“Coming on the heels of similar announcements from the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic, the decisions make clear that there will be few, if any, large-scale performances before 2021 in one of the world’s musical centers.” Carnegie, expecting multi-million-dollars deficits for both this past season and the next one, is also furloughing 50 of its 274 remaining employees. – The New York Times
Tag: 06.18.20
San Francisco Ballet To Go Ahead With 2021 Winter Season, And Maybe Even 2020 ‘Nutcracker’
The company announced plans for a season with the overall title “Leap of Faith,” acknowledging that everything depends on the state of the COVID epidemic and what San Francisco authorities will permit. As for this year’s Nutcracker, “We’ve done this production now for something like 15 years, so we will be ready to get back onstage if the city allows it.” – San Francisco Chronicle
New York City Ballet, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet Cancel Fall Seasons, Including ‘Nutcracker’
It’s a difficult decision to make: as Joffrey CEO Greg Cameron said, “The loss of The Nutcracker alone — more than half of the Joffrey’s annual earned revenue — compounds a financial crisis for the company that began this past spring.” Yet, as NYCB artistic director Jonathan Stafford put it, “It became apparent that there would be no way to pull this production together safely.” – The New York Times
Nearly Two-Thirds Of U.S. Arts Groups Surveyed Expect To Resume Performances By End Of 2020 (Brits Aren’t So Optimistic)
“If already not performing, … 50% of U.K. clients are planning a return to the stage in January 2021. Only 25% expect to be performing pantos in December 2020. In contrast, 63% of U.S. clients expect to return to performances in 2020. Dance and multi-disciplinary organizations are the most optimistic; dance’s optimism is likely fueled by the requirement of Nutcracker revenues to bring stability to the balance of the 2020-21 season.” – TRG Arts
Photo Taken By Thieves Of Stolen Van Gogh Made Public
The artist’s Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884) was taken by a robber from the Singer Laren Museum near Amsterdam on March 30. Now a “proof of life” photo, showing the painting between a May 30 newspaper and a biography of a (different) convicted Van Gogh thief, has been obtained by well-connected investigator Arthur Brand and turned over to authorities. – The New York Times
Art Dealer/Fugitive Angela Gulbenkian Arrested For Theft Of Andy Warhol Print And Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin
“Angela Gulbenkian, who married into one of Europe’s most prominent art families and allegedly leveraged their name to conduct fraudulent art deals, has been arrested in Portugal. The jet-setting art heiress is facing two charges of theft in the UK, including one in connection with the £1.1 million ($1.4 million) sale of a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin sculpture in 2017.” – Artnet
Orchestre De Paris Names Music Director
Klaus Mäkelä, a 24-year-old Finnish cellist and conductor who is already at the helm of the Oslo Philharmonic, starts in his Paris position in the fall of 2022. He succeeds Daniel Harding, who left the orchestra for “artistic reasons” last summer after only three years and started working as a commercial airline pilot. – Gramophone
PHILADANCO At 50
“Movers & Makers sits down with Founder & Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown for an engaging discussion on how she dealt with overwhelming bias to attain success in the world of dance as a ‘Black Ballerina’ in the era of segregation. We also talk with Brenda Dixon Gottschild, author of a biography on Brown.” (video) – WHYY (Philadelphia)
To This We’ve Come: A Reality Show Where Men Compete To Impregnate A Woman
Jessa Crispin: “Despite being pretty in a Getty-stock-image kind of way, and despite being a successful holistic health and beauty expert, Kristy has not yet found her fantasy husband. So she has turned to reality television programming to help her out. That’s the premise of the new show Labor of Love, in which 15 men compete to be the ‘one’ honored with impregnating the show’s heroine. As I watched her journey toward motherhood unfold, I thought, finally. Finally, someone has found a way to make a buck off the fracturing of the American family.” – The Guardian
What Other Governments Are Spending To Save Their Nations’ Arts Sectors From COVID Collapse
From prosperous Germany (a €1 billion rescue package) to destitute Madagascar (distributing bags of rice to out-of-work artists), here’s what ten countries are doing to mitigate the damage that the pandemic and shutdown have done to cultural institutions and arts workers. – The Guardian