Beethoven Gymnasium in Berlin is a secondary school with a focus on music and aesthetics in the south of Berlin. The school has four choirs, three orchestras and a big band, which, together with the music classes and two advanced classes in years 11 and 12, organize several concerts annually in winter and summer in the school’s auditorium. He school has its own event technology club to provide technical support for the various performances of all music ensembles. It affords students of all ages interested in technology the opportunity to learn how to use stage technology and apply this knowledge practically at the school’s various events.

Initial situation

The auditorium of the Beethoven-Gymnasium features an 8m x 8m stage, designed as a classic box stage with a PA to the left and right outside the box stage. The construction of the building, with its initial focus on spoken theatre and the associated hard, smooth walls, presented us with acoustic challenges in order to create the connection between the proscenium area with grand piano and the stage area. The existing sound engineering material was unable to manage this situation satisfactorily.

Project Objective

In cooperation with the event technology club, the music department planned the implementation of various projects with the big band and additional music classes at our school. Both the recording and production of recently rehearsed pieces as well as the live performances using audio technology were intended to be in the foreground. On the one hand, this enabled the students of the event technology club to mic, mix and record with a larger music group. On the other hand, the student musicians of the big band and classes gained an insight into the world of audio technology — a look beyond the horizon.

Implementation

Thanks to the Hans Thomann Foundation, two suspended monitor speakers including rigging have been used for the auditorium stage since May 2024. Furthermore, two mobile wedge monitor speakers have been made available for the proscenium area. They enable individually adaptable monitor mixes for band projects and live performances, in which the grand piano and the school’s orchestra and big band in the proscenium area and other musicians on stage make music together, thus creating an acoustic connection between the two areas. The Department of Music and the Event Technology Club of the Beethoven-Gymnasium Berlin would like to thank the Hans-Thomann Foundation very much for their generous donation, which greatly enriches our work in the musical and technical education of students in years 7-12. In addition, the speakers will also benefit all musical and artistic users of the school in the future.

Department of Music & Event Technology Club of the Beethoven-Gymnasium Berlin May 2024