“Musicians for the San Francisco Symphony went on strike today after eight months of fruitless talks with management centered on wage and benefit issues. The immediate impact: The symphony announced a concert scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday has been canceled. Also in jeopardy: a tour to the East Coast.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Another Plan For L.A. MoCA: Partnership With National Gallery
“The troubled Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art is in talks for a possible partnership with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, a development that could cloud MOCA’s acquisition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.”
Australia’s National Cultural Policy Is Finally Here – And It’s Good News For The Arts
“The federal government’s National Cultural Policy, released today, is a big win for the arts generally – it’s got new money and plenty of policy reform. But there are losers.”
Extra Funding For Developing Artists In Australia
“Arts Minister Simon Crean will announce funds of $20.8 million (a 30 per cent increase) to six elite training organisations today, including the national youth orchestra and circus school. Every federal MP will get $23,500 to help support ‘creative young stars’ in their electorates. The federal government will also boost six arts companies in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia where those states have agreed to extra funding for touring and education programs.”
NPR’s Project To Convince Young Adults It’s Cool
The US public radio network “chose a bar hovering above Sixth Street [at SXSW in Austin] to kick off Generation Listen, a campaign to make public radio cool in the minds and ears of young people.”
Could A Passport For Instruments Make Musicians’ Lives Easier?
“U.S. delegates have proposed passports for instruments made with exotic woods, old ivory or tortoise shell parts because, as it stands now, instruments can be seized if musicians don’t have import and export permits for each country they visit.”
‘I’m Now The Official Cult Gal’ – Lisa Pulitzer, Ghostwriter Of Choice For Escapees
“[She] has earned her role because she can turn around a book in three months and because she uses her reporting skills to substantiate her subjects’ stories for publishers. Finally, she has a motherly presence that is comforting to women who are about to expose raw truths of a sordid past, allowing her to establish a level of trust with them quickly.”
Grateful Playwrights Give Farewell Salute To Royal Court’s Dominic Cooke
“There are too many playwrights to squeeze comfortably into a single photograph but we have invited 11 – a dramaturg’s dozen – to come and say goodbye. And it turns out that every one of them, with the exception of Bruce Norris (who is from Chicago), attended the Royal Court’s young writers programme or has had work showcased in the young writers festival.”
Philanthropist Proposes Plan To Take Over, Revamp Corcoran Gallery
“In broad strokes, [Wayne] Reynolds … would expand the Corcoran College of Art and Design, adding a stronger focus on technology and new media, along with the traditional arts disciplines. He would de-emphasize the gallery, arguing that it can’t compete with the free, federally funded galleries in town. Most controversially, he proposes selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art that rarely, if ever, gets displayed” and use the proceeds to establish an endowment.
300 Bolshoi Ballet Members Defend Accused Dancer In Acid Attack
“Three hundred performers said in a letter to Putin they believed Bolshoi star Pavel Dmitrichenko had only confessed to plotting the Jan. 17 attack that almost blinded Sergei Filin because of police pressure.”