A View of the Future from the Top of the Hill. Live Americana band, outdoor tent, auction. One evening, two registers.

The Bennington Museum chose the name “A View of the Future from the Top of the Hill” for their outdoor summer fundraiser, and it held true across the evening — a tented event on the hill behind the main museum building with a live Americana band, both live and silent auctions, and a crowd of the museum’s most committed supporters. Farm to Fire Hudson BBQ catered. The brief asked for two things simultaneously: a concert experience and a fundraising event. The production had to be capable of both.

The Carolyn Shapiro Band is a four-piece Americana roots act. Live band mixing outdoors under a tent requires managing reflections off the tent fabric, wind noise on open microphones, and a consistent sound image for guests seated at every angle relative to the stage. We provided full concert sound reinforcement: Shapiro and the band could hear themselves clearly; the audience heard the performance cleanly across the tent.

The auction component ran during the band’s set breaks, switching from live sound to video playback on a 75-inch display. The display showed auction items for both the live and silent auctions as well as band information throughout the night. Every transition between program elements was managed live. Uplighting dressed the tent throughout the evening.

One production. Two registers. The museum’s supporters experienced both without a visible boundary between them.