“One of the most powerful women in the modern art world, d’Harnoncourt had spent more than half of her lifetime at the Philadelphia Museum. She joined the PMA staff in 1972, became director in 1982, and succeeded Robert Montgomery Scott in 1996 as the museum’s chief executive. Over the years, she has overseen any number of internationally recognized exhibitions.”
Month: June 2008
Bo Diddley, 79
Diddley died of heart failure Monday. He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa.
Is Kindle The Next Big Thing? (Or A Passing Fad)
“One publisher estimated that Amazon had sold roughly 10,000 Kindles, while another estimated that as many as 50,000 electronic-book readers of all types are in general circulation. But both publishers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that those figures were little more than educated guesses.”
Pittsburgh Festival Puts Its Galleries In Shipping Containers
In their place will be 10 huge shipping containers — a hot unit that’s turning up all over in applications as varied as exhibition spaces to pre-fab homes and apartment buildings.
The Kimmel Center Debacle – A Fixup (But Where’s The Outrage?)
“Six and a half years after opening night, more than $300 million later, Philadelphia didn’t get what it was promised. At least the Kimmel’s current leaders are now acknowledging failure, even if they carefully avoid the word. That’s progress. For years after opening night, top Kimmel and orchestra officials sneered at critics who said Verizon’s sound varied in quality from seat to seat, or that the sound in general didn’t have enough presence or impact.”
The Twyla Tharp Phenomenon
In the three decades since Deuce Coupe Twyla Tharp has “created and dissolved several incarnations of her own company, made pieces for ballet companies and ice skaters, worked in theater, film and television, written books and choreographed and directed on Broadway. Her impulses seem to be to diversify and conquer — and often she does.”
Are Cell Phones Ruining The Concert Experience?
At many pop concerts, the audience is so busy filming and recording the experience with their cell phones, they forget to pay attention to the music. “As a performer, it’s frustrating to look out and see a sea of cell phones instead of faces. There’s definitely a problem where people are so busy documenting the moment that they forget to just live in the moment.”
The Hidden Costs Of Free Art
London’s museums are famously free to the public, and the scrapping of admission fees has resulted in waves of new visitors. “The new reality is that art and heritage have taken on a central place in a leisure economy previously dominated by sport and Thorpe Park. In that role, for good or ill, art finds itself playing by different rules.”
Music Director Salaries Still Rising
The economy may be in the dumps, with smaller orchestras struggling to survive, but the salaries paid to music directors of America’s top orchestras continue to spiral upwards. Incoming Chicago Symphony director Riccardo Muti may be getting more than $2m per season, and even mid-level orchestras are paying their MDs in the high six figures.
The Power Of The Prize
“The Tony is probably the country’s best-known and most eagerly sought theater prize, and the one with the highest stakes: results can make or break a Broadway show. But it is not alone. Everywhere actors and audiences gather, it seems, awards are handed out. And the fallout, much like that after the Tonys, is not always pretty.”