From the management: “JazzTimes has temporarily suspended publication of the magazine and has furloughed the bulk of its staff while it finalizes a sale of its assets. The brand and operation will undergo reorganization and restructuring in order to remain competitive in the current media climate.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Man Is Not The Only Animal Who Laughs (When Tickled)
“Researchers who tickled 25 juvenile apes – including three human infants – and recorded the sounds they made say that laughter seems to be shared by all great apes.”
Slatkin Says Detroit SO Needs A Summer Festival
With the orchestra’s, and the region’s, economic troubles, the DSO’s new music director says that, if the musicians are to have a 52-week contract, they need some paying listeners year-round. “If there’s no audience, no revenue. … But maybe something can be found. There’s no summer opera festival in the Midwest, for example. Everybody wants to exhaust all possibilities before saying no more summers (of employment).”
Canada’s National Arts Centre To Make Steep Job Cuts
“Officials at the National Arts Centre [in Ottawa] said Tuesday they plan to cut up to 40 jobs over the next two years to help prevent the shortfall of several million dollars they expect to have next year.” The positions eliminated add up to about ten percent of the NAC staff.
Merce Settles The Future For His Company And His Dances
“He has decided that when he dies, or when the right time comes, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will embark on a final two-year international tour and then shut down … Meanwhile, Cunningham associates will prepare detailed records of the dances so they can be licensed and given authentic productions by other companies.”
George MacPherson, 78, Influential Theatre Executive
“[A] theatre executive who played a role in establishing Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ont., and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, … MacPherson had a long and varied career in the theatre, including managing artists such as Harry Belafonte and Victor Borge. But he is most noted for his role in transforming the Broadway touring industry to create the current system of first-class touring shows.”
Shaw Festival Receives C$2.5M Bequest
“Late Toronto philanthropist Mona L. Campbell has left $2.5 million [Can] to the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the theatre festival announced Tuesday. … Campbell was chairwoman and chief of Dover Industries, which was Canada’s largest flour-milling company in 2008.”
Pair Of Paintings Found In Toronto Goodwill Bin Sell For C$134,000
“The works by Federico Del Campo, a renowned 19th-century painter of European scenes, are of a sunny Venetian backwater and of a Venetian canal with two ships, both dated 1895.”
The Late Tanja Liedtke Is Top Winner At Australian Dance Awards
The former director-designate of Sydney Dance Company, who was killed in a road accident just weeks before taking up her post, took honors for outstanding achievement in choreography and outstanding achievement in independent dance for her 2007 piece construct, which also received an award for outstanding performance by a female dancer (Kristina Chan).
Milwaukee’s Marcus Center Inks Sponsorship Deal
“Harris Bank said it has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement that designates Harris as the ‘Official Bank of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ in downtown Milwaukee. … Financial details of the sponsorship, which was announced Tuesday, were not disclosed.” The complex houses, among others, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Florentine Opera Company and the Milwaukee Ballet.