The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has abruptly cancelled its annual $1000-per-ticket Valentine Ball fundraiser, stunning many area arts patrons who had already bought tickets. The ball, which would have been 28 years old this year, was apparently the victim of financial considerations, with museum officials saying that the event would not have raised enough money to be worthwhile. But “at SFMOMA, where the loyalties of key donors are divided and squabbles among trustees are not uncommon, some patrons privately question whether there is more to the story. Word is that those involved with the preparations knew months ago that the party was seriously underfunded and should have been canceled then.”
Tag: 01.28.04
Because Arms And Legs Can’t Sing, Anyway
When bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff takes the stage at Lincoln Center tonight for a live national television broadcast with the New York Philharmonic, his appearance will be the first thing most viewers will notice, and yet, the announcer will offer not a single word of explanation. Quasthoff, a thalidomide baby, has vestigial arms and stunted legs, and there was a time in his career when he was willing, even eager, to discuss it. But these days, having long since established himself as a top vocalist, he prefers to let his music speak for itself, even if it sends a few thousand TV viewers scrambling for their search engines to dig up his story.
Thinking Ahead
“The red carpet has yet to be unrolled for the Academy Awards next month, but studio executives are already thinking about next year. Taking cues from the Oscar nominations announced on Tuesday, the studios say they expect big changes in how they will market movies in the years to come. Most notably, the studios will be looking to tie their Oscar campaigns to the release of a DVD,” a tactic which appears to have helped last summer’s blockbuster, Seabiscuit, garner seven nominations for this year’s ceremony.
Nothing’s Ever Easy At AGO
When your museum is unveiling a major expansion plan with Frank Gehry at the controls, it is supposed to be an unabashedly celebratory occasion. But for the Art Gallery of Ontario, today’s news conference will be a decidedly mixed bag of architectural grandeur and political damage control. The Gehry design will doubtless wow the critics with “a spectacular multi-story tower extending the AGO into Grange Park on its south side and bringing the park visually into the gallery.” But questions about the AGO’s decision to completely scrap its last expansion plan, as well as charges that the gallery is unilaterally pulling out of a 1989 agreement that it would never again expand, are sure to overshadow the proceedings.
When Is A Museum Really Done?
No one should expect that the Art Gallery of Ontario’s near-constant metamorphosing will come to an end with the realization of Frank Gehry’s vision. “The Toronto gallery has been a work in progress for most of its 104 years, and it likely will continue to be,” says James Adams.
Jack Paar, 85
“He was not the first host of The Tonight Show (Steve Allen), nor the longest running (Johnny Carson) or the edgiest comic (Jay Leno). But Jack Paar, who died at his Greenwich, Conn., home on Tuesday at 85, brought to his tenure at the helm of the NBC staple a uniquely urbane wit as well as a flamboyant and intelligent cultural breadth. He essentially invented the late-night talk show format, and he set a standard for the art of television conversation.”
Scheduling Is Overrated
“When Academy Awards officials announced in 2002 that the current Oscar season would be shortened by a month when the ceremony was shifted from late March to Feb. 29, there were concerns that smaller films, dependent on slow-building word of mouth, would suffer.” But yesterday’s Oscar announcement of this year’s nominations should allay many of those fears, as art house favorites like Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation led the pack, with big-budget, big-studio fare like Cold Mountain and The Last Samurai failing to garner the expected slew of nominations.
Well, The New York Giants Play In Jersey…
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has a beautiful new concert hall, which features state of the art acoustics, 2,000 “vineyard-style” seats, and a built-in connection to public transit. One caveat: the hall isn’t actually in Tokyo, but in Kawazaki City, a suburb across the Tama River from Tokyo. The TSO will not, of course, be changing its name to match its new digs.
New Life For Melbourne’s ‘Second’ Symphony
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is not the only orchestra in Australia’s second-largest city, but it very nearly was. Orchestra Victoria, a smaller ensemble which plays in the pit for local ballet and opera companies, and has struggled mightily in recent years, was at risk of folding or being swallowed up by the MSO when its supporters decided to try a new direction in order to save the ensemble. The result is something almost unheard of in the professional music world: an orchestra which performs free concerts, backed by local civic and charitable organizations, and which brings music to its audience, rather than expecting the audience to come to them.
Big Payday For Scottish Arts
“Arts projects in Scotland are to receive a £7.2m increase in funding for the next two years. The Edinburgh-based Scottish Arts Council has pledged to spend nearly £70m on projects. Most of the extra cash is going to The National Theatre of Scotland in Glasgow, which has been awarded £3.5m.”