EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J.—Founded in 1883 and now in its 128th season, The Metropolitan Opera is the vibrant home for talented singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, and dancers from around the world. Known as the venue for the world’s greatest voices, The Met recently hosted the 85th birthday celebration of legendary singer, Tony Bennett. Singing at The Met was not only the singer’s birthday gift to himself, but to the sold-out crowd that flocked to the 3800-seat venue’s Lincoln Center address. Guest artists included Elton John, Aretha Franklin, and Alejandro Sanz.

ACIR Professional (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) provided the audio necessary to reinforce the sound at The Met in order to achieve the live sound to which Mr. Bennett has become accustomed. A Yamaha PM5D-EX was the console of choice for long-time Bennett front of house engineer, Tom Young. Young, whose rider preference is a PM5D, said the 5D-EX DSP5D expander was used as the primary snake with its ease of running a Cat5 cable due to space limitations of running a traditional copper snake in the venue. The Met, a long-established opera house, has minimal need for amplified sound.

In addition, ACIR provided d&b Q-1 line arrays that were configured as left/right flown using eight boxes per side. Four Q-1 boxes per side were ground stacked on top of a Q1 sub, powered with d&b D-12 amplifiers. An assortment of microphones from Sennheiser, Neumann, AudioTechnica, and Heil Sound were used for the show.

Tony Bennett’s latest CD, Duets II, was released in September in conjunction with the singer’s 85th birthday and features a celebrated list of artists including Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Michael Buble, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Queen Latifah, Carrie Underwood, and many others.

For more information on ACIR Professional, visit www.acirpro.com.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Digital Warmth