This fall the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will mount video screens on either side of its stage. The video presentations will accompany all of the orchestra’s “Musically Speaking concerts. “The screens will be used to show live close-ups of the conductor and soloists. With wall-to-wall dreamscape visuals accompanied by an atmospheric soundtrack, the VSO’s experiment will venture beyond the live footage to include a visual script with images of featured composers and the people and places that inspired them.”
Tag: 04.24.03
Libeskind’s Spiral Now Seems Inspired Choice For V&A
When it was first proposed, architect Daniel Libeskind’s post-modernist “spiral” addition to the Victoria & Albert Museum was derided as symbolizing all that is wrong with contemporary architecture. But now Libeskind’s been embraced in New York for the World Trade Center site, his idea for the V&A is seen as inspired. And now the fundraising gets going in a big way…
Did Harry Potter Save British Tourism?
Culture minister, Kim Howells has honoured the Potter books and films for their outstanding contribution to English tourism, recognising the part they have played in boosting the country’s image abroad. “Many visitors cite the film as a direct reason for visiting Britain. “We [the British Tourist Authority] went to America just after foot and mouth, and brochures that detailed Harry Potter locations were snapped up – we couldn’t print enough. Thousands of people have been inspired by the British actors and venues chosen in the Harry Potter films and the magical descriptions on each page of every book.”
Beethoven 9 For Sale
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony could be the world’s most famous piece of music. “Next month, when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s, a copyist’s manuscript of the work, replete with Beethoven’s last scribbled revisions, is expected to fetch more than any manuscript of classical music has done before. If the ninth symphony is the most powerful symbol of absolute music in the classical music canon, it is also the most politicised work of all time.”
Judge Rules ISPs Must Turn Over Customer Names
A US judge has ruled that ISP Verizon must turn over names of cutomers suspected of downloading illegal copies of music to music producers. “The latest rulings mean consumers using dozens of popular Internet file-sharing programs can more easily be identified and tracked by copyright owners. Even for consumers hiding behind hard-to-decipher aliases, that could result in warning letters, civil lawsuits or even criminal prosecution.”
Stolen Iraqi Art Turning Up
Some of the art stolen from Iraq’s National Museum is beginning to turn up after appeals in Baghdad. “Officials are using tips from citizens to hunt down stolen items, and trying to prevail on thieves to turn them in voluntarily. Muslim clerics, at the officials’ urging, have announced over mosque loudspeakers that anyone with looted items should return them to museum curators, no questions asked. U.S. reconstruction officials said they plan to air similar messages on Iraqi radio stations starting tonight. ‘It’s already working. I’ve heard from our friends that a number of objects were collected in mosques in the neighborhood after appeals from the imams of the mosques’.”
Hear Before You Play – Website Auditions New Music
So you’re an American orchestra looking for contemporary music to play. But it can be frustrating hunting down and auditioning scores. So the American Music Center has created NewMusicJukeBox. “The site offers access to audio recordings, downloadable music scores, and information on new music artists. Its creators describe it as an online marketplace where producers, performers, orchestra administrators, concert programmers, movie directors, choreographers, students, and audience members can easily hear music 24/7 by American composers.”
Wanted: One Saddam Lookalike
A play about the Iraq war opening in London, has posted an audition notice for a Saddam Hussein lookalike. “Open auditions for the part start next week at the Riverside Studios in west London. According to an advert in today’s edition of the Stage, “a black beret and flak jacket will be provided”, and in a further concession to lookalikes now gone to ground, moustaches will also be on offer.”
Reform Needed For UK’s National Trust
The UK’s National Trust has a management problem, says a new report. “The report says it is unrealistic to expect a body of 52 council members, meeting only four times a year for three hours at a time, to run an organisation with an annual expenditure of £251m, hundreds of properties, land holdings of 248,000 hectares (612,808 acres), 3 million members and a staff of 6000.”