A national tour by the Moth, a well-known storytellers collective, is drawing fans of literature and storytelling to venues across the US. “While raconteurs run the gamut – from singer Moby to an astronaut – the Moth relies heavily on writers, who make up about 70 percent of its performers.”
Tag: 05.18.07
No Good Guys In The Music Piracy Fight
The battle over music piracy and illegal downloading has been going on for years now, but it’s sort of difficult for an independent observer to whip up any sort of real sympathy for anyone involved in the debate. The people downloading free songs are thieves (yes, they are,) the recording industry trying to stop them is made up of a bunch of greedy corporate bullies, and everyone just seems to be looking out for their own wallet.
Collectors Continue To Throw Money Around
Records continue to fall at New York’s spring art auctions. “Three sculptures — one fashioned from a dozen African masks, a dead deer cast in bronze, and a ball of painted and chromium-plated steel mangled as if hit by a truck — by some of today’s most popular artists brought record prices last night at Phillips de Pury & Company.” But the real star of the night was yet another Warhol – one of the artist’s soup can paintings went for $3m.
Embrace Your Mediocrity
Amateur orchestras are everywhere, fed and cared for by groups of musicians whose commitment to music is matched only by their inability to play it at anything approaching a professional level. So why not embrace the half-baked quality of performance? Scotland’s Really Terrible Orchestra (yes, that’s really its name) has done exactly that: “the RTO website proudly states that the main ethos of the orchestra is a commitment to lowering standards wherever possible.”
Kahane Hiatus To End Soon
Colorado Symphony music director Jeffrey Kahane was diagnosed with severe hypertension in March, and hasn’t conducted since. But his medical leave is set to end this month, and Kahane is reducing his commitments for future seasons in an effort to avoid a repeat crisis.
The Opera Understudy – Unused And Unwanted
“Look at our opera stages: underused and unloved, the understudy who triumphs is rare. Why? because they have so few opportunities. Typically, operas run for six or seven performances across two months, compared with the nightly schlepp of a West End hit. Of course, opera singers do fall ill, but even then an understudy can be denied his or her chance. Covent Garden, for instance, will jet in a big-name singer when there’s a perfectly adequate understudy waiting in the wings.”