The restructuring largely slashed the Grammy trophies for ethnic and minority genres, though some pop, rock, country and R&B categories were consolidated as well (for instance leaving male and female artists to complete in a single category).
Month: February 2012
Director Found At Last For Sydney’s Flagship Museum
Just over a week after The Australian fussed publicly about how long it was taking the Art Gallery of New South Wales to hire a director, the museum has announced its choice for the job: Michael Brand, an Australian who was formerly director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Robert E. Hecht, Jr., Controversial Dealer In Antiquities, Dead At 92
“His death comes less than three weeks after the ambiguous end of his criminal trial in Rome on charges of trafficking in looted antiquities. Since the 1990s, Hecht had been at the center of an Italian investigation that traced objects looted from tombs in Italy through a network of smugglers, dealers and private collectors to museums across the United States, Europe and beyond.”
Pittsburgh Symphony Holds YouTube Competition To Find Concerto Soloist
“Videos submitted by instrumental soloists will be up for anyone to watch. The top four vote-getters will get a chance to audition for musical director and conductor Manfred Honeck. The winner – if Honeck picks one at all – gets $10,000 and a paid trip to perform with the orchestra at Heinz Hall this fall.”
Louisville Orchestra Offers Musicians Arbitration in Contract Dispute
“The Louisville Orchestra has issued a formal offer to its musicians to arbitrate for a resolution to the labor impasse in negotiations for a new contract.”
Startlingly High Proportion Of British Children Get Little Or No Exposure To Arts
“Four in 10 children have never seen the inside of an art gallery, while 17 per cent haven’t visited a museum with their parents. The research … also revealed that a quarter of children haven’t been to the theatre, while six in 10 have never heard or been to a classical music concert. … And half of parents admit they make little effort to educate their children on culture or history, relying on schools to do so.”
Australia’s Top Two State Ballet Companies Look To Leap Forward
With relatively stable finances, recent artistic successes and artistic directorships to fill, West Australian Ballet and Queensland Ballet have plans to raise their game by hiring more dancers, doing more touring in their regions and (if possible) overseas, and performing innovative choreography that keeps them from looking like mini-mes of the Australian Ballet.
Ethan Stiefel On The ‘Ruggedness’ Of Royal New Zealand Ballet
“Being on the road a lot, going across the country every two years to so many different places makes us unique in that there is a real kind of rugged quality – and I mean that in the best possible sense. … [My] dancers here deliver first-class performances in sometimes less-than-ideal conditions, and that’s something that makes me proud.”
Alan Gilbert: ‘I Feel No Duty To Conduct New Music’
“My aim is to bring a personal belief to everything I do, and avoid routine and duty as much as I can. … What I want to avoid is the dutiful rendition of a new piece placed first in the programme so it can be got out of the way quickly. That attitude was all part of a certain corporate feel, which [the New York Philharmonic] has suffered from in the past, and which I’m keen to get away from.”
Anna Deavere Smith Becomes Resident Artist At A Cathedral
Last Sunday, the actress-playwright-documentarian gave her first sermon as artist-in-residence at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco; she presents a new play on the theme of grace next weekend. “Both Ms. Smith and the Very Rev. Jane Shaw, who became the cathedral’s dean last year, share a vision of bringing together art and religion, historically-linked pursuits that are sometimes at odds in modern America.”