Silence is Robe at Wilminktheater en Muziekcentrum Enschede

	"LED technology has advanced massively in the last five years, so when we showed them the T1 output and the CRI, they were impressed," says de Vries. Photo: Louise Stickland

The Muziekcentrum, one of three entertainment venues operating on the same site in Enschede, the Netherlands, recently replaced its house orchestral lighting with 16 Robe T1 Profiles and 16 T1 PC moving lights, all delivered by Robe's Benelux distributor, Controllux.

Paul de Vries, head of lighting at Wilminktheater, the theatre space in the complex, collaborates closely with Robin Bijker, head of technical for the Muziekcentrum. The Wilminktheater has a capacity of 1,000, and the Muziekcentrum can accommodate 1,800 people standing and 800 seated.

The units were purchased primarily to provide special orchestra lighting for the concert hall space. The Muziekcentrum was the first orchestral venue in the Netherlands to use moving LED lights for this specific purpose.

Before the T1s arrived, the orchestra was lit with a series of aging MultiPARs which had been in place for around 20 years. The main requirements were for good brightness and color temperature, together with silent running. The units' many features were a huge bonus for the pop concerts that are also staged in the venue, but "suitable for orchestra" was the first criterion.

Previously, when concerts were staged in the Muziekcentrum, de Bries and the crew would purloin lights, including Robe products, from the Theatre venue's lighting rig for the evening. These included the Theatre's T1 Profiles, CycBar 15s, and LEDBeam 350s.

The Muziekcentrum already had 16 T2 Profiles, added in 2023 for front lighting, plus another eight T2s in the house rig. De Vries and his team looked at other options. They showed the choices to the musicians, who preferred the T1s.

"Previously, they were not convinced about LED sources -- like many in theatre, they initially thought outputs were low, and the CRI was simply not hitting the mark," de Vries says. "But of course, LED technology has advanced massively in the last five years, so when we showed them the T1 output and the CRI, they were impressed."

De Vries further emphasizes the importance of good relationships with Controllux, also noting that the Robe products generally have been "very stable, reliable and don't often need much maintenance."

Activities across the three venues on this site and two more in Enschede city center -- which are run by the Wilminktheater Muziekcentrum Enschede organization -- account for around 670 events annually.