I loved the Luciana Souza Trio last night and the three musicians are certainly as great as any you will find anywhere. My problem is one I encounter at each of your concerts and that is you hire the worst sound technicians I have ever heard. The guitar and voice had too much bass and were at the same volume so they buried each other. Everyone I spoke to in the audience said they couldn't understand her when she sang or spoke. After the Q & A, I spoke to the sound man whose name was Bill Willy? and mentioned not understanding her and he barked "I don't care, I'm only the sound man." On the way back to get my family I passed him again and said, "it sounded like you didn't care", and he hollered, "if you want to get me fired then contact ?" so I will do that right now. It is SAD!
Dan Pliskow

Due to the nature of the postings about this concert, I feel compelled to give some explanation as to the reasons behind some of the complaints listed here. I have overheard and sought out opinions regarding the audio quality at the Louciana Souza Trio’s concert in Rackham Auditorium and have found them to vary considerably. This has got to do with a number of reasons none of which had to do with the talent of the audio engineer or his mix. The problems stem from the very nature of the building, which has an excellent acoustic- for chamber pieces, or lightly amplified work. What you may have heard, and this would have certainly been more evident the nearer to the stage you were sitting, were the onstage monitors and guitar amplifier overlapping the sound coming from the speakers meant for the audience. As a result of our own observations, feedback from technicians and artists alike, and your own kind opinions, we at UMS have made a decision to no longer present concerts in Rackham Auditorium that rely heavily on onstage monitors or amplification. Thank you for your comments, and I hope to see you at more UMS presentations in the future.
Sincerely,
Jeff Beyersdorf
UMS Technical Director