Leonard Lauder runs the Whitney Museum. No, that’s not strong enough: Leonard Lauder is the Whitney Museum. “As chairman of the Whitney for the last 14 years, he has run the museum like a family business, deploying his considerable resources and connections on its behalf, regularly scribbling suggestions to staffers on his blue personal stationery. It is a hands-on approach that makes it hard to tell where he ends and the museum begins.” But that warm-and-fuzzy one-man management is making things difficult for the Whitney at a time when other New York museums are grabbing the spotlight and the dollars that come with it. Questions abound, not the least of which is whether the Whitney can survive Lauder’s eventual departure.
Tag: 12.05.04
History As A Selling Point
The New York Philharmonic is obsessed with its own history, to the extent that it keeps a running count of all the concerts it has ever performed in its program book. The continual focus on the ensemble’s venerable status has a purpose, though: in a city as culturally rich as the Big Apple, it takes a lot to impress the populace, and the Phil counts on its status as an American original to bolster its modern reputation as one of the country’s top orchestras.
The Lighter Side of Contract Negotiations
Lots of arts organizations negotiated new contracts with their musicians, dancers, and stagehands this year, and while the resulting documents usually make for fairly dull reading, there are a few notable contractual oddities scattered across the vast union landscape. The San Francisco Symphony notes that “the music of Ludwig van Beethoven need not be performed at Beethoven festivals.” Cleveland Orchestra musicians taller than 6’4″ are entitled to exit-row or bulkhead seating on tour flights. And dancers at the Houston Ballet Theater get a $47 bonus if they are required to simulate diving into a lake.
Finally, Some Good News From Florida
It’s been a rough few years for the arts in South Florida, but recent trends seem to be signaling that better times are ahead. The state legislature has begun “rebuilding arts appropriations stripped during last year’s cultural cleansing. Private and corporate philanthropy increased significantly this year… [and] the Miami-Dade County populace voted on Nov. 2 to spend nearly $553 million for arts and culture.”
The Vigilante Violist
When Min Jong Shon’s $46,000 viola was stolen from her practice room at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she didn’t sit back and wait for the police to recover it. Instead, she banded together with some friends, and used a network of phones and e-mail communications to try to prevent the thief from fencing the instrument. Shon tracked the thief’s movements to various instrument dealers, and eventually recovered the instrument and fingered the culprit on her own. Police were stunned and thrilled, and expect to have the suspect in custody shortly.
Cheating The Arts In KC?
Plans for Kansas City’s huge new performing arts complex stalled recently after the city manager proposed moving the center’s parking garage one block east. The center’s backers claim that the new location, which is down a steep hill from the entrance, will be a major inconvenience for patrons, and several outside experts are now claiming that the move wouldn’t actually save the city any money, either. “Some arts leaders are feeling like the poor cousins of downtown development: Making the garage more convenient to sports and entertainment and less convenient to the arts, they say, points to the city’s relative lack of interest in the role of the arts in downtown’s resurrection.”
Vänskä Picks Up Conducting Award
Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä has been named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, which annually honors those in the classical music industry. Other winners this year include Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, composer Arvo Pärt, contemporary percussion ensemble Bang On A Can, Juilliard president Joseph Polisi, and violinist Christian Tetzlaff.