“It is a hidden, taboo subject, widely known about within the music world but barely discussed. Little research into the area has been done and the full extent of the problem is incompletely understood. But inappropriate use of alcohol in Britain’s great orchestras is, according to musicians, endemic – ranging from drinking a pint before a concert to steady the nerves, to full-blown inebriation on stage.”
Tag: 02.28.09
Amazon Backs Down On Kindle’s Speech Function
“Publishers and authors now have the power to silence the Kindle 2 e-book reader. Amazon.com Inc. reversed course Friday on the device’s controversial text-to-speech feature, which reads digital books aloud in a robotic voice. The company gave rights holders the ability to disable the feature for individual titles. … [T]he Authors Guild had objected to the text-to-speech function, saying Amazon doesn’t have the right to essentially turn e-books into audio books.”
Classical Music Thrives In Virtual Second Life
“Likely the biggest classical organization to have a presence is the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, which built an electronic replica of the city’s Art Deco music palace in Second Life and hosted its first concert there in September 2007. Spokesperson Millicent Jones reports that more than 105,000 visitors have popped in to hear all or part of the program, presented in recorded video, rather than with orchestra avatars.”
Internet Fuels Poetry Boom
“Rather than killing it off, modern technologies like email, social networking sites such as Facebook and online media players are helping poets reach new audiences. The grassroots scene is now growing, with live poetry readings becoming more popular and more poets getting their own pamphlets published.”
Jack Kerouac’s First Novel To Be Published For First Time
“The Sea is My Brother was described by the Beat Generation icon as ‘man’s simple revolt from society as it is, with the inequalities, frustration, and self-inflicted agonies.’ The 158-page manuscript follows the life of Wesley Martin who has a “strange, lonely love” of the sea.”
Massachusetts Theatre Will Close Without Quick Cash
The operators of the Foothills Theatre Company in Worcester say they need to raise $200,000 in two weeks or the theater will close.