New York, NY– On September 11th, 2011 in downtown New York City, a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9-11 was held honoring those who lost their lives that horrific morning a decade ago. The term Black Swan never had more meaning. In magnitude and solemnity this article in no way equates the events of 9-11 and our topic, the nexus is only that of a common binding principle and the fact that it was the background of a much smaller “Black Swan Event”

A Black Swan – an event that transforms the typical into the random and unexpected. And by unexpected we are speaking of an occurrence that deviates FAR beyond what is normally expected. Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his NY Times best selling book The Black Swan, a book about unpredictable events, which was reviewed as one of the twelve most influential books since World War II, focuses on randomness and it’s effects on probability. If what you’ve just read makes you want to “theoretically” learn more, BUY THE BOOK. Should you desire to experientially live in that world, GO INTO PRODUCTION!

The audio control center on location

On a this day of remembrance, a day which included the inaugural opening of the 9/11 Memorial Park, with commemorative speeches given by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Musical performances included some of the biggest names in the business. Michael Fortunato, a long time affiliate of Ferro Productions, was called upon to do the audio for such an important event. Much like all the important and major events Michael’s skills and trade craft have been called upon.

Fortunato, who’s role that day as the A2, (second assistant audio engineer) included the technical engineering and set up of the microphones and audio system used for the musical performances. Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Yo-Yo Ma counted on Mike’s years of experience, attention to detail and ability to figure out even the most complex matters on the fly. With miles of cables, hundreds of switches and thousands of lights and amps… the BLACK SWAN is always “which one”? Which one, in the myriad of planning, prepping, securing, checking and rechecking would be at the root cause of making all the work, NOT WORK! The answer is oh so obvious, postmortem. It was the ON switch, it’s always the ON switch and here’s is exactly how this black swan sang her song.

While James Taylor was on stage performing in front of thousands, initially there was no sound or signal coming out of his guitar. Fortunato knew that his audio set up was correct, there was only 1 ON switch that wasn’t directly in Mike’s line of fire, and that was the one ON Taylor’s guitar which, in fact, WASN’T ON. Michael literally crawled onto the stage and flipped the “ON” switch, ON the guitar, ON, and problem was solved. “The show must go ON” and Mike figured out exactly how to make it happen!

Michael after the event was finished

And so goes “another day in the office”. Not your regular office, rather an office that’s housed in random places, occurrences and events on a daily basis. Where predictability can only take you so far and field expediency (the ability to improvise, to be flexible enough to use ones knowledge creatively, audaciously and pragmatically) brings you back home at the end of the day.

For Michael Fortunato, this event held a very special place in his heart. ”I felt honored to help orchestrate an event that payed tribute to the brave men and women who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001.”

September 11th, 2001 a Black Swan Event America will never forget.

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