Director Ilinca Calugareanu talks about her new film, Chuck Norris vs. Communism which looks at how Hollywood action movies offered Romanians living behind the Iron Curtain a glimpse into Western culture, and helped spark a revolution.” (audio)
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Much Conductors Get Paid In France
Yes, the “Are conductors overpaid?” conversations happen there as well – and orchestras are secretive. Here are some figures for both music director salaries and per-concert fees. (text and audio in Franch; Google-Translated version of French text here.)
The Music Teacher The Taliban Tried To Kill – And Who Won’t Give Up
Ahmad Naser Sarmast, director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, was the target of a 2014 suicide bombing; he’s still partially deaf, and he has shrapnel in his brain. In response, he’s made the school more secure, kept all of his teaching staff, and began giving free concerts to refugees from camps.
The 20 Most Powerless People In The Art World In 2015
The list ranges from perpetually oppressed art handlers and fact-checkers to poor, dissed Renoir and King Tut to, at the head of the list, the brave and beleaguered archaeologists caught in ISIS’s crossfire.
Art Basel Miami Stabber Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder
Siyuan Zhao, a 24-year-old graduate student and a Chinese national who lives in New York, allegedly “had been following the victim, 33-year-old Shin Seo Young, and repeatedly bumped into her. When Young finally confronted her, Zhao stabbed her suddenly and repeatedly in the neck and shoulder with an X-ACTO knife.” Onlookers at first assumed it was performance art.
Marin Alsop Explains Her Comment That It Took Violence To Spark Social Change In Baltimore
In a BBC interview last month, she said, “It’s heartbreaking that we haven’t dealt with these issues, that it requires violence, which I think it does require, to be honest, to change this equation. Inequality and injustice is unacceptable. Sadly, this has been the most violent year in Baltimore.” This caused a bit of a kerfuffle, and she expands on it here – and the Baltimore Symphony CEO backs her up.
Kate Atkinson Wins Costa Novel Prize For Second Time In Three Years
“Just two years after winning the Costa novel award for Life After Life, … the novelist has landed the prize again for her follow-up, A God in Ruins. … Along with Atkinson, four other writers were named as winners in different categories” – biography, poetry, children’s lit, and first novel – “each of whom will receive £5,000.” The Costa Book of the Year will be announced on January 26.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.04.16
Is Earning Making Money The New Audience-Building Strategy?
Maybe it’s obvious, but in the for-profit world, making money is the point; profit defines success. In the non-profit world, the relationship between profit and success is more complicated. “Profit” (or balancing the books) is… … read more
AJBlog: diacritical Published 2016-01-04
New Year’s “Resolutions,” Cosby Edition: What Artworld Uncertainties Should Be Resolved in 2016?
Last year left the artworld on edge, with several dramatic, unresolved cliffhangers. Here’s hoping that some of the thorny issues that vexed us in 2015 achieve satisfying resolution in the year ahead. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-01-04
Monday Recommendation: Susie Arioli
Susie Arioli, Spring (Spectra Musique). A longtime favorite in Canada, Susie Arioli’s fame could spread abroad on the strength of her singing in this collection. Indeed, strength is a fair description of her work, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-01-04
Joey Alexander: Genius?
Mozart is the archetype of the child musical genius. Over the centuries, many successors have been proclaimed. In the long run, few have qualified. The current child-genius nominee is Joey Alexander, a pianist from Bali. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-01-04
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Singer Natalie Cole Dead At 65
“Cole is perhaps best known for her 1991 multiple Grammy-winning album Unforgettable: With Love, which became the biggest hit of her career … [She] wowed audiences with a seamless duet with her late father’s voice on the title tune, one of the elder Cole’s signature numbers. Other hits included ‘This Will Be,’ ‘Our Love’ and a cover of ‘Pink Cadillac.'”
Gilbert Kaplan, 74, Financial Publisher Turned Mahler Scholar
He made his name and fortune as the founder of the magazine Institutional Investor (“Vanity Fair for bankers”), and devoted much of his life to his obsession with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. He purchased the autograph score and went on to correct numerous errors in the then-published edition; he conducted the work (and only that work) more than 100 times and recorded it with no less than the Vienna Philharmonic.