Boasting more than 100 practice rooms, 35 private teaching studios and six
performance venues, The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center is the world’s
most renowned school of performing arts. To meet the critical needs of its
productions, Juilliard employs Pliant™ Technologies’ Tempest900 wireless intercom
systems in four of its theatres, including the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, Stephanie P.
McClelland Drama Theatre, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Drama Studio, and
most recently the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theatre. Julliard’s recording
department also uses Tempest900 as a roving system that moves between two
different spaces for a total of five Tempest900 wireless intercom systems
throughout the facility The Tempest900 wireless intercoms will facilitate
production of dance, opera, orchestra and special events.
Implementing wireless RF audio devices of any kind at The Juilliard School
was a challenge considering the school occupies eight levels, several of
which are underground. The main theatre — the Sharp Theatre — is partly
underground, and the building is constructed of dense walls that can create RF
barriers. In the past, this had made wireless communications coverage a challenge.
Initially the school attempted to use another wireless intercom technology in
the Sharp Theatre that limited the coverage of the system to only the stage
area. The dressing rooms for this facility are on multiple levels and are also
constructed of dense walls so it was not possible for other systems to maintain
communication between the stage and the dressing room areas.
Pliant Technologies’ Tempest900 wireless intercom proved to be the solution
that Juilliard needed, offering reliable coverage at an attainable price point.
Tempest900 is a digital wireless intercom system operating license-free in the
900MHz ISM band. Tempest900’s longer wavelengths allow signals to pass
through structural objects increasing usable range. The Tempest900 system is
able to provide coverage across all three floors of the Sharp Theatre. Due
to the success it found in the Sharp, McClelland, and The Harold and Mimi
Steinberg Drama Studio theatres, the school added a Tempest 900MHz system into
the Willson Theatre.
Installed in the Sharp Theatre are two Tempest BaseStations and ten
BeltStations. The McClelland Theatre, Rosemary and Meredith Wilson Theatre,
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Drama Studio and the roving system each
employ one BaseStation and five BeltStations. The flexibility to easily change
setups ensures Juilliard’s production department that the Tempest900 system can
effectively handle all of their intercom requirements regardless of the
production. Since it is compatible with 2-wire and 4-wire systems,
Tempest900 easily integrates with Juilliard’s existing wired intercom system.
