“After nearly two years of debate over how to spend a $120 million gift from pharmaceutical heiress Ruth Lilly, Americans for the Arts has decided to spend a small slice of it to start a citizens’ movement for the arts. The organization’s officials are expected to announce today in Washington that they are creating the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, a membership group that will adopt the fundraising and lobbying tactics of the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters to build support for arts and arts education.” The program is expected to cost $1 million.
Tag: 10.05.04
Iranian Hardliners Cancel Outreach Concerts
“A series of concerts organized by foreign embassies in Iran have been cancelled at the last minute, apparently due to increased curbs on cultural events by the Islamic republic’s hardliners, diplomats said yesterday. Two jazz concerts organized by Italy’s embassy were cancelled last week just hours before the Italian performers — who had flown here for the event — were due to take to the stage… In addition, diplomats said a series of Swiss embassy-sponsored classical music soirees due to take place this week were ordered to be cancelled without any explanation.”
The Matriarch of 20th Century Music
Composing may still be a predominantly male profession, but the individual who had arguably the greatest impact on the American musical landscape of the 20th century was a woman, Nadia Boulanger, with whom more than 130 American composers studied their craft. “Unlike Schoenberg, she did not try to create followers who hewed to a set style or compositional approach. That is clear from the diversity of her students, ranging from famed atonalist Elliott Carter to Joe Raposo, who wrote music for Sesame Street.“
Are Reggae Protests Hiding Racist Undertones?
Several prominent reggae artists have recently faced widespread protest and condemnation for their antigay lyrics, and some have even found themselves disinvited from events and awards shows. But many of the same groups that have been so furious in their condemnation of the exclusively black reggae singers seem to take a wholly different tone when dealing with the viciously homophobic (but blond/blue-eyed) rapper Eminem. Could there be a twinge of racism behind all the protest?
Ignore the Masses, Find A Niche
The days of mass marketing in the entertainment world seem to be swiftly drawing to a close. As new technologies give consumers an increasingly diverse array of options, niche marketing is the wave of the future, and marketing to the bland middle as a way of reaching everyone is no longer the most reliable route to profitability. “Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service, from DVDs at Netflix to music videos on Yahoo! Launch to songs in the iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody.”
BAM’s Big Boost
The Brooklyn Academy of Music has long struggled to maintain fiscal solvency in the face of slack attendance and an underfunded endowment, but in recent years, BAM has begun a turnaround that will culminate this fall with the completion of an $8.6 million restoration. In addition, the academy has announced two major gifts totalling $30 million, which will double the size of its endowment. Still, the organization’s long-term success seems to be inextricably tied to the fortunes of Brooklyn as a whole.
Kirkus Goes Kommercial
“Kirkus Reviews has long prided itself on being a sort of Consumer Reports for the book publishing industry, proclaiming its independence by steadfastly refusing to accept advertising and producing early, plain-spoken reviews that can amplify or smother a new book’s early buzz. Now, however, Kirkus is embracing a new spirit of commercialism,” offering to review any book for $350 in its new online publicatiion, and considering the possibility of selling ads in its main print edition.
Remote Controlled Orchestra
As Broadway pits have shrunk to make room for theater seating, musicians (especially those who play bulky instruments) have increasingly found themselves consigned to remote locations, following a conductor on a monitor and playing into a microphone. Not that they’re complaining – not being in the pit means wearing whatever you want to work and getting to read or talk to friends between cues. Besides, as one Broadway music director points out, “Once you’re hearing an orchestra solely through a sound system instead of hearing them acoustically, then it doesn’t really matter where they are.”
Positive Presence
As the AIDS epidemic closes in on a quarter-century of global devastation, many of the world’s biggest television networks are embarking on a concerted effort to increase awareness about the disease. For some networks, this means more prominence for news coverage about the epidemic; for others, HIV-positive characters will soon begin finding their way into sitcoms and other staple programming.
It’s Really Not That Bad
So how bad is Bieito’s Don Giovanni? Not bad at all, says one critic, and while all the simulated sex on stage does frequently make the singers look quite uncomfortable and damned silly besides, there’s nothing here to offend anyone with prior knowledge of how lascivious opera plots can be. Oh, and in case anyone cares, the cast is apparently singing Mozart’s music quite well…