On many evenings in Miami Beach, the New World Symphony’s WALLCAST® concerts transform SoundScape Park into a vast open-air listening space.
Concerts taking place inside the Frank Gehry–designed New World Center are broadcast outdoors via a 650 m² projection wall and a Meyer Sound Constellation® acoustic system, which distributes immersive sound across the entire park, covering approximately one hectare. Thirteen years after the first WALLCAST® in 2011, this outdoor experience has been enhanced through a comprehensive upgrade of the underlying sound system, significantly improving its quality and reach.
For the New World Symphony (NWS), an orchestral academy that prepares talented young musicians for leadership roles in ensembles worldwide, the timing of the upgrade was driven by both necessity and opportunity. “The park’s audio system hadn’t been updated since we moved into the building”, explains Clyde Scott, senior vice president and creative director of NWS Media. “Technology has advanced so much that we knew we could achieve a substantial improvement in sound quality in the park by upgrading the equipment”.
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The new Meyer Sound system was supplied by Solotech and designed in collaboration between the company and Meyer Sound’s design services team.
“The goal was to create a smooth and consistent sonic field across a very large open lawn”, explains Bryan A. Edens, senior business development representative at Solotech. He notes that integrating the system into the site’s unique layout and technical infrastructure required careful planning — a challenge the team embraced.
From an architectural standpoint, the entire system had to coexist with Frank Gehry’s building and the massive projection wall without obstructing sightlines. We also had to work within the existing infrastructure from the 2011 installation, and meet a tight summer deadline, as everything needed to be fully operational and tuned ahead of the first WALLCAST® of the season, he comments.
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Solotech installed an expanded Meyer Sound ecosystem based on the latest ULTRA family solutions: seven ULTRA-X82™ versatile point source loudspeakers and one ULTRA-X80™ for focused projection; 20 compact LINA™ line array loudspeakers for long-throw reinforcement; 26 ULTRA-X40™ and 53 ULTRA-X20™ for near- and midfield coverage; as well as six 2100-LFC™ low-frequency control elements, four 750-LFC™ units and 26 USW-112P™ compact subwoofers for low-end support. The system is powered by two NADIA CP™ integrated digital audio platforms, with nine NADIA-AI12™ and eight NADIA-AO16™ interfaces.
Roberto Toledo, NWS Director of Audio Services, who has worked with the Meyer Sound system since its original installation, says that the transition from the legacy D-Mitri® platform to a NADIA-based Constellation architecture has marked a significant step forward in both sound quality and workflow. “We get a more accurate representation of what the orchestra is doing. That helps us make better decisions about how to present the performance in the park”.
The new signal chain integrates a digital console, better reflecting how modern productions are mixed. “Previously, we mixed entirely within the D-Mitri system”, Toledo explains. “Now the audio goes to the console first and is then sent to the NADIA system for processing and distribution to the loudspeakers”.
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The result not only improves the outdoor mix, but also supports the development of the Fellows, who learn to perform in productions that extend beyond the traditional stage.
Anything we can do to help the Fellows develop their ambitions and prepare for the challenges they will face as they begin their professional careers is something we want to support. More and more orchestral institutions are using technology to reach wider audiences. This helps prepare our Fellows for the reality of the modern concert experience, Scott states.
The upgrade also reinforces the New World Symphony’s role as a civic and cultural resource. SoundScape Park is funded and owned by the City of Miami Beach, ensuring that world-class orchestral performances remain freely accessible as a shared public experience.
“The new system represents a significant leap forward in clarity, coverage and dynamic impact throughout the park”, says Edens. “However, the most meaningful improvement is how the sound now enhances the sense of community. WALLCAST® concerts bring thousands of people together, and with this upgrade, the audio truly matches that collective energy. It no longer feels like a simple broadcast from inside the building, but like a performance happening in the park, with the audience fully immersed in the experience. At the end of the day, the audience doesn’t think about arrays or technical components”, he concludes. “What matters is how it feels: the music sounds closer, clearer and more alive than ever in an outdoor setting”.
