“New York Philharmonic officials were returning yesterday from an exploratory trip to North Korea with glowing reports of concert possibilities in the capital, Pyongyang, but they faced the potentially difficult task of selling the idea to the players… Orchestra management calls the visit purely musical and apolitical, but Korea experts say a concert in Pyongyang by a major American orchestra would be a publicity coup for North Korea.”
Tag: 10.13.07
Looking For An Excuse To Stop Practicing?
Two British violinists were threatened with the confiscation of their instruments by a town council responding to a neighbor’s complaint about their practicing. “Controversy over the case caused a furious reaction in the town hall,” and despite attempts by the council to backtrack, the couple intends to move out of their flat.
Levelling The Playing Field
A new program offering instruments and music lessons to inner-city kids who can’t afford either launches this month in Ottawa. Teachers volunteering their services for the program include graduate students, professional teachers, and even members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The program’s founder conceived the idea after hearing about Venezuela’s wildly successful youth music initiative, El Sistema.
Border Battle Breaks Out Over German Antiquities
An impressive collection of antiquities and art “in the vaults of the Jagiellonian Library, including original music manuscripts from Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, have become the subject of a bitter diplomatic debate between Poland and Germany. The Germans claim these items — hidden here during World War II — are legally and morally part of their national patrimony and should be returned. Poland insists Germany forfeited any legal and moral claim to the collection long ago.”
Stagehands Schedule Strike Vote
“With contract negotiations between producers and stagehands at a standstill, the union representing almost all of the stagehands on Broadway yesterday scheduled a strike vote for Oct. 21… Local One has never called a strike on Broadway, and a strike vote does not necessarily lead to a strike. The union decided to call a vote because producers have been contemplating a plan to impose the terms of a new contract on the stagehands.”
Art That Refuses To Live In Fear
Picasso’s Guernica is on display in Spain, where the painting’s anti-war message stands in stark contrast to the terrorist attacks endured regularly by Spaniards. Guernicaitself has been the target of violence over the years, to the extent that it used to be displayed only under heavy glass. These days, it hangs unprotected, and Michael Kimmelman says that public trust is what makes art, and the museums that house it, so uniquely human.