I knew that my contrarian suggestions about what to do with the controversial sculptures of Confederate leaders on Richmond’s Monument Avenue would provoke some pushback, but I hoped for the constructive critiques that I’ve come to expect from my knowledgeable, insightful readers. That’s exactly what I got. – Lee Rosenbaum
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why Per-Article Micropayments For Journalism Just Will Not Catch On
“Publishers can be accused of being slow to wake up to the internet, but they’re not that slow, nor that likely to leave money on the table. But there is, it turns out, a long list of reasons you can’t pay for journalism by the article.” James Ball explains the logic and the arithmetic. – Columbia Journalism Review
Composer Frederick C. Tillis, Who Excelled In Jazz And Classical Alike, Dead At 90
A precocious talent who began playing in Texas jazz clubs at age 12 and continued to perform for most of his life, he spent many years teaching theory and composition at UMass-Amherst and wrote more than 100 scores as well as 15 volumes of poetry and the influential textbook Jazz Theory and Improvisation. – The New York Times
With Nine Out Of 24 Board Members Remaining, National Book Critics Circle Tries To Pick Up The Pieces
Following an internal dispute gone public that has led to nearly two-thirds of the organization’s directors resigning (but the one whose incendiary comments were at the heart of the problem still there), a new board chair (clearly reluctant to take the position) and her remaining colleagues have decided to delay most of this year’s awards and have stated to NBCC membership that they will undertake “difficult internal work … with deep reflection upon past mistakes, and a commitment to serious, structural change in how we conduct business and continue to celebrate the rich diversity of global literature.” – Publishers Weekly
Chicago’s iO Theater, Mainstay Of City’s Comedy Scene, To Close For Good
The improv company, which was co-founded in 1981 by Charna Halpern and the late Del Close and numbers Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Adam McKay among its alumni, has been closed to the public since March because of the coronavirus. Halpern hasn’t set a final closing date but confirms that the theater won’t reopen and its building will be sold. – Vulture
Pay Cuts And Furloughs At Dallas Symphony
“Effective July 6, administrative salaries will be cut between 2.5% and 12.5%. Calling the moves ‘a very difficult decision,’ president and CEO Kim Noltemy will take a 25% pay cut. Sixteen staff positions will be furloughed.” DSO musicians will not be affected. – The Dallas Morning News
Carnegie Hall And Lincoln Center Cancel All Performances Through End Of 2020
“Coming on the heels of similar announcements from the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic, the decisions make clear that there will be few, if any, large-scale performances before 2021 in one of the world’s musical centers.” Carnegie, expecting multi-million-dollars deficits for both this past season and the next one, is also furloughing 50 of its 274 remaining employees. – The New York Times
Boston Public Radio Station WBUR Lays Off 29 Staffers
Less than a week after management negotiated the first contract with newly-unionized employees, WBUR leaders announced a reorganization, which they said was made necessary by the COVID-related recession, that includes the reduction of staff numbers by more than 10% and cancellation of the nationally syndicated program Only a Game. (Similar job losses were announced this week at WBEZ in Chicago and at Minnesota Public Radio.) – Boston.com
San Francisco Ballet To Go Ahead With 2021 Winter Season, And Maybe Even 2020 ‘Nutcracker’
The company announced plans for a season with the overall title “Leap of Faith,” acknowledging that everything depends on the state of the COVID epidemic and what San Francisco authorities will permit. As for this year’s Nutcracker, “We’ve done this production now for something like 15 years, so we will be ready to get back onstage if the city allows it.” – San Francisco Chronicle
New York City Ballet, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet Cancel Fall Seasons, Including ‘Nutcracker’
It’s a difficult decision to make: as Joffrey CEO Greg Cameron said, “The loss of The Nutcracker alone — more than half of the Joffrey’s annual earned revenue — compounds a financial crisis for the company that began this past spring.” Yet, as NYCB artistic director Jonathan Stafford put it, “It became apparent that there would be no way to pull this production together safely.” – The New York Times