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PRESS RELEASE September 6, 2007 Artec Consultants Inc is proud to announce the opening of the newest member of the Artec family of concert halls in Aarhus, Denmark. The gala opening performance will take place today, on Thursday, September 6, 2007. The 1200-seat purpose built concert hall, part of a significant addition to the existing Musikhuset Aarhus, will be the home of the Aarhus Symfoniorkester. This 72-person permanent ensemble serves the Aarhus community with over 60 symphonic performances each season, as well as collaborations with the Den Jyske Opera company. The first rehearsals in the facility took place late last week. Artec was on hand to work with Giancarlo Andretta, the orchestra's music director, and the musicians, as part of the post-opening service provided by the firm. "This is a crucial period, as the musicians discover the nature of the acoustics of their new home", said Tateo Nakajima, Artec Partner responsible for the concert hall. "We are here to support the work of Maestro Andretta, the musicians of the orchestra, and the technical staff during this process, and to guide the development of settings of the adjustable acoustics systems. This is a process that typically takes a season or two to fully complete, but naturally these first few days and weeks are the most exciting and we've been very pleased with the reaction of the musicians with their new home." "A great deal of attention was given to the auditorium acoustics during the design process of this relatively modest budget facility by the entire design and construction team," said Ted Pyper, Artec Project Manager for the concert hall. "Shaping of the auditorium and the materials used for the boundary surfaces of the room, as well as the layout of the audience seating, are naturally the prime considerations. The sound isolation that was designed by our colleagues at COWI is also crucial." "Your lives have changed forever," said Maestro Andretta to the musicians after listening to the orchestra in the hall. "The warmth of the sound of the orchestra is wonderful". Palle Kjeldgaard, the General Manager, of the orchestra, said, "This is acoustically the best concert hall in Denmark, and definitely one of the top three in Scandinavia - alongside the hall in Göteborg, Sweden, and the Artec hall in Lahti, Finland. It was amazing the level of quality that was achieved here with modest resources." The hall has audience seating on three levels, and features a variety of signature adjustable acoustics elements. These include a large three-piece motorized canopy (or reflector) system and a system of sound absorptive panels that can be deployed for performances featuring amplified sound, or for rehearsals. These systems will be used to shape the acoustics environment to meet the needs of different types of performances taking place in the hall. "Its been a pleasure working with Klaus Toustrup and his team at C. F. Møller", said Artec Partner, Ed Arenius, who led the Artec team's work with Tateo Nakajima. "We are very pleased with the way the project has turned out, and congratulate the orchestra and the city on their new hall." "Our founder Russell Johnson, who passed away in early August, would have been proud to see his legacy continued in this way," said Tateo Nakajima. "He established a unique approach that is at the core of our work at Artec. This approach will forever be the philosophical foundation of the work will do, as we apply the innovative spirit and passion for quality that we are known for to help arts groups and communities around the world achieve facilities that fully respond to their needs." Artec provides Auditorium Design, Facility Planning, Pre-Design Physical and Operations Planning, Comprehensive Acoustics, and Design and Planning of Specialized Performance Equipment Systems for performing arts facilities worldwide. Artec has ongoing projects in Reykjavik (Iceland), Montreal (Canada), Wroclaw (Poland), Zarautz (Spain), Carmel, Indiana (USA), and Singapore. For more information visit the Artec website at www.ArtecConsultants.com. In Aarhus, Artec provided Auditorium Design services (basic design and architectural acoustics) as part of the COWI A/S team under A. Enggaard A/S. The client acoustics advisor was Anders Christian Gade. The architect for the facility was Klaus Toustrup of C. F. Møller of Aarhus, Denmark. Aarhus Opening Press Release September 6, 2007 The Artec Team Press Contact:
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