Tag: 04.09.05

Public Broadcasting Chief Ousted

The president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has resigned less than a year into her tenure, and will be replaced on an interim basis by a close associate of the controversial former FCC chairman Michael Powell. Kathleen Cox was groomed for years to lead CPB, but she apparently fell victim to an increasingly political workplace as conservative politicians ratcheted up their anti-PBS rhetoric over the last year. One observer has described Cox as “an apolitical bureaucrat in an incredibly polarized agency,” an identity which may have been at odds with CPB’s desire to ingratiate itself to its critics in Congress.

Burning Out On Pop Culture

Pop culture is, by definition, fun. It’s fun to keep up with celebrities, fun to gossip with friends about the latest fashions, albums, movies, etc. But these days, there’s just so much pop culture to soak in that keeping oneself on the cutting edge is almost a full time job. “How [can] anyone find time to update their LiveJournals, finish reading the new Sheila Heti novel, or get tickets for the just announced M.I.A./LCD Soundsystem show in May? They had to stay up to the wee hours just to kill a few more soldiers in the new Splinter Cell or druggies in Narc. And who had time to wait for the perfect iPod Shuffle moment to magically appear?” Welcome to the phenomenon known as ‘hipster burnout.’

How Do You Please The New Yorkers?

When Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre headed to New York for a run of shows at the Joyce Theater two weeks ago, the company was hoping to please both press and public with a pop-influenced program featuring music of Bruce Springsteen and Sting. Instead, PBT garnered a mixed bag of reviews, and while ticket sales were brisk, phrases like “lightweight” and “blatantly driven by marketing” didn’t do much for the company’s national image.

FBI ‘Dead Wrong’ Yet Again

Steven Kurtz is an artist. That much, no one is debating. But Kurtz uses various legally acquired biological agents (read: farm chemicals) in his work, some of which also appear on an FBI list of chemicals frequently sought by wannabe terrorists. When Kurtz’s stash was discovered by authorities following his wife’s death, he was pursued, jailed, and charged with crimes which could net him 20 years in federal prison. Now the art world is coming together to defend Kurtz, and raise money for his legal defense.

Real Good, Fake Bad (But Why?)

“So just what is wrong with a fake? Certainly not enough to stop forgery becoming a multi-million dollar business. Across Europe, America and Asia, anywhere from 15 per cent to a staggering 80 per cent (in Africa and China) of artworks offered for sale are thought to be fakes. Cases such as the gang of French and Belgian forgers jailed in 2001 for reproducing Cesar’s “compression” sculptures make headlines. And the Impressionist forgers John Myatt or Elmyr de Hory became so well known that their works are sought after because of the forger rather than the forged.”

Following Dutoit: Nagano In Montreal

Kent Nagano won’t officially become music director of l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal until fall 2006, but the unusually soft-spoken maestro is already making his presence felt. Compared with the imperious Charles Dutoit, whose 23-year tenure at the Montreal helm ended in bitter fashion two years ago, Nagano is a decidedly new kind of director for the OSM, promoting a studious and humble approach to music-making, even as he speaks of the importance of building trust with audiences and begins to reshape the sound of the orchestra itself.

The Great Textbook Price Debate

Ask any college student or professor, and they’ll tell you that textbook prices are horrendously inflated, and that publishers are taking advantage of a captive group of consumers with no choice but to buy the books at whatever price. But the publishers insist that the problem is overblown, since students can frequently use the same book for multiple semesters, and most college bookstores will buy back used textbooks for up to 50% of their original cost.

New Jersey Symphony Exec Bolts For Scotland

“Just days after his one-year anniversary on the job, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra president and CEO Simon Woods announced he will leave, effective July 1, to become chief executive of the 113-year-old Royal Scottish National Orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland… The news is devastating for NJSO, which is groaning under a $19.5 million debt, in part due to subscription sales that have declined 41 percent in four years. NJSO also is struggling to regain public credibility following the 2003 purchase of 30 rare Italian string instruments from New Jersey philanthropist Herbert Axelrod, who was sentenced in March to 18 months in federal prison for an unrelated tax fraud scheme.”

The Intellect Behind The Wall

At his core, Saul Bellow was a teacher, but he was never much for disciples or devotees of his own work. “Bellow had himself well shielded from aspirants. Get in line: wives, children, students, writers, editors, lovers, biographers. I don’t mean this cruelly; it was part of Bellow’s genius. He reminded many people of their incompleteness, perhaps because he knew of his own. There was a rawness to him, almost like a wound, underneath the genteel polish and fiendish wit. His feathered fedora and striped shirts, his elegant manners and silken voice were enameled surfaces, under which he was, like his characters, at sea, the imposing intellect unable to ever lay down any reliable anchor – and not for want of trying, not for lack of greatness.”