Sydney Opera House’s JST sees significant Lawo upgrade

Professional Audio & Television (PAT) has delivered, configured and commissioned a Lawo Nova73, Crystal console and compact engine for the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House via lead integrator The Downer Group.

The Nova73, used as the Central Audio Router for the Joan Sutherland Theatre, combines MADI, RAVENNA and Dante signals, along with traditional analogue and AES by way of a Lawo DALLIS I/O Frame. The Lawo Nova73 Core has been configured as an mc² Mix Engine.

Lawo’s mxGUI is used as the primary control interface for the router, allowing users to load snapshots for different room configurations, while also offering user manual adjustments of signal flows and parameters. The system is completed with a Vistool MK2-equipped Lawo crystal console, allowing for basic use of the JST for situations such as rehearsals or simple presentations. The Crystal engine communicates with the Nova73 via RAVENNA.

“I am delighted to see our technology plays an integral part in making the Joan Sutherland Theatre an even better venue for hundreds of events per year,” said the company’s CEO Philipp Lawo. “Over the years we have been able to grow the Lawo footprint in Australia significantly and we have some amazing reference sites here in Australia, but to now also be able to list the Sydney Opera House is something very special. We are honoured to have been chosen for this upgrade and thank the Opera House for their trust in Lawo technology.”

“The Lawo Nova core has been solid since its install in January and has already seen significant use,” added Sydney Opera House’s renewal technology manager David Dalton. “We are very satisfied with the Lawo technology and the service their Australian distributor PAT provided to us via The Downer Group.”

Refurbishment of the venue’s main concert hall is scheduled to commence in 2019.