“Opera Company of Philadelphia is closing a five-year void left by the late Jack Mulroney, who died in the fall of 2004, with the appointment of David B. Devan to fill Mulroney’s post as executive director of the company. Since 2004, the executive director title has been held by Robert B. Driver, who was artistic director before Mulroney’s death, and who will reassume that position now.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
On The Big Screen, A Chamber Ensemble’s Ballet Classics
“A series of New York Theatre Ballet performances will screen exclusively in select movie theaters nationwide beginning in August, under a deal that NCM Fathom, the alternative entertainment division of National CineMedia, has struck with MarQe Entertainment.”
New Britannica Online: Wikipedia With Editors?
“The new version of Britannica Online, set to debut this summer, will emulate the Wikipedia concept by letting subscribers make changes to any article, ranging from minor edits to near-total rewrites. But Britannica president Jorge Cauz scoffs at the idea that he’s merely imitating his giant online rival. … While Wikipedia is written and edited by amateurs who often work anonymously, Britannica Online articles will be overseen by professional editors.”
Homeless Man’s Harvard Square Bookstall Closes Up Shop
“Almost Banned in Harvard Square Booksellers, a sidewalk bookstall run by a homeless man … is closing today, and with it goes one more quirky piece of Harvard Square. Ken O’Brien, who has sold or given away tens of thousands of books since opening nearly three years ago, is giving away the last of his stash. O’Brien, the first and only homeless person to belong to the Harvard Square Business Association, said he is tired of fighting City Hall.”
Ethnomusicology Informed Jarre’s Film Scores
“[U]nlike so many of today’s thundering but essentially interchangeable big-orchestra-plus-electronics scores, the voice of a Maurice Jarre film was always uniquely his own. Jarre, who died Saturday at age 84, suggested exotic locales with instruments unique to the region being portrayed. He subtly conveyed changes in tone, depending on the story being told — and, yes, he often came up with a memorable melody that kept people humming as they left the theater. “
Survey: Across The Board, Fundraising Took A Hit In 2008
“Forty-six percent of nonprofit organizations raised more money last year compared with 2007, according to preliminary findings of an annual survey, released … today by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Reflecting the toll exacted by the economic downturn, the percentage of fund raisers whose institutions raised more money last year was a new low in the eight years the survey has been conducted.”
Are Monthly Gifts A Good Match For Smaller Nonprofits?
“Large national and international charities such as Greenpeace and Save the Children are often held up as examples of how to set up monthly credit- or debit-card giving programs. But can such programs also work for smaller groups?”
For Foote’s Orphans’ Home Cycle, $500K From Mellon
“The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is giving Hartford Stage a $500,000 grant to help stage the world premiere of ‘The Orphans’ Home Cycle,’ the late Horton Foote’s reconfiguring of his nine-play epic, described as an American ‘Odyssey.’ … The grant is one of the largest in Hartford Stage’s history and the largest for a specific production.”
Frances Blaisdell, Pioneer ‘Girl Flutist,’ Dies At 97
“Frances Blaisdell, a flutist who played her way into what was then the male world of orchestral music, becoming one of the early women to play a woodwind instrument with the New York Philharmonic, died on March 11 in Portola Valley, Calif.” Chamber Music magazine wrote in 1992: “Every woman flute player in every major American orchestra, every little girl who p[l]ays the flute in a school band, has Frances Blaisdell to thank. She was first.”
Too Slow For A Wikipedia World, Encarta Bites The Dust
“Microsoft delivered the coup de grâce Monday to its dying Encarta encyclopedia, acknowledging what everyone else realized long ago: it just couldn’t compete with Wikipedia, a free, collaborative project that has become the leading encyclopedia on the Web.”