With its soaring 70-foot proscenium arch and swooping copper-clad roof, the resplendent Sun Valley Pavilion heralds a new era for the performing arts at Idaho’s premier mountain resort.
Winter visitors usually come to ski, but after the snowmelt a full program of performances—most notably by the acclaimed Sun Valley Summer Symphony—attracts warm season residents and vacationers who gather at the pavilion for an intimate entertainment experience.
Designed by Mary Cook, senior consultant in the Audio & Video Systems Group at JaffeHolden Acoustics, the sound system at Sun Valley Pavilion is anchored by three clusters of five Meyer Sound MILO line array loudspeakers each.
“I wanted to provide excellent coverage and the highest quality sound for symphony concerts, but I also wanted to make the system as rider-friendly as possible for touring artists,” explains Cook. “I knew that with a MILO system, any act likely to perform here could come in and not have to unpack the whole truck—perhaps not even bring it.”
To assure uniform front-to-back coverage, each MILO array is split into three zones, each driven separately by a Galileo loudspeaker management system: two MILO 60 cabinets on top; two standard MILO 90 cabinets in the middle; and a single MILO 120 expanded coverage cabinet on the bottom. Each main array also incorporates a 700-HP subwoofer.
The balance of the system, driven by a second Galileo system, comprises two CQ-2 loudspeakers for the side terraces and eight compact UPM-2P loudspeakers for frontfill.
The entire audio reinforcement system, including a Yamaha PM5D house console, was provided by Pro Media/UltraSound of Hercules, Calif. and installed under the supervision of project manager, Jim Kinkella.
According to Cook, Meyer Sound’s MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction program was a helpful tool in configuring the arrays, and contributed to the superb audience experience at the symphony’s inaugural concert. “From front to back, I was very happy with what I heard,” Cook reports. “We received nothing but compliments on how it sounds throughout the pavilion.”
Cook attributes some of the exceptional smoothness and balance of the system to the inherent characteristics of the MILO cabinets. “A lot of the line arrays that I’ve listened to and tuned have some issues when you transition from mids to mid-highs,” she observes. “This is where you really start hearing the box-to-box interference. But I was extremely pleased with how smooth that transition was in the MILOs.”
The new Meyer Sound system was finished just in time for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s opening night celebration, and it received a full workout when the symphony hosted mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
According to Sun Valley’s director of entertainment, Jim Mauldin, the pavilion’s first full summer of operation will feature a full schedule of jazz, dance, and other classical performances, in addition to the symphony program. Mauldin is also considering tour stops for some major acoustic-leaning rock acts.
Other likely bookings for the pavilion include corporate events, weddings, and private parties.
The architectural concept for Sun Valley Pavilion was developed by New York-based FTL Design Engineering Studio, working in collaboration with Ruscitto/Latham/Blanton Architectura P.A. of Sun Valley.
For more information:
Meyer Sound Website
