Pfaff-silberblau provides tailor-made acoustics for Georgia’s 'Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture'

The worldwide reputation of a concert hall stands or falls by its acoustics. In order to advance itself to the front rank of the classical music scene, the “Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture“ in Tiflis, Georgia, is presently undergoing costly modifications – to which Pfaff-silberblau is making an important contribution. By the end of September 2008, the specialists in stage machinery will have delivered and installed a completely new type of system that will give the concert hall exceptionally controllable variable acoustics.

The planning stage for the modifications to the “Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture“ – directed by world-famous conductor and composer Vakhtang Kakhidze, took about eighteen months, and involved comprehensive acoustical measurements and modification studies. When the modifications are complete, the results will be spectacular. A highly integrated control system will make it possible to adjust the acoustics of the hall to suit different orchestral situations - at the touch of a button – for example to support a sophisticated live orchestra performance, or a recording of a classical concert with genuine spatial sound quality.

One of the ways to achieve the desired effect is to move a replica of the acoustically functional ceiling ornamentation. This “weighty” task is accomplished by two newly developed Pfaff-silberblau electrical rope winches. Suspended under the ceiling of the hall, they move the 30,000 kg ceiling element to the correct position and inclination, fully automatically via computer-control. Further electrical rope winches and chain hoists in the roof ensure that all the loudspeakers, microphones and spotlights are moved to pre-programmed positions, producing “A la carte“ sound and lighting effects.

To anchor all the electrical rope winches and chain hoists securely, the Pfaff-silberblau engineers had to completely rework and reinforce the entire supporting steel structure in the roof. They not only had to meet the usual safety standards for stage machinery, but they also had to take into account a special local peculiarity: the Georgian capital city, Tiflis, lies on an active geological fault, so that all structures have to be earthquake-proof by design. To achieve this, some 70,000 kg of steel were used in the supporting structure for the roof of the “Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture“.

The drives of the Pfaff-silberblau rope winches and chain hoists are controlled either from a central control panel in the control room, or directly from the stage. The control concept allows both the storing of complete sets of arrangements for orchestras, soloists and other types of performance, and the extension of the system to include the under floor stage machinery.

With these modifications, conductor and composer Vakhtang Kakhidze will come closer to achieving his ambitious goal of making the “Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture” one of the ten best-sounding halls worldwide. The centre was opened in 1989 under the guidance of his late father, the internationally known Georgian conductor Djansug Kakhidze. Twenty years on, the reopened “Tbilisi Centre for Music and Culture” will re-emerge in new glory, but will also impress aficionados of classical music with its versatile acoustics, thanks to technology by Pfaff-silberblau.