Several cities around North Ameria have embraced the “if everyone read the same book” idea. Not in Pittsburgh. Since the launch of that city’s porogram, “several activities – including a theatrical presentation of the book’s rape trial at the Hazlett Theater, North Side, and classes sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Lifetime Learning – have been canceled for lack of interest.”
Tag: 02.20.03
Calgary Back On Stage
Good news has been hard to come by in the orchestral world in the past year or two, and the sorry saga of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which ceased playing concerts and filed for bankruptcy protection last October, was one of the hardest blows. But as of last week, the CPO is back in business, and out of debt. At the inaugural reopening concert, orchestra musicians greeted concertgoers at the door to the hall, shaking their hands and thanking them for their role in rescuing the ensemble. All told, the CPO raised better than $1.5 million over the months it was inactive to satisfy its creditors.
Dallas Symphony Raises $20 Million
At a time when American orchestras are struggling to keep operating, the Dallas Symphony has made the acquaintance of a generous benefactor. Said anonymous foundation has given the orchestra $10 million for its endowment, and others have already matched the gift to bring the total to $20 million. That brings the orchestra’s endowment to $86 million.
Metzmacher Resigns In Hamburg
“Conductor Ingo Metzmacher says he will step down when his contract as general music director in Hamburg expires in 2005 because he is disappointed with the attitude of city officials toward arts and culture… Metzmacher, who heads both the Staatsoper and Staatsorchester in Germany’s second-largest city, told a newspaper that the city was unwilling to make adequate commitments toward the arts. He said that subsidies for the arts have remained stagnant for a decade while expenses have climbed.”
French: American Movies Make Stupid Children
In Francs, as in most countries, American movies dominate the theatres. “But a number of French critics are attacking Hollywood movies for what they see as a poverty of ideas, which in turn is having an adverse effect on the country’s children. If the technology is controlling us, it will transform us into stupid children, and in a way, part of the American cinema does that.”
Texas Commission On the Arts Braces For Cuts
After a seven percent cut in its budget the Texas arts council cut some programs. State agencies have been asked to trim 12.5 percent. And there’s at least one recommendation to do away with a freestanding arts commission and its employees altogether. With a state deficit of $10 billion, arts supporters are bracing for trouble.
Critics: More Must Be Done To Keep British Art Treasures Home
Britain is losing some its important art to foreign buyers, the the current laws only delay export, not keep it permanently in the country. “The objects that have been temporarily kept here, but then exported, invariably through lack of funds, greatly outnumber those that have been saved. Several important pieces of art currently under temporary export ban are expected to end up overseas.”
States Hack Away At Arts Funding
Several US states propose eliminating arts funding. Others – like Virginia – are considering major cuts of 50 percent of their arts budgets. “As a result of these cuts, many arts councils and nonprofit cultural groups will lose matching funds from private donors and the federal government. The $3.9 million cut in Missouri, for example, will mean the loss of about $1 million in federal matching funds.”
Minnesota Joins The Party
Minnesota is facing a staggering $4.5 billion budget deficit, and the state’s new Republican governor has promised to get rid of the imbalance without raising taxes. So it came as no surprise to anyone in the state’s arts community when Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget proposal included a sizable slash in arts funding. While the proposed 22% cut is far from the “zeroing out” being suggested in some states, Minnesota has always prided itself on its commitment to the arts, and artists are preparing a massive lobbying effort to defeat the plan in the state legislature.
Slashing Canadian TV
Canadian TV producers are apoplectic over a 25% budget cut handed down by the federal government this week. The cuts came as the nation’s TV industry prepares to select which funding proposals for new and existing shows will actually get the money they need for production. Additionally, the government is offering new financial inducements designed to attract even more American production crews to Canada, leading Toronto-based TV execs to complain that Ottawa is favoring foreign media interests over domestic ones.