In the spring of 2014, Eric Abramovitz, a music student at McGill University in Montreal, was offered a full scholarship to the Coburn School of Music in Los Angeles. But he never got the offer: Jennifer Lee, his then-girlfriend, saw the email from Coburn before he did. René Bruemmer reports on what Lee did next – things that convinced a judge to make such a huge award – and how Abramovitz ultimately found out about it.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Banksy Print Stolen From Exhibition In Toronto
“The work in question is called Trolley Hunters, a satirical image of Neanderthal-ish men hunting a shopping cart. It’s said to be the artist’s critique on corporate food production. Its value is estimated at $45,000. … Later Thursday, police released video appearing to show the theft, while the exhibition was still being set up.”
Opera San Antonio’s Artistic Director Quits, Alleging Board Interference
“Adam Diegel has resigned as artistic director of Opera San Antonio after just five months, accusing the board of directors of interfering in his work and not allowing him to choose the operas the company would perform.”
David Hallberg To Direct ABT’s New Choreography Initiative
“American Ballet Theatre [has] announced a new initiative to foster the development of choreography by company members and freelance dancemakers. Aptly titled ABT Incubator, the program, directed by principal David Hallberg, will give selected choreographers the opportunity to spend two weeks workshopping new dances.” (This is not to be confused with ABT Women’s Movement, the program to develop work by female choreographers that was announced last month.)
Charleston Abandons Plan For New Performing Arts Center
“The Daniel Island Performing Arts Center … was to be a multipurpose new venue that featured a 400-seat proscenium theater, with balconies and an orchestra pit, available to various local and touring theater companies, plus dance programming, classes and more.” In early June, the board abruptly decided to end the project; said one director, “After a year of the board studying the launch of full campaign, it became evident that the building couldn’t be built on donations alone.”
New Memorial To Magna Carta By Turner Prize-Winning Artist Opens In London
“The National Trust is now opening a permanent commemoration of the charter, in the form of a new work by Mark Wallinger. Writ in Water, as it is called, is an entire building. The artist – who won the 2007 Turner prize and whose statue of Christ, Ecce Homo, was the first contemporary sculpture on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth – teamed up with architect James Lowe to produce what is his largest-scale single work to date.” Charlotte Higgins pays a visit.
The Hermitage Will Be Giving No Freebies To Those World Cup Hooligans, Thank You
“The Russian government has urged museums to offer discounts to visitors with a World Cup Fan-ID, the special document that allows ticket-holders to enter the country without a visa.” The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow will offer free admission to its 20th- and 21-century art wing for the next six weeks. But the director of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has curtly declined to make any such offer – and the way he explained his reasoning will not please Russian nationalists.
Deutsche Bank Sets Up Its Own Arts Center In Berlin
“Deutsche Bank has set an opening date of 27 September for its new cultural forum, located in an historic building in central Berlin and to be called Palais Populaire. [The new center] will host exhibitions, concerts, readings, talks, workshops, sporting events and a cafe.”
A Brief History Of The TV News Ticker
“Versions of the TV news ticker date all the way back to the 1950s, but they didn’t become truly ubiquitous until September 11, 2001. … The same way a Twitter feed today can transfix people during a crisis, the nation had its eyes glued to the scroll, waiting for the next update. The TV news ticker is a descendent of the stock ticker and grandchild of the ‘zipper’ news on buildings in Times Square. At the very least, it’s also Twitter’s neurotic uncle.”
How The Puppeteer For ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Made A Talking Backpack So Emotional
“In the fourth season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, we learn that Kimmy had a secret friend in the bunker [where she was held captive]: the purple Jansport backpack that she lost at a dance club way back in the very first episode.” Kimmy named the pack Jan S. Port, which is played puppeteer by Stephanie D’Abruzzo (of Sesame Street and Avenue Q. “D’Abruzzo spoke to Vulture about auditioning to play an inanimate object, why Jan is like ‘a canned ham,’ and her character’s near-death experience under the dragon cloud.”