Violinist Dennis Kim, who was recently dismissed from his position as concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic after music director Edo deWaart discovered that he had been auditioning for an American orchestra while supposedly on sick leave, has landed on his feet in a big way. Kim was named the new conductor of Korea’s Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra this week, following a series of auditions for the position. Kim is Korean-born, though he grew up mainly in Canada.
Tag: 08.03.05
Investigation More Bad News For Getty
An investigation by the State of California of the Getty Trust is the latest bad news for one of the world’s richest institutions. “The Getty Trust, with an endowment of more than $5 billion, includes the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, a research institute, a vast library, an art conservation program and a grant-making office. The trust has suffered a number of administrative, legal and public relations blows over the last year. A number of senior officers have left, and staff morale is said to be low.”
Where’s That Vaunted British Sense Of Humor?
British comedy has become increasingly darker, and one theory is that Britons are laughing less, losing their sense of humor. “A survey earlier this year by cruise company Ocean View even concluded that the amount of time we spend chuckling daily has fallen from an average of 18 minutes in the 1950s to just six minutes today. Traditionally, the English only peep out from their caves of national self-disgust to trumpet their alleged good sense of humour, their subtlety with irony, their readiness for laughter. Has our comedy become unfunny, and is our laughter on the brink of extinction?”
Art By The Numbers – Surely There’s More?
“More and more do arts organisations feel they have to demonstrate their financial rather than their artistic prowess as a means of obtaining funds to support their existence. Arts festivals big and small commission economic impact studies to trumpet their success in creating employment, raising local incomes and encouraging tourism; understanding their cultural impacts often seems to take second place. Yet something is missing.”
Publisher issues “Corrections” As Part Of Biography
The heirs of Carl Jung dispute many points in a biography of the psychologist. “Now, in a compromise that is extremely rare in publishing, the German subsidiary of Random House has agreed to insert two pages of the Jung family’s version of descriptions and facts into a translation being published this fall by one of its imprints, Knaus Verlag. The family originally approached Little, Brown & Company, the publisher of the original English-language version in 2003, to seek changes in new editions and translations. But so far only the German publisher has agreed to the family’s request.”