Category: Uncategorized

“The tiny ‘opera house’, a converted garage which served as the inspiration for J. L. B. Maketoni’s Speedy Motors in the detective stories, seats a mere 60 people. It may be no Covent Garden or La Scala, but in the capital, Gaborone, which has no other classical music venue, its arrival has been welcomed with enthusiasm. The best of the country’s small, but growing band of classical music singers was on display.”

“Zinsser was associate editor, executive editor and later editor in chief of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books from 1951 to 1987. The series, which began in 1950 and ran 47 years under that name, provided subscribers with three to six shortened best sellers in anthologies that were, at first, published four times a year, and later every other month. It is now known as Reader’s Digest Select Editions.”

“A technology normally used in reconstructive surgery to create prosthetic limbs is now being applied to create reproductions of Iraq’s precious and fragile cuneiform clay tablets, according to an Italian team of researchers.”

“Longtime Austin arts philanthropists Ernest and Sarah Butler have agreed to donate $55 million to what they consider the backbone of many local arts organizations: the University of Texas’ School of Music… Proceeds from about two-thirds of the Butlers’ gift will be used for scholarships and other student support, with the balance earmarked for faculty assistance and other programs.”

“Collecting institutions, including the National Library of Australia and the National Gallery, will take cuts of almost $20million over the next four years, as part of the across-the-board increase in the efficiency dividend. The $24 million Australia on the World Stage program has been scrapped and the program for cultural diplomacy halved to $4.2 million.”

“Contemporary dance has never had the same cult of personality as ballet or theatre. Since 19th-century critics rhapsodised over their favourite onstage nymphs, leaving drool still drying on their reviews, balletomanes have argued over their ultimate ballerina. But contemporary dancers are too often seen as anonymous bendable bodies, to be twisted and wrought at the choreographer’s will, rather than artists in their own right.”

“EMI tells us it will begin doing what it should have been doing all along — signing fewer acts, developing the ones with potential, then marshaling its resources to market their records and ensure they’re properly compensated.”

A new report on the state of culture in England “will laud the pursuit of excellence and innovation, celebrate diversity and risk, and address some of the issues of access by demanding that the generously funded big beasts get out more.”

The Pittsburgh Symphony has officially been informed that it will continue to receive a $2.5m subsidy from the government of Pennsylvania. The money, which represents 8% of the PSO’s annual budget, had to be approved by the state legislature, which has been looking for ways to trim spending.