“Louisville Orchestra has reached a three-year contract agreement with its musicians that freezes their wages for the next two years. … The agreement comes after a contract dispute that stretched for more than three years and silenced the orchestra for the 2011-12 season.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Czech Court Acquits US Rock Singer Of Fan’s Death
“A panel of Czech judges ruled Tuesday that concert promoters – and not Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe – were largely to blame for the tragic death nearly three years ago of a teenage fan of the metal band, saying the singer’s actions did not constitute a crime.”
Richard III And The Little Princes: New Evidence?
Amy Licence: “The true story of the unfortunate boys’ murder(s) when they were aged twelve and nine will probably never be known. However, while undertaking research for my biography of Richard III’s wife, I discovered information that could imply their uncle’s guilt.”
‘Complete And Whimsical, Sad And Crazy’: Remembering Fyodor Sologub At 150
“Sologub’s writing wonderfully combines reality and mysticism, nobility and baseness, everyday life and the miraculous. … Silver Age poet Nikolay Gumilev (and first husband to Anna Akhmatova) used to say that while Russians didn’t memorize Sologub’s poetry, in a moment of sadness it came to mind all by itself.”
Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater Shrinks Season By 40%
“Victory Gardens Theater has announced a truncated schedule for 2013-’14, dropping from its usual five productions to just three. The announcement didn’t include an explanation for the shrinkage, but it’s not hard to guess what the challenges are.”
The Art Of The Steal: Met Museum Lands A David For $840
“Amid the multi-million-dollar record prices and packed salerooms of New York’s Old Master week, the Metropolitan Museum of Art quietly made the steal of the season in the Old Master drawings auction at Swann Galleries on 29 January.”
Meet BalletMet Columbus’s New Artistic Director, Edwaard Liang
“I see myself as kind of a psychiatrist to dancers. … That being said, I think I am a bit of a taskmaster. I know what I want, and I don’t settle for less. I am driven to excellence. I have learned to adapt my personality to the dancers. My volume may go up a bit, but I never yell.”
When Hollywood Was A Weimar Republic
“More than 2,000 film professionals – talented directors, actors, cinematographers, production designers and composers – fled the country when the Nazis took power. Germany’s loss was Hollywood’s gain.”
Proposed Russian Law Could Bankrupt Small Concert Promoters
“A bill introduced earlier this month to the Russian State Duma to oblige concert organizers to obtain a special license and a 150-million-ruble ($4.9 million) bank guarantee has caused a commotion in the concert market.” Says one promoter, “It will impoverish the capital’s cultural life and completely destroy it in the regions. There will be no small clubs or young musicians.”
Clint Eastwood Comes Out In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage
The breakout star of the 2012 Republican National Convention “was one of more than 80 Republicans who signed the [pro-marriage equality] ‘friend of the court’ brief” to the US Supreme Court in the case over California’s Proposition 8.