New World Symphony, an orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, FL, was looking to transition the live production of its outdoor WALLCAST concert experiences and other productions to native 4K UHD resolution. Along with Christie projectors, the Hitachi SKUHD4000 cameras represent the first phase of an end-to-end 4K video infrastructure upgrade at the New World Center, campus of the New World Symphony. The multi-format capabilities of the Hitachi cameras will allow the NWS production team to operate in 1080p HD until the remaining infrastructure is upgraded to 4K.
The seasonal WALLCAST concerts are projected live on a 100- by 70-ft section of the building façade. The performances, which take place inside New World Symphony’s performance hall, will be captured by 12 SK-UHD4000 cameras and delivered to the Christie system for live projection. An immersive audio experience powered by more than 100 Meyer Sound loudspeakers complements the video simulcasts.
While the WALLCAST concerts will first benefit from the upgrade, it will also support educational concerts and webcasts; recorded master classes; experimental music videos; image magnification at select concerts; business development events; third-party rentals of the center involving recording or webcasts; and NWS’ archival concert recordings.
“We bring video, music and theater together in our orchestral presentations,” said New World president and CEO Howard Herring. “A major advantage of the Hitachi cameras is the ability to capture all of these elements in low light. This will make our WALLCAST concerts more vivid, theatrical, sophisticated, and intriguing for our 3,000-plus attendees at every performance. While the moviemakers of the world regularly shoot in low light, this is not yet commonplace in the orchestral world.”
