London’s three top orchestras are all undergoing lead conductor changes at the same time, making for an exciting, if uncertain, period in one of Europe’s musical capitals. More than just standard turnover, the successions represent a generational passing of the torch – all three orchestras are exchanging maestros close to their 80th birthday for young stars ranging in age from 35 to 54.
Tag: 06.16.07
Babs Helps Out NYC’s Freelance Pool
“Barbra Streisand is touring Europe with a 58-piece orchestra composed mostly of the cream of New York’s freelance musicians. It’s a sweet gig for the players. But beyond that, the tour has created a mild economic boom for the pool of musicians left behind.”
A Tangible Display Of The Dangers Of Warming
An artist in New York is slowly making her way across the city, tracing a single, thick chalk line onto pavement and sidewalk. A meditation on linear thought? A revolt against the tyranny of traffic lanes? Nope – she’s quietly tracing the line scientists believe will represent the edge of the great flood that could destroy chunks of America’s largest city as a result of climate change.
Great Architecture For The Masses
“Pieces of architectural history sit on Milwaukee’s south side – a row of four duplexes and two cottages designed by Frank Lloyd Wright more than 90 years ago for low- to moderate-income families. But years of extreme makeovers, including aluminum siding added to one house, rendered some of them shells of their former designs. Now a nonprofit group wants to restore the Frank Lloyd Wright charm to one of the single-family homes… The group hopes to make it a museum, inspire others to renovate the four remaining structures and motivate architects to design housing for the disadvantaged.”
Clark Institute Gets $90m In Cash And Art
Boston’s Clark Art Institute has received a gift of $50m, along with $40m worth of great English art. “Turners, Constables, Gainsboroughs, and other pieces from the English Romantic period of the early 1800s” are included in the gift, which came from the estate of the late Sir Edwin Manton. The donation is the largest ever received by the Clark.