One of the primary performing arts venues in the city is about to be 30% more expensive to rent, and the Charleston Symphony is staggering through what it calls “the worst year in history.” And no one sounds optimistic about next year, either.
Author: sbergman
Economics vs. Community
The Louisville Orchestra has canceled its annual Martin Luther King Day concert to save money, and the decision is rubbing some the wrong way. “Do we really have to give up music, too? Do we really have to scrimp on saluting our heroes? He gave his life. Couldn’t this one be on the house?”
Philly’s Latest Skyline Addition Has Some Swooning
Philadelphia’s skyline has always been a slow-developing phenomenon, and every new skyscraper seems to create controversy. The latest proposal “for a 1,500-foot office tower called the American Commerce Center has supporters “behaving like teenage girls at the opening of Twilight… They’re so entranced by the record-breaking stature of the proposed skyscraper that they seem not to have noticed that the object of their affection is a fat, hulking copycat.”
Lost Wilde Letters Back In View
A collection of letters between Oscar Wilde and an Oxford University student are to go on display at the Morgan Library and Museum. The collection’s “whereabouts were unknown to scholars for half a century.”
Noted Folk Art Collector Dies
“Dorothea Rabkin, who with her husband built a collection of American folk art noted for the whirligigs and other sculptures made by anonymous carvers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, died on Nov. 25 at her home in Manhattan. She was 87.”
How MOCA Fell So Far, So Fast
“By putting art ahead of the bottom line, the Museum of Contemporary Art has nearly killed itself… Now the California attorney general has begun an audit to determine if the museum broke laws governing the use of restricted money by nonprofit organizations. And local artists, curators and collectors, including current and former board members, are lobbying to remove the museum’s director, Jeremy Strick, its board, or both.”
Slumdog Kicks Off Awards Season With A Win
The National Board of Review has named Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire as the best film of 2008. “Clint Eastwood was named best actor for his upcoming drama Gran Torino, while Anne Hathaway won the best actress award for Rachel Getting Married. The NBR’s members include teachers, historians and industry professionals.”
At 100, Elliott Carter Looks Back In Boston
The venerable composer is being feted this week by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, whose music director is a longtime Carter supporter. In an extended interview, Carter remembers his life and times in Boston’s community of composers, musicologists, and music schools, and takes a few digs at Harvard along the way…
A Formerly Secure Arts Venue Takes A Dive
Madison, Wisconsin’s city-owned Overture Center for the Arts is laying off 25% of its staff in an effort to stay afloat. “The cuts would save $467,400 in wages and benefits… Only a few months ago, Overture’s fortunes looked different. But then the city settled a labor contract, Overture’s trust fund was liquidated to pay for construction debt, and the national economy tanked.”
Is Liverpool Headed For A Cultural Hangover?
Liverpool’s year as Europe’s Capital of Culture is drawing to a close, so what can residents of the city expect of their local cultural scene in 2009? “It will feel like the night after a party. But we all know what that’s like. We have to take the experience and memory and build on it.”