Tag: 06.14.04

Be A Classical Star! (virtually, that is)

“Australia’s Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and a local software designer have created ‘In The Chair,’ a cross between a karaoke machine and flight simulator, which allows you to play your favorite symphony via a computer, with a conductor on screen and tuition while you play… The orchestra sees ‘In The Chair’ as a tool to teach young musicians, build appreciation for orchestral music and help pay its bills. It hopes the product will eventually provide it with a steady $345,000 a year.”

Government Is The Problem, Not The Solution

Kenneth Walton cannot believe what the government is doing to Scottish Opera: “What we witnessed last week from the Executive was an act of cultural vandalism. This is an administration that has enshrined mediocrity as a standard for Scotland. We have a First Minister who recognises the manufactured celebrity of short-term Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus above the lasting, nurtured, talent of violinist Nicola Benedetti. By committing Scottish Opera to this ludicrous deal, it is closing the door to the access and development of opera in Scotland.”

Four Pulitzers Gets You… Layoffs

By any journalistic measure, the Los Angeles Times is flying high these days. One sign of its improvement are the four Pulitzers it won this year. So why is the paper cutting back and laying off staff? Is it losing money? Nope. It seems that the paper’s 26 percent profit margin – 26 percent! – isn’t high enough to keep the Tribune Company (the LAT’s owner) stock rising on Wall Street…

Get Paid For Your Opinions!

You can make a nice little income as a focus-group member: “If they ask you whether you’ve done one in the past six months, just say no. They never check. If they ask you something off-the-wall, like “Have you purchased a treadmill in the past year?,” say yes; they wouldn’t ask if that weren’t the answer they wanted. If they ask you what brands you purchase most often, always name big ones: Sprint, Budweiser, Marlboro. They’re representing either one of those companies or a smaller one trying to figure out how to steal you away. And, most important, let the recruiters lead you. Before you answer a question you’re not sure about, pause for a couple of seconds. They’ll tip their hand every time.”

Bush-Bashing Good For Arts Business

George Bush doesn’t seem much interested in the arts. “But under his presidency, corners of the arts have been flourishing—foremost, publishing houses flush with profits from anti-Bush screeds and pro-Bush paeans. Now independent film studios IFC and Lions Gate hope that Michael Moore’s vitriolic Fahrenheit 9/11 will produce similar profits. No doubt such sales will fund the filmmakers, poets, and novelists of tomorrow. (Laura Bush’s stuffy, NEA-sponsored “American Masterpieces” tour of art surely won’t.) Who’d have thought that a Bush presidency would be so good for the arts?”

Selling Off Italy’s Art Heritage

Italy is moving ahead with plans to turn over management of many state-owned museums to private companies (an idea strongly opposed by prominent leaders in the world’s museum community). “The proposal to sell State-owned buildings has been contentious, largely because the State does not know in detail what it owns, and the architectural protection lobbies are afraid that masterpieces may be sold to unsuitable owners.”

Selling Off St. Petersburg?

The St. Petersburg government has decided to sell off more than 2000 of the city’s historic buildings over the next few years, “including several dozen important Czarist-era palaces. Several of Russia’s oil barons have already expressed strong interest in acquiring grand historic residences in the city.” Why? The buildings are in need of repair, and the government believes the best way to preserve them is to sell.

Martel: Life After The Booker

When Yann Martel won the Booker Prize, the glare of public attention was blinding. So what comes next in the career? “I could be a one-hit wonder and that’s it. I’ll be known as, ‘Remember that guy who wrote Life of Pi, about that boy in the lifeboat with his tiger?’ You know, William Golding, his entire career suffered from the enormous success of Lord of the Flies and everything else took a long, long time.”

The Little Literary Magazine That Could

“Border Crossings” is a tiny literary and arts publication produced in Winnipeg with a staff of two. It has only 5,500 subscribers, but its reputation is huge. And now, “after 23 years of guiding readers through the maelstrom of modern arts and culture, Border Crossings has earned one of the highest honours in the Canadian magazine world: the President’s Medal conferred by the National Magazine Awards Foundation.”