My New David Geffen Hall

I'm feeling grateful that I can call this newly re-renovated concert hall, my new David Geffen Hall!




I only went to the David Geffen Hall once before the renovation for a concert from Nyack College School of Music. The concert took place at the Wu Tsai Theater, which is the main hall of David Geffen Hall. I intentionally pick a seat that's farther away so I can really listen to the acoustic. It was not bad, but there are some musical instruments I can not hear clearly. The view of the stage also seems a way from the audience. After the renovation, the view of the stage to every seat is definitely better. The stage has moved about 25 feet forward, and now there are sits behind the stage. The performers are now surrounded by audiences. The stage is now able to adapt to different performances.

View before the re-renovation


Similar angle after the re-renovation



Even the last roll of the house, the view is still good.




I didn't join this project till the very end of it, but I'm still learning a lot in this project. Doing permanent audio-visual installation, and commissioning is something similar to what I did, but also new to me. I have been doing live entertainment all the time and virtual events since COVID. I'm excited and looking forward to it.

When I first on-site the construction of the building is mostly finished, but I still have to wear a hard hat and high visibility vest according to OSHA regulations.




During the hard hat concert(worker appreciation concert), the team that planned this has a really thoughtful idea. Have the orchestra plays different pieces of music from composers that cover different frequency and dynamic ranges.

At the end of the concert, after the NY Philharmonic bowed to the audience in the front, concertmaster Frank Huang whisper something to the music director Jaap van Zweden. I'm not sure what exactly they have talked about. I assume Fran Huang said they should also bow to the audience at the back of the stage too. They did bow to the audience at the back of the stage too. I believe this is very meaningful to the NY Philharmonic. The old hall doesn't have sets at the back of the stage.




The acoustic after the renovation is much better. Not just because the stage is now closer to audiences, but also the whole new architectural design. From the theater's shape to the acoustic material used on the ceiling and the wall. They are willing to sacrifice about 500 seats in this new design to make this a significantly better theater in sound and view was really impressed me. There are different presets for different types of performances. There are some panels above the stage that hook up to a mechanical system for different presets.




For performances that require using the main PA system, there are acoustic panels to pull up around the theater. Some of them are also hooked up to the mechanical system. One of the scenarios to use the PA system with the acoustic panels is film concerts, which is also one of my favorite types of performance, while the movie is playing back on the screen, the orchestra plays the music track of the movie.


Pop-up acoustic panels at 1st tier.


Acoustic panels at the orchestra level.




The hall is designed to be a multi-purpose event space. There are different projection systems. Font projection system, rear projection, and a cinema projection system.

Front projection booth, with two Panasonic projectors.



The cinema projection booth. This is a very interesting idea. This cinema projection is located in the 2nd tier. When it's not in use it gets folded back to become the back wall. To install it, a few rolls of sites need to get removed. Unfold the booth, then move the projector in. The cinema projection screen also takes lots of effort to install. For the PA system, the main EAW PA needs to come down, then install the Danley LCR speaker system.









EAW main speaker system.





Here are more pictures of the 
Wu Tsai Theater,













Recording room.



One of the AV rack rooms. There are lots of fiber patches from different rack rooms to around the building.




The main lobby. For some shows there will be live streaming in the lobby.








Sidewall studio, lobby, and lounge area.








Outside of the 
David Geffen Hall.





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    1. Thank you! Writing my own blog is one of many pieces of great advice I get from you.

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