Tag: 02.16.18

Irish Opera – Third Time’s The Charm?

“The first Irish National Opera (INO) company ran from 1965 to 1984 and specialised in productions that toured with only piano accompaniment. The second Irish National Opera company was announced in 2009 when Martin Cullen was arts minister. International consultants advised on the setting up of the company and a general director was recruited. However, it was shut down by minister Jimmy Deenihan in 2011 without ever having presented a single production. The latest incarnation, with Fergus Sheil as artistic director and Diego Fasciati as executive director, is the outcome of an Arts Council-initiated process to restore a regular supply of natively-sourced productions of mainstream repertoire to large stages in Dublin and regional centres.”

Making Ancient Egyptian Poetry Come Alive In English (With A Kiwi Accent)

“Egyptian poetry can come across as leaden and cryptic in English translation, which is why [Richard Bruce] Parkinson” – an Egyptologist who recently translated one of the civilization’s most popular narratives, The Tale of Sinuhe – “got his friend, New Zealand-born novelist and veteran Hammer film actor Barbara Ewing, to record a dramatic rendering. She gives it staggering-hearted new life.” (includes video)

Sackler Family’s OxyContin Money Disgraces Cultural Institutions Around The World: Columnist

Psychiatrist Allen Frances, author of Twilight of American Sanity: “There is no Pablo Escobar Wing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and no El Chapo Guzman gallery at the Guggenheim. Columbia University doesn’t host a Sinaloa Drug Cartel Center of Developmental Psychobiology. Oxford would no longer be Oxford if its library were named in honor of the Cali drug cartel. … We agree to aggressively prohibit the sale of blood diamonds, but we allow the Sacklers’ clever use of blood money to cloak their drug shame under philanthropic fame.”

Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Loses Two-Thirds Of Its Federal Funding After Harassment Scandal

“A planned increase in federal funding for Soulpepper Theatre has been voted down by the Canada Council for the Arts’ board of directors. On Thursday, the council’s board voted to rescind an increase of $375,500 the theatre company was set to receive. That was on top of a $184,500 ‘core grant’ which the company will still collect this year and again next year … After four civil suits were launched against former artistic director Albert Schultz in January, the granting agency placed Soulpepper on ‘concerned status’ and conducted a review.”

Study: The Economics Of Being A Musician In The UK

Over half of musicians worked unpaid over the past 12 months, and 66% of musicians who worked for free ‘exposure’ believe doing so did not benefit their career, according to the ‘world-first’ live music census. It also reveals that in the past year one in three music venues have struggled to cope with a business rates increase and 27% of venues have been affected by noise complaints.

Is Gibson Guitars Going Bankrupt?

A Nashville reporter and editor says the financial situation looks bleak for the epic, storied guitar company. “The situation facing the iconic Nashville-based music instrument maker, which has annual revenues of more than $1 billion, is far from normal. … CFO Bill Lawrence recently left the company after less than a year on the job and just six months before $375 million of senior secured notes will mature. On top of that, another $145 million in bank loans will come due immediately if those notes, issued in 2013, are not refinanced by July 23rd.”

This Ballerina And Choreographer Is Unafraid To Push Discussions About Gender And Ballet

Lauren Lovette, whose “Not Our Fate” for New York City Ballet featured a pas de deux for two men, says she’s proud to be a part of this ballet-world conversation. “A lot of times, we talk about things but we don’t actually do them. … We’ll post on social media, but when you actually make art that represents what you’re trying to say, you’re a part of the action.”