“The unusual prize was dreamed up by Paul Morris, who opened Bookends in [the Welsh town of] Cardigan four years ago. The shop is profitable and would have made an estimated £30,000 in a sale, but Morris said he wanted to give someone else the chance to realise their dream of running a bookshop. Over the last three months, anyone who spent more than £20 was eligible to be entered into a raffle to win it. The name of the winner, Ceisjan Van Heerden, who is from the Netherlands, was drawn out of a hat containing 59 others at a ceremony last week, as Abba’s ‘The Winner Takes It All’ played to a crowd.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
16 Critics Who Changed the Way We Look at Art
Alina Cohen’s list for Artsy goes all the way back to Pliny and right up to Jerry (but not Roberta). It’s mostly white males (there’s one 6th-century Chinese scholar), but three of the seven 20th-century critics are women. (Also, it must be said that three or four individuals on this list would not be considered by most people to be art critics as such.)
Claudio Scimone, Much-Recorded Conductor Of I Solisti Veneti, Dead At 83
He founded the Italian chamber orchestra, which he conducted right up to this month, in 1959. Together they toured to more than 90 countries and made more than 350 recordings, largely of 18th- and 19th-century Italian repertoire, much of which had never been recorded before.
Here’s One Orchestra That’s Still Willing To Hire Charles Dutoit
The Swiss maestro, who lost his positions with several orchestras earlier this year in the wake of multiple accusations of sexual assault, will become principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, one of Russia’s top orchestras, as of May 2019.
St. Paul Ballet’s Artistic Director Was Fired, And All The Dancers Followed Her Out The Door
Zoé Emilie Henrot was terminated by the St. Paul Ballet board last month, after five years on the job, for reasons she says she still doesn’t fully understand. Within a couple of days, financial backers approached her about forming a new company – now called Ballet Co.Laboratory – and every one of the old company’s dancers joined. (Meanwhile, St. Paul Ballet is searching for a new artistic director and has formed a partnership with the gym next door.)
The Least Lucrative College Majors Are (Surprise!) The Arts: Study
A new study by Bankrate.com of the most and least lucrative undergraduate fields of study found that theater, performing and visual arts, composition and speech, library science, and “miscellaneous fine arts” (rock bottom) were the ten “least valuable” majors. Worse, majors in “miscellaneous fine arts” have a substantially higher unemployment rate than high-school dropouts.
Brazilians Are Crowdsourcing Images Of Works Lost In National Museum Fire
“While most Brazilians were still reeling from the devastating fire at the country’s National Museum last week, Luana Santos and fellow museum studies students in Rio de Janeiro had started gathering photos and videos of missing items, and even selfies taken by visitors to the vast archive. … Within hours, their appeal went worldwide; so far, it has received 14,000 replies – including videos, photos, written recollections and even drawings of favourite exhibits.”
A First Look Inside The New V&A Museum In Dundee
The highly anticipated museum, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and opening to the public this weekend, is part of a £1 billion plan to regenerate Dundee’s waterfront and change the Scottish city’s public image from post-industrial wasteland to cultural hub.
Taylor Mac Is Coming To Broadway With A Starry Sequel To (Of All Things) ‘Titus Andronicus’
The conceit of Mac’s Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus is that the Roman civil war is over, madmen have taken power in the failing empire, and two servants — played by Andrea Martin and Nathan Lane — have the job of cleaning up all the dead bodies. Five-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe will direct, with set design by four-time Tony laureate Santo Loquasto.
All Those Tourists In Barcelona Never Check Out The City’s Classical Concerts. This Man Aims To Change That
“We have three great institutions, but they’re all competing against each other for audiences,” [Victor] Medem says. “You can survive doing that locally, but you will never attract an international audience.” So Medem founded Barcelona Obertura, a project to get the city’s classical organizations communicating with each other and cooperating on projects — the first of which will be a major spring festival aimed at visitors and residents alike (and at turning Barcelona into a classical-music destination).