Category: people

Was jazz critic Stanley Crouch fired from his JazzTimes magazine column because of of what he wrote? “Crouch, 57, said he is convinced that his column ‘Putting the White Man in Charge’ was the direct cause for the termination of the column, even though Maryland-based Jazz Times, the nation’s most widely read jazz publication, with a circulation of more than 100,000, had promoted the essay as Crouch’s ‘most incendiary column yet.’ Jazz Times publisher Lee Mergner sees the situation differently. “We didn’t discontinue Crouch’s column because of what he wrote in ‘Putting the White Man in Charge. In fact, that wasn’t even his last column, which was actually about Eric Reed. We discontinued the column because it had become tedious’.”

“An interesting thing has happened to John Adams during the past year or so. With neither discussion nor fanfare, he has become America’s composer laureate.” Not bad for a guy who saw performances of his music cancelled after 9/11, and has often been sharply criticized for an opera based on a real-life terrorist attack. The fact is, though, that America hasn’t had a true National Composer since Copland. “Samuel Barber’s music, for instance, is too genteel, [Charles] Ives’ too ornery and disruptive, Leonard Bernstein’s too inconsistent, Elliott Carter’s too ugly.” Adams, it seems, is just about right.

It’s not a great time to be the head of an American arts organization, but Kathy Halbreich is thriving at the helm of Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center. The Walker, already one of the Twin Cities’ most popular cultural destinations, is embarking on a massive expansion at a time when other museums are having to scale back, and Halbreich is determined to prove that contemporary art can be a cultural centerpiece even in the dumbed-down world of 21st-century America. “I believe that if the Mall of America is about the consumption of things, a cultural institution like the Walker — if it is properly designed and programmed and inviting enough — can be about the consumption of ideas.”

“Barbara Hepworth was an artist of extraordinary stature whose importance is still to some extent occluded. Over 50 years, from 1925 to her death in 1975, she made more than 600 works of sculpture remarkable in range and emotional force. Her private life was complicated, at times traumatic: two marriages and four children, three of whom were triplets. And there was the long disruption of the war. What makes Hepworth wonderful was the strength of her ambition, the unswerving self-belief. She demonstrated so tangibly her understanding that ‘the dictates of work are as compelling for a woman as for a man.'”

Pierre Boulez has never been one to understate things, or withhold his opinions on other artists. One of the most eminent composers and conductors of the last century, Boulez gained notoriety in his youth by declaring Schoenberg ‘dead’ and booing Stravinsky’s latest neoclassic offering. He has mellowed a bit with age, but can still rail against the direction of contemporary music with a fervor that borders on the fanatical. He despises contemporary opera techniques, loves the music of Frank Zappa, and reads everything he can get his hands on. And yes, he still has little use for Stravinsky.

Daniel Libeskind has been well-known in architectural circles since his first major building went up in Berlin more than a decade ago. But since being selected as the architect who will replace the World Trade Center, Libeskind has had to learn to live with a whole new level of celebrity. People stop him on the street, offer their unsolicited opinions on his design, and generally treat him with the same level of awe the Big Apple affords to such local heroes as Derek Jeter or Rudy Giuliani. Celebrity has its downside, of course, but for the moment, Libeskind seems to reaping all of its rewards.

Ravi Shankar is one of the world’s gret musicians. He always assumed his children would be involved with music. And they are. But he never figured on having a jazz star for a daughter. And Norah Jones has become one of the hottest stars of jazz. “Shankar lost contact with Norah for eight years after her mother decided she did not want to see him. Those lost years are a source of regret for him.”

The Springfield (Missouri) Symphony has pulled its conductor from a concert this week after patrons expressed worries over SARS. “Apo Hsu, who has no symptoms of the disease, was asked to forgo her appearance at Saturday’s concert by the symphony’s board of directors. The board voted to ask principal violist Amy Muchnick to conduct instead after about 30 patrons called the symphony office about Hsu’s lengthy stay in Taiwan. Hsu returned May 10 to the United States after spending a month in Taipei.”

Nick Dargahi is a cellist. Or, rather, he was. Or maybe he still is. It’s hard to tell these days. When you are an orchestral musician, and your orchestra is suddenly pulled out from under you, it becomes difficult to know what you are for sure. Dargahi has left the music business, at least temporarily, and is training to be an engineer. Author Richard Florida thinks that stories like Dargahi’s are an unnecessary tragedy, and says that orchestras need to redefine their mission and reenergize the public to prevent a sustained crisis.

Whatever happened to Sister Wendy? The nun/art historian seems to have dropped off of UK TV screens. “Sister Wendy offered a layman’s view of painting; that was her charm, and the source of her popularity. That, and the simple fact that anybody with a gimmick on prime-time TV is bound to be a hit no matter what they do, whether it’s nuns and paintings or suited spivs with antiques. Here was a nice lady who evidently knew her Arshile Gorky from her El Greco, reassuring us we needn’t worry about all that high-falutin elitist nonsense they teach in art schools. All you need do is look at a painting and feel.”