Audio & Video Production Services

a full service audio & video Production company

Chamber Music And audition recordings. Live-Streamed Recitals and recordings. Cinematically Filmed Theatrical Events. And Everything In Between.

On-Site Video Production

Our company was founded after gleaning years of experience behind the viewfinder, and our vision and aesthetic  is inspired borne from our Founder’s passion for the work of the great Auteurs. That ethos is at the core of every production we film.

Our artistic ingenuity and cinematic production values help us faithfully tell your production’s story.

Our expert team of Video Directors, Engineers, and Camera Operators know and understand the attention to detail that Live Performance capture demands – and as you’ll see – they will capture moving images that will captivate and transport your audiences into the performance space.

Location Audio Recording

We know first hand the level of attention to detail goes into the art of live performance. So when you reach the double bar, don’t you want your art to be faithfully preserved with that same level of care and attention?

Our location audio recording setup was designed with uncompromising audio quality and mobility as its’ two guiding principles. Rest assured that your recording will be rendered through the highest quality microphones and preamps available, by engineers who are used to working in an array of challenging environments. There is no challenge too great, and no session too complex for our team of recordists.

    Recording at Gottlieb Hall

    Through an exclusive partnership with the Merit School of Music, we are thrilled to provide Chicago’s singers and instrumentalists with a full slate of on-site video and audio recording services at Merit’s beautiful, spacious, and gorgeous sounding concert venue, Gottlieb Hall.

    Whether you are in need of new aria recordings, a pre-screen audition recording for your upcoming audition season, or a fresh set of videos for your website – Gottlieb Hall, its two Steinway concert grand pianos, and our on-site recording studio make for the finest one-stop classical recording destination in all of downtown Chicago.

    Live Opera, Concert, & Recital Broadcasts

    The challenges that artists and producing organizations face in these unprecedented times are daunting. We have committed our resources to completely re-think and re-envision how live performances can take place while theaters are closed to patrons. 

    Our full slate of Audio & Video Production Service offerings can be tailored to the needs of your production, and your performance space – and our remote broadcasting equipment enables us to broadcast LIVE from your performance venue, to any video platform of your choosing.

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "Taking Up Serpents"

    “The filming was helmed by Jan Thompson and colleagues at Valhalla Media, and rendered with skill and imagination. While still a recorded stage performance, the camera was always where it needed to be with the singers, the separated (or separately filmed) trio was smoothly integrated, and fades and brief but artful montages (including with a live snake) avoided visual monotony.”

    --Lawrence Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "Taking Up Serpents"

     “COT’s filmed production was rather astonishingly crafted from a single performance captured live on the stage of Chicago’s Studebaker Theatre by Valhalla Media, working in tandem with Dye as stage director. Six cameras were employed to create a visual pastiche that cleverly combined superimposed imagery and split screen techniques with the powerful frisson of live theatre.”

    — Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "La hija de Rappaccini"

     “COT's livestream of the performance was an impressive feat, particularly as the crew had to set up after the museum's five o'clock closing for a 7:30 curtain .... the performance was captured with crisp clarity by Valhalla Media.”

    -- Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News

    Daniel Catán’s music soars in COT’s “Rappaccini” premiere

     “COT’s production went off without a hitch Saturday night—a remarkable achievement considering the ever-present technological pitfalls as well as the logistical complexities of a live opera relay from a museum space. Kudos to stage director Crystal Manich for natural movements, technical director Joseph Staffa for seamless transitions between different museum areas, and the entire video production team at Valhalla Media.”

    -- Lawrence Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

    The Virtues of Virtual: Chicago Opera Theater’s Digital Season

     “One of the most impressive virtual presentations I’ve seen lately was Chicago Opera Theater’s production of “Taking Up Serpents” by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Jerre Dye. The production was recorded at the Studebaker Theater in a single take. The production was a collaboration with the appropriately named company Valhalla Media, and the result is visually appealing but also impressively musical.”

    -- Seth Boustead, New City Music

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "The Transformation of Jane Doe"

     “Rather than prerecord the performance, then edit it, COT opted to stream the production live from the Studebaker Theater, on South Michigan Avenue. This was a risk, considering that it involved multiple voices, a small instrumental ensemble and rolling subtitles that tracked the opera’s progress. It all proceeded quite smoothly...there’s something about a live event that raises the intensity level of everyone’s work, and that fervor was unmistakable in this 90-minute presentation.”

    -- Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "La Hija de Rappaccini"

     “In such a reverberant venue, one might fear for the sound turning to mud, but the sound engineers have done an excellent job in avoiding this. The broadcast sound quality is exceptionally clear”

    -- David Darlin, Bachtrack

    Review: Chicago Opera Theater's "The Puppy Episode"

     “The performance was captured by Valhalla Media with visual clarity and excellent audio.”

    -- Mark Thomas Ketterson, Opera News