“Judy Drucker, the feisty impresario who founded and built the Concert Association of Florida into the region’s premier presenter of classical music over four decades, was voted out Monday as president by the group’s board of directors. The change was precipitated by the Concert Association’s persistent financial troubles. The nonprofit carried a deficit of $1.5 million as of June 2006, according to its most recent tax return.”
Tag: 06.05.07
Ex-Mrs Mandela Denied Entry To Canada For Arts Event
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of former South African leader Nelson Mandela, has been denied entry to Canada. She was scheduled to attend a fundraising gala in Toronto on Tuesday for the arts organization MusicaNoir, but the Canadian High Commission in South Africa denied her visa.
Here’s A New Business Plan – Give Music Away Free
“Lala.com will let users access their iTunes music libraries from any computer, check out the songs stored on their friends’ computers and listen to albums they haven’t purchased as many times as they want — at no charge. And in what the company says is a first, users will be able to download music straight from the Web to their iPods. You pay Lala only if you want to put music you don’t already own on your iPod or if you want to buy a CD — or soon, a digital download.”
NY Magazine Fires Longtime Classical Music Critic
Peter G. Davis is one of America’s most prominent critics. “In recent years, and especially since Adam Moss has been the editor, the magazine’s classical music coverage has dwindled considerably. It also marks the third time New York has fired a longtime, senior critic, raising the question of serious age discrimination. Dance critic Tobi Tobias was axed four years ago, after 22 years at the magazine, theater critic John Simon was let go on the eve of his 80th birthday two years ago, after 37 years. He was replaced by a 28-year-old theater critic.”
Banksy Prints Stolen From Brighton Gallery
“A total of 10 items valued at about £10,000 – nine of them by Banksy – were stolen on 20 and 24 May. Sussex Police said it appeared the Artrepublic gallery, in Bond Street, Brighton, had been ‘purposely targeted for the Banksy works’.”
Cordelia, Does Your Dad Have Any History Of Stroke?
A professor of old-age psychiatry gives his take on Ian McKellen’s King Lear: “When Lear punched Kent, I found myself thinking: ‘This old man is the terror of the nursing home.’ That is a type of character I know very well. … It’s dangerous to make psychiatric diagnoses from plays, but I thought Ian McKellen’s performance was consistent with a vascular condition rather than Alzheimer’s.”
Philly Museum Visits Will Get Pricier
“The Philadelphia Museum of Art is hiking admission across all categories by an average of 25 percent. … The new fees mean that since 1997 regular adult admission has doubled; for seniors in the past decade it has tripled. At the same time, the museum has expanded free admission for children and extended the pay-what-you-wish policy….”
For One Public Radio Station, Classical = Cash Cow
“A bunch of European composers who haven’t had a hit in decades have been very, very good to radio station WETA. Since dropping news and talk programming for classical music in January, the Arlington public station has seen its fortunes soar. Ratings have more than doubled since the switchover from BBC and NPR reports to Bach and Brahms concertos. And perhaps just as important to WETA (90.9 FM), pledge contributions from listeners have been gushing.”
Art Basel’s Director Prepares For Departure
“Art Basel Director Samuel Keller, who steps down this year as head of the world’s biggest contemporary fair, has some advice for his successor. ‘Change continuously with the art world,’ Keller, 41, said in a telephone interview from the Swiss city. ‘Listen to the galleries who have what it takes to make an art fair.'”
A $4M Gift Later, Segerstrom Hall Is Far From Paid For
“The Orange County Performing Arts Center has announced a $4-million donation from one of its board members and his wife — the first report of progress since October on its campaign to pay off the debt on the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The gift … brings the amount raised to $164 million — but it doesn’t represent any widening of the donor pool for the campaign, which still has about $76 million to go toward its goal of $240 million.”