Alexei Sultanov was 7 when he began performing as a soloist with professional orchestras in his native Uzbekistan. He was 19 when he became the youngest pianist ever to win the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition. And he was barely 30 when five simultaneous strokes wracked his brain and left him a shell of the energetic young musician he had always been. “Though doctors eventually stanched the hemorrhage, the damage was done. The strokes destroyed portions of his brain that are central to normal life and to the extraordinarily complex task of making music.”
Tag: 12.18.05
What Have We Learned?
It’s been an eventful year for the arts in Southern California, from the turmoil at the Getty to LACMA’s difficult search for a new leader to fiscal uncertainty at L.A. Opera and the Center Theater Group. In fact, L.A. culture in 2005 could serve as a fairly handy set of life rules for arts administrators.
Wave Goodbye To Mass Culture
The days of the mass media culture are over, says Reed Johnson. “There will be no survivors, except on select reruns of Lost. In lieu of flowers, friends may send checks to the ‘Bring Back Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw Emergency Fund.’ There — that wasn’t so painful, was it? After all, it’s been common knowledge, or at least conventional wisdom, that traditional mainstream mass culture has been clinging to life for decades, like one of Anne Rice’s mottled vampires. But 2005 is when a chronic condition may have turned terminal.”
Are NY’s Top Directors Overcommitted?
Directors are notorious control freaks, and many are known to be workaholics as well. But such descriptors don’t begin to cover the lives of New York’s top theatre directors, who frequently juggle four or more productions at once. They say they wouldn’t have it any other way, but “there is a question as to whether directors may also be stretched thin. [Critics have] complained about the ‘homogeneity’ at three of the city’s top nonprofit theatrical organizations who ‘tend to hire from the same shallow pool of established directors’.”
Whatever Happened To Ishtar?
There is certainly no shortage of bad movies these days, but to A.O. Scott, there don’t seem to be many current films that approach the colossal level of sheer badness attained by the Hollywood of yesteryear. Why should we care? Well, the elements that go into a great flop are frequently the same pieces that can come together to form a masterpiece: “extravagant ambition, irrational risk, pure chutzpah, a synergistic blend of vanity, vision and self-delusion. The tiniest miscalculation on the part of the artist – or of the audience – can mean the difference between adulation and derision. So in the realm of creative achievement, the worst is not just the opposite of the best, but also its neighbor.”
Non-Profits Rack Up Revenue in Minny
The arts economy may still be uncertain nationally, but in Minnesota, non-profit groups including major arts organizations are thriving, according to year-end numbers. “A slew of completed, or nearly completed, building projects from organizations in nearly every category underscores the sector’s health and vitality… Overall revenue rose 11.8 percent to $29.4 billion in 2004 from $26.3 billion in 2003.”
Dallas PAC Fundraising Ahead of Schedule
Major bucks are flowing in Dallas, where the foundation set up to raise $275 million over nine years for the construction of a new performing arts center has passed the $200 million mark well ahead of schedule. The foundation also announced that less than 5% of the funds raised have been used to support the fundraising operation, an unusually small percentage. The foundation’s next goal is to raise $30 million in the next year by offering naming opportunities within the center.
Is New York Losing Its Stranglehold On American Culture?
The unthinkable is occurring. New York City, the center of the cultural universe (and if you don’t believe it, just ask a New Yorker), is losing its ability to attract and retain what has come to be called ‘the creative class.’ “Skyrocketing prices on housing and professional space have driven many artists out of the very neighborhoods they helped to pioneer, and other cities, including Philadelphia and Minneapolis, have been very aggressive at luring artists their way with marketing campaigns and housing incentives.”
KC Arts: Where’s The Buzz?
Kansas City has a thriving performing arts scene, but residents could be excused for failing to notice that fact. “The little-discussed truth is that in Kansas City, the performing arts often remain a slumbering giant. Their head counts number in the hundreds of thousands annually, and their concentration of world-class talent, both imported and residing locally, is way out of scale to our city’s population… But somehow the message is not yet getting across, for reasons not easily explained. A buzz doesn’t happen overnight. But every group large and small is responsible for its part. And the time is now to start.”
Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Satellite?
For all the hoopla and hype surrounding satellite radio and the criticism concerning corporate consolidation of terrestrial radio, local stations across the U.S. are continuing to plug along just like they always have. “Traditional commercial-radio executives aren’t running scared just yet. And local talk show hosts aren’t particularly interested.” The fact is that, while satellite radio may yet capture the imagination (and dollars) of the broader public, it hasn’t yet. And even if it eventually becomes a widely used service, it’s simply unlikely that terrestrial radio would be seriously threatened.