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d&b Goes to School at Silkeborg's European Performers House
Part of a noble tradition, the new European Performers House at the Institute of Performing Arts (IPA) Silkeborg is a template others will surely follow. As a new international school for young actors, musicians and dancers the school has set itself an exacting target to draw almost half its students from the wider Europe, beyond the borders of its native Denmark. That's the nobility of its cause; Silkeborg IPA is subject to a clause of Danish law crafted over 250 years ago, Højskole Loven (literally high-school law), which allows for residential schools to be established within almost any field. The premise is simple, back then Denmark was a relatively thinly populated country with widely isolated agricultural communities. The intention was to broaden the minds of young farm workers who might otherwise pass through life with just a minimal perception of its possibilities.
European Performers House (EPH) intends to be at the forefront of entertainment in the arts and has already forged relations with comparable institutions around Europe, securing agreement for EPH studies to count towards formal educational qualifications from those institutes. As such they have invested heavily in the tools and technologies of modern presentation, the entire school is networked through an Apple Mac server system, linking all rooms to the resources of recording studios and other such facilities maintained on campus. In fact audio receives much attention; all performance areas and rehearsal rooms are equipped with d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems with a selection of modern digital desks for control. The school has three stages, the largest being The Workshop Stage, equipped with a folding partition; the stage can function as a practice location for two theatre groups during the day. There is seating for two to three hundred when used for public performances. The loudspeakers are mainly d&b audiotechnik's MAX cabinets, chosen for their versatility and the ease with which they can be moved and reconfigured. The school uses the MAXs as a PA system or for monitors, duties to which they are well suited; driven from digital E-PAC amplifiers, the students are easily able to reconfigure the loudspeakers to varied environments with no loss of audio quality.
The Dance Studio has heated, cushioned flooring and a large glass front that like an air wall, can be slid to one side so the Dance Studio presents itself onto the adjacent plaza as an open-air stage. For presentations in this configuration EPH has secured rental PA services from nearby providers who also happily favour the d&b brand, offering systems of C7 and C4s. The school meanwhile has now invested further by purchasing M4 monitors, a powerful wedge cabinet ideally suited to work with such PA systems.
It's early days for European Performers House, but already architects Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen have been awarded highly commended status in the Mixed Use category by the jury of MIPIM 2007, the world's largest real estate fair in Cannes, France. Courses for musicians, actors and dancers began April 07, and it shouldn't be long before we see them receiving awards.
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