Mark Kanny loves the Pittsburgh Symphony’s selection of Manfred Honeck as its next music director, and further suggests that the orchestra could be on the verge of a historic turnaround, courtesy of a major change in management philosophy.”For all the good news in ticket sales and finances, the most impressive aspect of management’s performance has been the ability to listen and learn.”
Author: sbergman
Music Hall Overhaul
A task force called into action by the Cincinnati Symphony is accepting proposals for a major renovation of the city’s 3400-seat Music Hall. “Officials are brainstorming a menu of ideas, including possibly adding a restaurant, bar, gift shop or donor lounge; fixing up aging symphony offices; and improving backstage technology. In addition, there is a desire for more secure parking,” and a glaring need for fewer seats.
You Can’t Please Everyone
When Washington, D.C. public radio station WETA decided to switch its format back to classical music (after two years as an all-news station,) classical fans rejoiced, but not everyone was happy. The station faced severe opposition from longtime listeners when it dumped classical music, but plenty of listeners liked the news-talk format as well, and they claim that WETA deceived them.
Sundance Spending Spree Sparks Skepticism
This year’s Sundance Festival has been a contradictory mix of low hype and huge sales. “A festival that was generally expected to be too dark and uncommercial for a breakout hit has turned into a buying spree. One reason is this week’s announcement that Little Miss Sunshine has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.” But reproducing that movie’s commercial success is hardly as easy as throwing wads of cash around Utah, and many wonder if the studios really have any idea what they’re buying.
Parental Guidance Suggested
Everyone, it seems, likes to bash the MPAA for its inconsistent and (some feel) out of date film ratings system. But what about reserving some outrage for the thousands of parents who apparently have no problem toting their young children along to see a movie chock full of horrific violence and themes far too adult for them to understand? The MPAA is considering a special advisory for the clueless.
The Kids Are Not Even Remotely All Right
Film critics have been rushing to debunk the controversy over the “rape” of child star Dakota Fanning in a new film screening at Sundance this week. But while Fanning may not have been in harm’s way when the film was made, there’s no question that this year’s crop of Sundance features is chock full of kids in horrible (if fictionalized) situations.
What Is Art? What Is Truth? Answer The Question!
A documentary focusing on a prodigiously gifted 4-year-old painter whose work has been called into question by journalists who believe her father helped her create her art is screening at Sundance, and it delves deeply (and disturbingly) into issues of both artistic and journalistic ethics. “The documentary gradually became a meditation on truth instead, one that manages to explore and sometimes indict the motives of all the adults who have swirled around Marla.”
Stolen Italian Marbles Recovered
“The Italian government said yesterday that police investigators had tracked down a rare group of first century B.C. marble panels that had been illegally excavated and offered to museums and private collectors. The 12 panels depict gladiators in combat and were found about two weeks ago in the garden of a private home 25 miles north of Rome.”
NY To ‘Depoliticize’ Arts Funding
New York City is changing the way it funds the arts, increasing overall funding but making grants merit-based and subject to a peer-review process. City funding will also be consolidated within the Department of Cultural Affairs, rather than being spread out among several departments. “The hope is that arts groups will find it less necessary to appeal to their council representatives for small amounts of financing.”
Rochester Phil Losing Its CEO
The president and CEO of the Rochester Philharmonic has resigned to take an equivalent job at Santa Rosa, California’s Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. “[Richard] Nowlin’s time with the RPO included nine straight years of balanced budgets, a growth in the budget from $5.6 million to $9.1 million, as well as growth in endowments, the hiring of current Musical Director Christopher Seaman, a re-establishment of the RPO’s recording program and the introduction of a wider range of concerts and venues.”