Page 26 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Medal—a performance competition that began in 1915 and had taken place

uninterrupted through 2019. Of course, because of the global pandemic in 2020, the

annual May performance had to be put on hold as teaching moved online during the
summer term.

“Because of Covid we needed to be swift in our response to ensure things like The

Gold Medal could occur and, very importantly, that in-person classes could still take

place with full-scale participation,” says Julian Hepple, Head of Recording and Audio

Visual at Guildhall School. “To make that happen we quickly turned to Dante
and Dante Domain Manager. And, in September, as we returned to in-person

teaching, we were able to hold The Gold Medal and broadcast the performance

online.”

To adhere to social distancing requirements, The Gold Medal performances were

constructed across four separate rooms. The largest space was populated by those
on string instruments and the piano, with each participant located two meters apart.

Woodwind and brass instruments were split up each into their own rooms, with three

meters of space allocated between performers. Finally, the conductor was located in

a fourth room. The challenge of this setup, of course, was collaboration between the

multiple rooms.

At the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Dante and Dante Domain Manager were
critical to the school returning to in-person classes with full-scale participation.PHOTO: ©Clive
Totman 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

To do this, 40 Neumann, Rupert Neve Designs, Schoeps and DPA directional

microphones were strategically placed across the space to capture instrument audio.