Sennheiser is the official sponsor of the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, which celebrates the essential contributions made by generations of talented musicians in all genres of music. The company has outfitted the complex with a broad selection of Neumann and Sennheiser microphones for the performance space.

The multi-million dollar Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum is the brainchild of Nashville songwriter Joe Chambers, who also owns a chain of guitar stores in the area. The 30,000 sq. ft. complex, located in downtown Nashville close by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Gaylord Entertainment Centre and Ryman Auditorium, includes a 5,000 sq. ft performance hall, a 1,100 sq. ft. screening theatre, music instruction rooms and a state-of-the-art recording studio.

Renowned audio engineer TC Furlong of the Illinois-based professional audio company, TC Furlong Inc. provided system design and supervised the installation of the Sennheiser manufactured and distributed equipment.

The performance hall offers a full complement of Neumann and Sennheiser microphones. "I put together a typical input list and that's what we went with," says Furlong. The hall has three Neumann KMS 105 MT vocal mics, a wide selection of Sennheiser evolution mics (835, 901, 902, 904, 905, 906, 908B, 912, 914, 935 and 945 models). In addition there are six channels of EW345 G2 super-cardioid handheld wireless microphones with alternate MMD 935 capsules and two channels of EW322 G2 wireless ME4 cardioid lavaliers.

Noted Jeff Alexander, Sennheiser's vice president of sales and marketing, professional products, "The opportunity for Sennheiser to be the official sponsor of the Musicians Hall of Fame is exciting on several levels. First of all, it's about time musicians were recognized for their contributions to the music industry. There are museums dedicated to rock n' roll, country, classical, folk and world music, songwriters and entertainers, but this is first museum to showcase the merits of musicians. It was so natural for Sennheiser to want to sponsor the performance space with the gear musicians use and respect."

The ribbon cutting ceremony, held June 9th, was followed by a two-hour Super Jam that included Vince Gill, Felix Cavaliere, The Original Funk Brothers (Eddie Willis, Uriel Jones, Joe Messina and Bob Babbitt), Will Lee, Danny Seraphine, David Hungate, Brent Mason, Garry Tallent, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns and numerous others. "I was mixing front-of-house, a feed for video and six monitor mixes from the same console," reports Furlong. "Fortunately, Bob Bloomfield was on hand to wrangle the stage, which was crucial to the success of the night."

The museum's exhibits will showcase instruments and artifacts of many of the most respected, talented and influential musicians of our time. Chambers has collected artifacts from rock, soul and pop history, making equal space for Detroit, Memphis, Los Angeles and New York. Chambers also plans to begin a school of music with donated instruments and professional instructors that will be aimed at helping under-privileged, school-age children receive free lessons.

JPG: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony:
Celebrating the June 9th opening of Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame are: left to right: Steve Cropper, Eddie Willis, Bob Babbitt, Uriel Jones, Reggie Young, Billy Sherrill, Joe Chambers (centre), founder of the Musicians Hall of Fame, Garry Tallent, Bob Moore, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, Vice Mayor Howard Gentry and Linda Chambers.

JPG: Wall:
Exhibits at the new Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum include artifacts from rock, soul, pop, country and jazz including instruments used on records from Hank Williams Sr., Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young and many more.

JPG: MHFM:
At the June 9th opening of the Sennheiser-sponsored Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, TN (right to left), Joe Chambers, Musician Hall of Fame founder, T. C. Furlong, audio engineer responsible for the installation, and Rick Renner, Sennheiser's south central regional sales manager.

For further information about Sennheiser please visit us on the Internet at http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/ or contact: