“The 62-year-old conductor has renewed his contract with the Los Angeles Opera for five more years, and will remain music director at least through the end of the 2017-18 season.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Eric Ericson, 94, Giant Of Choral Conducting
As director of the Swedish Radio Choir and Stockholm Chamber Choir (which was later named after him), as the author of a major textbook on choral conducting, and through countless workshops and guest-conducting dates, Ericson became known worldwide (and revered among choir geeks) as the standard-bearer for the Nordic style of choral singing.
Missing Banksy Mural Turns Up For Sale In Miami
“North Londoners are furious over a missing Banksy mural that was torn off a building in the Wood Green neighborhood of the city and has since resurfaced online at Fine Art Auctions Miami.”
Shia LeBoeuf Walks Away From Broadway Debut
“Shia LaBeouf won’t be making his Broadway debut this season after all. The 26-year-old actor has quit the upcoming revival production of the play Orphans in New York over ‘creative differences’.”
In Blasphemy Trial Of Turkish Pianist, Prosecutor Brings Up Autism
Fazil Say “has been charged with religious defamation under Article 216/3 of the Turkish Penal Code in response to a series of messages he posted and re-tweeted” to declare his own atheism. This week the prosecutor requested a professional assessment of whether Say is autistic, offering to end the case if the diagnosis was positive (“because I am not without a conscience”). The judge denied the motion.
Artistic Director Leaves New Jersey State Opera (None Too Happily)
“Jason Tramm has resigned from the struggling company he has led since 2008, saying the board’s vision is no longer in sync with his own” – and submitted a bill for $80,000 of unpaid sevrices. Says the board president, “The performances weren’t up to par, he wasn’t following protocol … If he feels he has to go on to bigger and better things, God bless him.”
What Is Life Like After A Cochlear Implant For A Person Born Deaf?
“When I turned on the implant about a month and half after surgery, I ran down the hall, screaming. I expected that I would be able to hear instantaneously. That proved not to be the case. You see, if you never heard before, any unfamiliar sensation feels like pain.”
Russia Refuses To Return Hasidic Archive To US, But May House It In Moscow Jewish Museum
“A disputed collection of Jewish writings will remain in Russia because returning it to a New York-based group would set a precedent paving the way for more such claims dating back to Soviet times … A Washington judge in January ordered Russia to pay $50,000 a day in fines for failure to adhere to a 2010 ruling to return the collection, triggering angry reaction from Moscow.”
Watch A Brutally Frank Oscar Voter Fill Out His Ballot
A film director and longtime Academy member lets a journalist look on as he fills out – complete with candid commentary on every category – his ballot for this Sunday’s Academy Awards. (Unsurprisingly, we don’t know the guy’s name, though commenters have some ideas.)
Gérard Depardieu’s Unhappy Divorce From France
Lauren Collins examines the roots of Depardieu’s outraged reaction to France’s proposed tax increase on income in excess of one million euros, his feelings of betrayal, the arguments of his supporters and opponents, and the slightly ridiculous turns the story has taken.