“James Undercofler, the innovative and influential dean of the Eastman School of Music, has been reappointed to a five-year term at the conservatory… Undercofler has been a driving force behind Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership, a first-of-its-kind center providing students with cutting-edge music and business skills for the 21st century. He also has played an influential role in the recent expansion of Eastman’s Community Music School, and in last year’s multi-million-dollar renovation of the Eastman Theatre.”
Tag: 03.31.06
NY Phil Gets Year-Round Radio
The New York Philharmonic and New York radio station WQXR have expanded the orchestra’s national radio series from to 52 weeks (up from 39,) making it one of a very small number of American orchestras to have a year-round radio home for live concerts, and the only American ensemble with a 52-week national series. The New York Philharmonic This Week is currently heard on 250 stations across the U.S.
Sawallisch Retires
Conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch, who led the Philadelphia Orchestra for much of the 1990s and is known in Europe as one of the finest operatic conductors of his generation, is reported to have officially retired from the podium. “The 82-year-old Sawallisch has canceled a series of appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and other groups this season because of an unspecified illness… He has suffered from orthostatic hypotension, a blood pressure problem, in the past.”
The Year Of The Bard
The Royal Shakespeare Company is preparing to mount every play the Bard ever wrote, all within a single calendar year. “A new 1,000-seat Stratford venue, the thrust-staged Courtyard, opens in July and will be used alongside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan. Not that matters are confined to conventional spaces; Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried, will host the politics and pageantry of Henry VIII.”
UK Tops Arts Spending
Citizens of the UK lead all nations in per capita spending on arts and culture. “In the UK, the average household spending on recreation and culture as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is 7.9%. This figure, which has risen from 6.5% in 1991, puts the UK at the top of the table of OECD countries, ahead of countries such as France and Germany, who spend 5.2% per household and 5% respectively, and above even the leisure-loving Australians, who come in second at 7.2%.”