“I must make it clear, that in the case Carnegie Hall chooses to cancel the Minnesota Orchestra’s concerts this November, i.e. if they lose confidence in our ability to perform … then I will be forced to resign,” the Minnesota Orchestra music director wrote in a letter to the board chairman and the CEO.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Deanna Durbin, 91, Depression-Era Movie Star
“The singing starlet with the bubbly personality and the jewel-tone voice whose enormously popular movies were widely credited with saving Universal Pictures from bankruptcy during the Depression,” Durbin peaked in popularity “by her late teens and by her mid-20s [she] had left Hollywood forever, made wealthy by her relatively brief career.”
How The Merce Cunningham Dance Company Phased Itself Out Of Existence
An extensive new report, including much information never before made public, details how the decision to close the company and create a Merce Cunningham Trust to preserve the choreographer’s works was made – and how it was implemented.
UK City Of Culture May Cancel Events For Lack Of Interest And Funding
Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second city and the host of Great Britain’s first year-long City of Culture programme, has seen both ticket sales and sponsorship running well below expectations. The province’s culture ministry warns that some events may have to be cut as a result, though the programme’s management remains optimistic.
Surreptitious Theater In The NY Public Library Reading Room
“For three pairs of readers scattered among the laptop-laden tables, wearing special headphones hooked up to iPod Nanos and shuffling through a pile of suspiciously literary books, the act of reading was transformed into a strange – and sometimes very loud – drama of turning pages, pointing fingers and eerily drifting thoughts.”
British Dancers Launch Campaign To Improve Working Conditions
“Dancers United UK, a campaigning body that has been founded by working artists in the industry, wants to put a stop to unpaid work, which is often advertised as ‘good exposure’, and to establish guidelines for minimum rates of pay. The founding members also want to tackle issues such as guaranteed lunch breaks, the availability of drinking water on sets and payment for overtime.”
How The Old Vic Is Incubating New Theatre
Old Vic New Voices director Steve Winter writes about the simple but crucial ways – including age-blind grants and a focus on process rather than outcome – his programme helps theatre artists and projects to develop.
New $30M Art Museum For UCal-Davis
“The new Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis will be architecturally notable for a 50,000-square-foot steel canopy that seemingly floats atop and beyond a series of interconnected interior and exterior spaces. … The design firm SO-IL, based in New York, provided the winning look.”
Fame Is Not Fleeting, As It Turns Out
“Newly published research concludes that, contrary to Warhol’s prediction, genuine celebrity status does not disappear as quickly as it appeared. Once you become famous, you tend to stay famous.”
ILL-Abilities: Disabled B-Boys Got The Right Moves
“They have overcome deafness, joint disorders, amputation and cancer to compete against the best b-boy dancers on the planet.”