Archives are an underappreciated art, a tangible example of institutional memory lovingly maintained, frequently by individuals who don’t want their personal passion forgotten. But therein lies one of the greatest challenges of the professional archivist: what happens when an amateur in charge of some vast and important archive dies without stipulating what is to become of her/his life’s work? It happens far too often, and frequently, the result is that the archive is scattered to the winds.
Tag: 05.18.05
Where’s The Accountability?
A few decades back, a museum that sold off some of its more valuable artworks to raise cash would find itself thrust into a firestorm of criticism, and most museums actually found it necessary to be accountable to the public that streamed through their doors. No more. Today, museums and libraries seem to feel free to divest themselves of whatever treasures are necessary to fund their latest flights of fancy, and Michael Kimmelman is tired of it. “It’s time for transparency. Increasingly, we demand it from government, the media and Wall Street, in response to dwindling public faith. The same should apply to libraries and museums, which also regularly test our trust.”
Will Billy’s Dance Set Broadway Toes Tapping?
“Forget Spamalot, The Light in the Piazza and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The musical everybody on Broadway is talking about is Billy Elliot, which opened in London last week to ecstatic reviews.” Plans are already underway to bring the show to New York, but there might be some problems with translation from what is clearly a very British show. “Like the movie, it’s set in a working-class coastal town during the miners’ strike of 1984. Much of its power, the critics said, comes from its fierce, left-wing, anti-Thatcher political viewpoint… New York theater people who’ve seen the show say it would lose that power if it were Americanized the way another working-class British movie, The Full Monty, was when it was adapted for Broadway, where the story was set in Buffalo.”
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, U Of Minnesota Merge Forces
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the University of Minnesota have signed a deal to tie their programs together. It “includes a shared conductor who will lead several ensembles in the university’s School of Music, as well as join the SPCO staff. Beyond bringing orchestra members into closer contact with university students for hands-on training, the music school intends to develop courses and a doctoral degree program that addresses realistic and sometimes sobering career prospects for the next generation of professional musicians.”
Tucson Symphony Proposes Cuts
The Tucson Symphony is proposing salary cuts, but the musicians so far aren’t convinced. “TSO Executive Director Susan Franano would face a 10 percent cut of her $82,712 annual salary. Music Director George Hanson, who is paid $92,000, could see an 8.5 percent to 10 percent reduction. Musicians for the 76-year-old orchestra, could face around a 5 percent cut.”
Ex-Paris Review Editor Has New Publication
Brigid Hughes, George Plimpton’s successor at The Paris Review, who was forced out of the publication earlier this year, has a new project – editor of “A Public Space”. The new publication’s “focus will be on two art forms no longer in fashion — fiction and poetry. Magazines such as Collier’s and The Atlantic Monthly once served as starting points and sustainers for poets and fiction writers, from Wallace Stevens to F. Scott Fitzgerald, but few major publications highlight such work anymore. Hughes’ contract was not renewed at The Paris Review earlier this year, amid reports that the board of directors wanted more nonfiction and a more commercial approach.”
How The Internet Is Creating Fans For Bands
Independent bands are finding that internet “social networking” sites are building audiences for them. “Artists are using the site to build massive social networks and spread the word about upcoming shows and CD releases. Startup bands like My Chemical Romance have launched careers exclusively through MySpace, collecting more than 100,000 fans through the service.”
Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Copyright?
When it comes to new media, (downloadable audio and such,) Hollywood and the American recording industry are likely to talk about “threats to commerce” and the all-important god of Copyright Law. Meanwhile, across the pond, the BBC is doing just the opposite. “America’s entertainment industry is committing slow, spectacular suicide, while one of Europe’s biggest broadcasters is rushing headlong to the future, embracing innovation rather than fighting it. Unlike Hollywood, the BBC is eager and willing to work with a burgeoning group of content providers whose interests are aligned with its own: its audience.”
Coming To A Concert hall Near You (Video Game Music?)
Promoters are anxious to produce concerts of music found in popular video games. A sold-out concert in Los Angeles this week proved there’s an enthusiastic audience…
The Symphony Without The Symphony (It Can Be Done)
“Many commentators have pointed out that the survival of the symphony is dependent on the vitality of the institution that has nurtured it, the symphony concert. This brings up another concern: How is that institution to survive if all that it offers are overplayed exercises in nostalgia? In other words, can a symphony concert succeed without a symphony? A pair of extraordinary concerts at Avery Fisher Hall by a visiting orchestra from Bamberg, Germany, argued persuasively that it could.”