Tom Young, Bennett’s front of house engineer and production manager, mans a Yamaha CL5 console for the annual Exploring the Arts (ETA) fundraiser held October 4 in New York City
New York, NY (October 26, 2012)—The annual Exploring the Arts (ETA) fundraiser held October 4 at Cipriani’s mid-town in New York City raised $1.2 million. ACIR Professional provided audio for the event, which featured performances by Tony Bennett and his quartet with a special guest performance by Sting.
A star-studded red carpet affair hosted by Katie Couric, benefactors attending included Alec Baldwin, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryant Gumbel, Donna Karan, Lorraine Bracco, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Walters, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Audio production for the gala was provided by ACIR Professional (Egg Harbor Township, NJ), and included a Yamaha CL5 digital audio console with two RIO 3224-D remote I/Os used at front of house, a Yamaha PM5D-RH used for monitors, and Yamaha T3n amplifiers for monitor wedges. Additional products brought in by ACIR included K-Array Redline powered speakers for monitors and Shure, Audio-Technica, Heil, Neumann and Sennheiser microphones and wireless monitor systems. The company also provided all of the backline instruments.
Tom Young—long-time Bennett front of house engineer, production manager for the event, and co-owner of ACIR professional—had his first opportunity to mix the show on the new Yamaha CL5. An avid fan of the Yamaha PM1D and PM5D, Young said using the CL5 for its compactness certainly made sense based on the footprint allocated for FOH in the Cipriani room. “I was quite pleased about the performance of the CL5 and how well it sounded,” states Young. “The console is very easy to navigate.”
ETA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by Tony Bennett and his wife, Susan Benedetto. The organization’s mission is to strengthen the role of the arts in public high school education. ETA currently supports 14 partner schools in all five boroughs of New York City and reaches more than 10,000 public school students, the majority of who live below the poverty line. ETA’s flagship school, the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts located in Astoria, Queens (the birthplace of Mr. Bennett), was founded by the Bennetts and opened in 2001.
Exploring the Arts
www.exploringthearts.org
ACIR Professional
www.acirpro.com
Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc
www.yamahaca.com
