-of-the-line audio equipment. Expert audio-system designer The Talaske Group of Chicago was responsible for the audio and acoustical design for the new Sidney Harman Hall. Talaske Senior Audio Consultant Aaron Downey said recently, “The hall includes very specialized and flexible systems.” These systems consist of left, center, right and surround loudspeakers by JBL Professional. The system includes both JBL®  Venue Performance and VerTec® Series loudspeakers.

Other Harman brands – BSS, Crown and Studer – also play important roles. BSS® London BLU signal processors provide customized audio routing. Crown ® CTs amplifiers offer exceptional performance and flexibility in installed sound systems. A state-of-the-art Studer® Vista 5 digital audio console is used in the system’s control center. And AKG® wired and wireless microphones can be found throughout the new facility. These products are networked together to allow for instantaneous theater-sound reconfiguration and advanced control through Harman HiQnet™ technology, a powerful communications protocol that allows Harman products to be unified through the Harman Pro PC application, System Architect™.

Work began on the audio system in 2003 when the Harman Pro Group began to collaborate with the system designers and building architects in the early stages of the building’s design. The Talaske Group reviewed the theater’s requirements, and incorporated the latest Harman Pro products into its designs. As design and construction of the building progressed, many of the original products were upgraded and technologically enhanced. During this period, the HiQnet-controllable premium-range JBL Venue Performance Series was released and adopted into the designs, as were the Studer Vista 5 and the System Architect PC application.  

Harman International is proud to be involved with this premier facility and its designers, architects, integrators and new operators, and we’ll continue to work with the Harman Center for the Arts as it develops its programming for the Washington, D.C., community.