“Total attendance at the 10 museums on Chicago Park District land weakened by 3 percent in 2007. The cause: King Tut withdrawal.”
Tag: 01.30.08
Challenging The Bilbao Effect
“Since the New Labour landslide of 1997 – the same year that Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim museum opened in Bilbao, transforming that city’s reputation – it has become an accepted wisdom that ‘culture’, specifically ‘the arts’, can bring about tangible socio-economic benefits.” But is this really realistic?
Can Composers SurviveOutside The University?
“Because teaching and composing are so often yoked together, I very seldom meet composers over 30 who aren’t also paid to tell people how to compose. What if most professional athletes also served as coaches?”
Finalists Chosen For First “Arab Booker” Prize
Six writers from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt have been shortlisted for the first annual International Prize for Arabic Fiction. They were chosen from an “entry pool of 131 writers from 18 countries. The shortlisted writers win $10,000 each, and are now in the running for the final $50,000 prize, which will be announced during an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on March 10.”
Amazon’s Digital Content Sales Up 29 Percent
Sales of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader have exceeded expectations. And Amazon’s sales of digital contecnt has soared. While Jeff Bezos said that the majority of media sales (including books) are still made in the “physical world” (stores), that will change as the practice of digital downloads spreads and more people turn to digital delivery systems (Amazon).
Seattle Star Cellist Leaving The Orchestra
The Seattle Symphony’s star principal cellist was only 22 when he won the job two years ago. But after only a short time, Roman is moving on to a solo career.
Japanese American National Museum Director To Marry Senator Daniel Inouye
“The Hawai’i Democrat announced in a statement yesterday that he is engaged to Irene Hirano, the president and chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.”
Royal Academy Exhibitions Chief Steps Down To Curate
“Norman Rosenthal, who for three decades steered the exhibitions program at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, is stepping down at his own request to become a freelance curator.”
Detroit Free Press Tries Life Without A Movie Critic
Longtime critics Terry Lawson took a buyout and the paper won’t replace him. “By our research, all of the other Top 20 newspapers in the United States have at least one major, well-known critic (yes, even the Arizona Republic). However, The Freep’s move clearly signals that there’s a changing tide in the amount of importance (and budget dollars) local newspapers allocate to coverage of the movie business.”
Glenn Gould – The Great Manipulator
“In any case, Gould’s relentless quest for musical perfection made him a natural for the studio, where he was free to record take after take and to meticulously assemble the results into an immaculate rendition of a given piece of music. The wonder of it was that, rather than producing sterile, hermetically sealed recordings, Gould’s technical manipulation — or ‘creative lying,’ as he called it — left behind a rich spectrum of recorded performances that speak to contemporary ears with astonishing immediacy.”