“When composer Gian Carlo Menotti left Spoleto Festival USA nearly 14 years ago in a raging dispute with the board, his action split the American event from its Italian counterpart, the Festival of Two Worlds. With the death of Menotti on Feb. 1 at age 95, the question arises: Will the two festivals he founded possibly reunite and share some of the same performing artists as they did in the past?”
Author: sbergman
Eakins Sale Has Philly Seething
As anyone who reads ArtsJournal’s visual arts blogs well knows, the sale of Thomas Eakins’ The Cello Player by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is not sitting well with many in the local or national art scene. “The deal, some say, has soured what had been a heady community fund-raising effort to keep Eakins’ masterpiece, The Gross Clinic, in Philadelphia – because now a leader of that effort has done precisely what many donors were upset about in the first place: sold a treasured painting in a secret transaction.”
IS OCPAC’s Prez Driving Staff Away?
That’s the allegation of several departing staffers at Orange County, California’s struggling Performing Arts Center. President Terrence Dwyer’s former second-in-command “characterized him as an inaccessible leader who discontinued customary weekly meetings with department heads… Among those who have left are the fundraisers in charge of special events and donations received through trusts and wills.”
Quebec Politicians Curry Favor With Film Cash
“With a provincial election looming and Quebec filmmakers eager to bounce back from a relatively poor performance last year, Quebec’s major cultural organization has announced a 42-per-cent hike in its annual base funding for movie projects in the province.”
The South Asia Boom
Indian and Pakistani writers are suddenly hot in America, as vague awareness of the subcontinent turns to curiosity about its culture. The rise in South Asian lit can probably be traced back to Salman Rushdie, but the real catalyst for the new interest in such authors is likely due to “the increasing visibility of Indians and Pakistanis in the U.S.”
Drama Princesses
A Chicago theatre company is using its craft to teach young girls about creative expression and build their confidence in dealing with the world around them. “Girls who choose to stick with the program through the spring semester… are paired with adult mentors who have experience in a variety of art forms, including theater, dance and music.”
Mr. Dreyfuss’s Opus
Richard Dreyfuss has made plenty of money and achieved plenty of fame as an actor. But these days, he’s not taking many acting jobs, having swapped his Hollywood lifestyle for a new career as an educator. Moreover, Dreyfuss is convinced that he can reinvigorate the traditional public school “civics” course as an exciting and engaging way of teaching children the importance of participation in the American democracy.
Nothing Says Education Like A Lavish Penthouse
In almost any city but New York, The Manhattan School of Music would be the most famous conservatory in town. But MSM has long operated in the shadow of Juilliard, known around the world as one of the finest music schools anywhere. Now, in an effort to project a more glamorous image to prospective students and donors, MSM is unveiling a spectactular new… um, penthouse apartment? For the school’s president? Ooookay.
PBS To Launch Spanish Network
The Public Broadcasting System is starting a new digital channel aimed at Latino audiences in cities around the U.S. The new channel, which will offer “a mix of Spanish-language children’s and adult programming with an educational focus,” will be carried by 18 stations reaching 60% of the nation’s Spanish-speaking population.
Keeping The Books In A War Zone
The job of a librarian probably sounds like a nice, quiet, intellectual profession. But when the library in question is in Baghdad, it’s anything but. The director of Iraq’s National Library has been keeping an online journal detailing “the daily hurdles of keeping Iraq’s central library open, preserving the surviving archives and books and, oh yes, staying alive.”