Getty Museums To Cut 34 Staff Jobs

“The J. Paul Getty Trust announced Monday that it was cutting 34 jobs in its museum division, with the expected annual savings of $4.3 million to be redirected to art acquisitions. There will be no reductions in the exhibition schedule or public programs, the Getty said, and no cuts to curatorial and art-conservation staffs.”

Philadelphia Orchestra Turning A Corner

“The orchestra has a new labor agreement reducing minimum musician salaries by about 15% and cutting the size of the ensemble by about 10 musicians to 95. It also is close to finalizing a new lease agreement with Kimmel Center Inc., where since 2001 its home has been the 2,500-seat Verizon Hall, to reduce operating costs. Performances have continued during the [bankruptcy] proceedings, and orchestra officials say attendance is up.”

Alison Bechdel’s New Graphic Memoir Is About Her Mother – What Does Mom Think?

“She really feels like the book is – she sees the hostility; she doesn’t see the love. And that is distressing to me. … I got a pre-pub review that talked about my ‘substantive yet essentially distant’ relationship with my mother, and I showed her that review and she was really psyched about it. … She did not seem the least bit fazed to hear our relationship described as ‘substantive yet essentially distant’.”

Meet The Agency That Controls Which Movies Chinese Audiences See

“The China Film Group functions as the Chinese government’s guardian of a film market that recently shot past Japan’s to become the world’s second-largest in box-office receipts behind the United States. On a broad array of business dealings — censorship, distribution and co-productions, among others — it is the conduit for foreign moviemakers hoping to make or distribute films in China.”

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Grammy Elimination Of Music Categories

“The Academy announced last April that after a more than yearlong review, it had decided to trim its categories by 31, in part to make the awards more competitive. That meant eliminating categories by sex, so men and women compete in the same vocal categories.
But it also eliminated other niche categories and created broader ones. For example, instead of a best Latin jazz album, those musicians competed against a larger group of artists in the best jazz instrumental category.”