A Starbucks assistant manager wins the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. His Prokofiev Eighth Sonata did the trick. – Dallas Morning News
Author: Douglas McLennan
REFRESHING CHANGE
Big time piano competitions have gotten a bad name for turning out faceless wonders. “But this amateur competition, as opposed to the Cliburn, the quadrennial horse race for budding professionals 18 to 30 – kept tapping into an emotional immediacy and intensity too rare in today’s professional music-making.” – Dallas Morning News
SINGING FOR GOD
Think Latin’s the hot new music genre? Uh-uh, it’s Christian. “Last year, Christian music outsold Latin, which was supposed to be the hot new sound for 1999, by more than 25 million album sales. Its sales are twice those of jazz, classical and New Age music combined. The Christian music industry grew by 11.5 percent, outpacing the music industry as a whole. Christian music makes up 6.5 percent of the market and is the sixth largest-selling musical genre behind R&B, alternative, pop, hip-hop and country.” – Detroit Free Press
WHEN MICKEY SNUBBED WINNIE
Newly discovered documents show that during World War II, Winston Churchill secretly asked Walt Disney to make an anti-Nazi cartoon based on St. George and the dragon. “Noël Coward and officials from the Ministry of Information went to America to try to persuade Disney to help with Britain’s propaganda campaign. Their requests, however, were ignored by Disney who was determined to keep America out of the war and was anxious to protect the international market for his films.” – The Telegraph (UK)
DRIVING FOR THE ARTS
California’s arts license plates have become the most popular special plates in the state. Revenue from the plates goes to support arts organizations. – Orange County Register
LOSING FAITH
Jane Alexander began her term as head of the National Endowment for the Arts with optimism. Her new book shows that by the time she left the NEA, her “health, idealism and forbearance all suffered. She gripes about flying coach. She complains that the government won’t pay to move her back to New York. ‘The system is so corrupt that it may never be fixed,’ she concludes, sweepingly.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
PAINTER JACOB LAWRENCE —
— dies in Seattle. He was 82. “Lawrence rose to fame in 1941 after creating one of the most original and forceful series of narrative works in the history of American art – the ‘Migration of the Negro.'” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer
PAINTER JACOB LAWRENCE DIES IN SEATTLE
He was 82. “Lawrence rose to fame in 1941 after creating one of the most original and forceful series of narrative works in the history of American art – the ‘Migration of the Negro.'” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer
DANCE COMPANY FOLDS
The demise of the Szeged National Theater’s internationally acclaimed contemporary ballet ensemble has fueled concerns over the future of the arts in Hungary. – Budapest Sun
LOOKING FOR LOVE
Sizing up the search for a new artistic director for Boston Ballet. – Boston Herald