“The new watchword must be consolidation, rather than expansion; we’ve had an unprecedented level of investment in bricks and mortar for the arts, now we need to hunker down and make the most of them. The £100million-plus grands projets still on the drawing board – such as the ambitious developments of the Tate, British Museum and V&A sites – will have to be shelved, and pie-in-the-sky fantasies like the free theatre ticket scheme and the Royal Opera House’s annual sojourn to Manchester should be dumped.”
Tag: 01.08.09
UK Culture Minister Warns On Arts Funding
“Some people may not like it, but the arts has to live in the real world too. Nobody is immune from what is happening. Everybody needs, in this time that we’re in, to plan prudently and allow themselves maximum room for manoeuvre, because we all don’t know what 2009 will hold.”
Canadian Music Downloading Surges
Canadians downloaded 40 million tracks in 2008, a 58 per cent increase over the year before. “For the third straight year, Canada has outpaced the U.S. in digital music sales, which rose 27 per cent last year in the states.”
Live TV On Your Phone Coming This Year
“Millions of consumers by year’s end should be able to watch free, over-the-air television on cellphones, PDAs and other portable digital devices as the result of initiatives that will be unveiled today by some of the nation’s largest TV station owners and electronics manufacturers.”
Improbably, Reading Flourishes
“If you choose to create entertainment that demands reading, you are deliberately choosing the most inaccessible of art forms from which to make your living… Astoundingly, however, books continue to be a lucrative business. It doesn’t make any sense. Popular books are selling in the millions. Think about all the disadvantages of reading…”
Anger Over Ohio Dinner Theatre Closing
Many patrons of the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron were left with useless tickets they had paid for. “Those who used a credit card to purchase seats are being asked to contact their card company. Those who paid with cash are considered creditors who must wait until larger debt-holders are paid.”
General Motors Foundation Pulls Out Of Arts Funding
“GM has already notified about a dozen arts and cultural groups, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Music Hall, the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Detroit Institute of Arts, not to expect any annual support from the company in 2009.”
Opera With All The Chaos, Live On Camera
The satellite TV network Sky Arts will simulcast opening night of the new Jonathan Miller Bohème at English National Opera on two channels: one showing the staged performance and the second capturing the goings-on backstage. ENO artistic director John Berry says, “It’s about all of that furious paddling under the water that you don’t normally see.”
From East L.A. To The Ballet Barre
“The City of Angels Ballet offers free classical ballet training, along with pink satin shoes and fabulous costumes, to hundreds of children from some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods.”