Dallas has beat out 20 other cities for a $1 million grant to study which children in the city’s public schools have access to arts education and find ways to get it to those that don’t.
Tag: 01.10.06
An African Tribe Markets Culture
The African country of Mali is very poor, and the Tuareg area of Essouk is among the poorest regions. The Tuareg have a festival, “which has evolved from an annual ‘Takoubelt’, or Tuareg gathering, that they’re marketing to attract tourists. “With almost no natural resources, its culture and especially its music are among the few things it can export.”
New Florida Orchestra Irks Fans Of Old Orchestra
Last fall South Florida’s Renaissance Chamber Orchestra abruptly closed, leaving patrons and subscribers angry. Now a new group has formed led by the old orchestra’s president. “Normally a new musical organization arising from the ashes of a failed one would be a positive development greeted with enthusiasm. In this case, former Renaissance musicians and audience members are reacting to the new venture with emotions ranging from disbelief and consternation to intense anger.”
The Name Problem
“Sure, we’re no longer living in the era of Haydn, Beethoven, and the gang where everything was either Piano Sonata No. 28 or Symphony No. 6, but this strangest of naming games has yet to completely disappear from our collective reflexes. For the record, I don’t intend to criticize folks who write piano sonatas or symphonies—I’ve even penned a couple of piano sonatas myself, though I’ve yet to attempt a symphony—but why must they be named as if they were volumes of the Encyclopedia Brittanica?”
Frey Memoir Continues Selling Well Despite Charges
Charges that James Frey’s best-selling memoir ”A Million Little Pieces” contains numerous ”wholly fabricated or wildly embellished” details are dogging the book. “It’s unclear what effect the allegations will have on readers. The Oprah’s Book Club edition of ”A Million Little Pieces” was the best-selling book on Amazon.com yesterday.”
German University To Return Piece Of The Parthenon
“A German university plans to give back a fragment of the Parthenon sculptures, marking the first time any piece of the statues held outside Greece has been returned to Athens, the Culture Ministry said Monday.”
Dance Through The Ages
What does it mean to dance at the various stages of life?
Sellars To Direct Mozart’s “Muslim” Opera
Director Peter Sellars is planning a “radical modern production” of Mozart’s unfinished work Zaide. “Mozart was writing about Europeans in the Muslim world directly in his lifetime. The piece is not a historical vignette. Even then, Europe was obsessed with the ‘menace’ of the Muslim world. It’s about how Europeans engage Muslims in a way that is positive, and the concept of mercy coming from both sides.”
Reports Question Truth Of Best-Selling Memoir
Questions have been raised about the truth of James Frey’s best-selling memoir, “A Million Little Pieces.” “The book, originally published in 2003 by the Nan A. Talese imprint of Doubleday, soared to the top of the best-seller lists in the fall after it was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her television book club. Ms. Winfrey’s enthusiastic endorsement helped the book to sell more than two million copies last year, making it the second-highest-selling book of 2005, behind only “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”