Beijing-born writer Yiyun Li has “had stories published in prestige magazines such as the New Yorker and the Paris Review. She’s won the Pushcart Prize and the Plimpton Prize for New Writers. Random House has signed her to a $200,000, two-book contract. Her first book, a story collection called ‘A Thousand Years of Good Prayers,’ was published this fall to wide praise. Now she has another problem: How do you explain to the federal immigration bureaucracy what the word ‘extraordinary’ means?”
Tag: 12.21.05
Lebrecht’s Holiday List Of Orchestra Woes
“Put starkly: since the millennium, the orchestral economy has been under siege on five fronts. Public funding has been frozen or yoked to energy-sapping political impositions – social inclusion, multiculturalism, primary school education. Faith in corporate and private support turned fragile in the aftermath of the Enron and Alberto Vilar scandals when donors failed to deliver cast-iron pledges. Boxoffice has been volatile since 9/11. Any terror or bird flu threat and music lovers stay at home. The over-60s, mainstays of the subscription list, avoid going into poorly lit parts of town on dark winter nights. The young are deterred by formality and predictability.”
When A Violinist Has To Surrender An Instrument
“As things stand now the cellist Clyde Shaw and his wife, the violist Doris Lederer, members of the Audubon String Quartet, will have to surrender their instruments to a court-appointed trustee in Roanoke, Va., at 4 p.m. tomorrow.” It’s not just that the instruments are valuable, there’s a special bond between the musicians and their instruments…
Does Dance Die In College?
So you want to be a dancer. Should you go to college? Debatable. “College-level dance programs are proliferating. Dance magazine’s College Guide lists more than 500 such programs, up from 131 in 1966. But stable, paying jobs in the field are hard to find. And the utility of a college degree in dancing is a matter of endless debate.”
Swed: A Theory About Performance In Performances
Music critic Mark Swed knows all the caveats about which performances to avoid: “Opening night is a glorified dress rehearsal, so avoid it. Everything comes together about the middle of the run. By the end, the performers are starting to get a bit bored, and it’s best, once more, to stay away. Oh, and matinees are never as inspired as evening events.” But he’s got a new theory: “A performance that begins with proper commitment will likely just keep getting better. One that starts out cynically or inherently weak will tend, like a small crack in a windshield, to get only worse.”
Prominent LA Violinist Burned In House Fire
Violinist David Ewart, 48, was listed in critical but stable condition with second- and third-degree burns to his face, hands, chest and back. The fire “also destroyed one of Ewart’s prized possessions, a violin dating from the 1770s. The maker of the instrument was not immediately known. Ewart’s father, Hugh Ewart, concertmaster emeritus of the Portland Symphony, suffered facial burns and a broken nose.”
Thinking Pain-Free
“Researchers asked people in pain to try to control a pain-regulating region of the brain by watching activity in that area from inside a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine. Initial results showed subjects could reduce their pain, some quite dramatically. It’s the first evidence that humans can take control of a specific region of the brain, and thereby decrease pain.”
Vintage Disney Animation Discovered
“A collection of vintage Disney animation cells, sketches and background pictures has been uncovered in a warehouse at a Japanese university. About 250 pieces including works from Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, Fantasia and Cinderella were discovered at the building at Chiba University near Tokyo.”
Smith Resigns From ENO
Martin Smith has resigned as chairman of the English National Opera. A campaign was mounted against him recently after a series of black eyes for the company. “It is clear my ability to continue helping ENO has been damaged by a campaign against me.”
Cleveland Orch Gets $3 Million Boost
The Cleveland Orchestra has received a $3 million grant from a local foundation to help the ensemble get back on its financial feet after running $10.3 million in deficits over the last two seasons. “At its annual meeting on November 15, the board of the Musical Arts Association, the orchestra’s parent organization, adopted a plan for financial recovery that includes plans to widen its base of support beyond Cleveland and to cut costs.” The Kulas Foundation offered the grant as a show of support for the recovery plan.