“The Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School have agreed to pool their resources in a program for young opera singers, as well as pianists who hope to work as vocal accompanists or opera conductors… James Levine, the music director at the Met, will be its artistic director and will conduct the participants and the Juilliard Orchestra in an annual opera performance.”
Author: sbergman
Proposal: Make Peer-To-Peer Legal, For A Price
“The Songwriters Association of Canada [is proposing] a $5 monthly fee on subscribers’ Internet bills that would make it legal to download music and hopefully save the failing music industry… The fee – amounting to an estimated $500 million to $900 million annually in Canada – would be administered by a collective of artists, songwriters, music publishers and record labels.”
Strange Bedfellows
If the New York gossip is to be believed, “Passing Strange” could be the musical that drags Broadway kicking and screaming into the 21st century. But despite its creators being decidedly outside-the-box figures, the show is being produced by Broadway lions not known for their embrace of change. So, how’s that relationship working out for everyone?
Getty Announces Two Big Acquisitions
“In an ongoing quest to bolster its art collections, the J. Paul Getty Museum has strengthened its holdings of European sculpture and illuminated manuscripts with two major acquisitions. ‘The Vexed Man,’ an 18th century alabaster bust by Austrian artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, will go on view at the museum later this spring. ‘Vita Christi,’ an English Romanesque illumination, will debut in… an exhibition opening May 6.”
Why The Oscars Are Bad At Selecting Foreign Films
“Every Oscar category has its controversies. But the omissions this year for best foreign-language film, at least judging by all the commentary in recent weeks, are real howlers… So what’s the problem here? Well, best foreign film is an odd category.”
Israel Museum To Display Looted Art, Look For Owners
“In a remarkable feat of cooperation between France and Israel, requiring intensive negotiations and the passage of a law by the Israeli Parliament, the Israel Museum has opened an exhibition of important art looted by the Nazis from France and then returned after the war… Running parallel to the show of French-held art is a companion exhibition: looted art, with no known owners, held in custody by the Israel Museum itself.”
Getting At The Kids
The publishing juggernaut that is James Patterson began branching out into young adult literature a few years ago, and sales have been brisk. But Patterson wants more, and his latest marketing strategy involves getting mothers to buy his latest book for their kids.
Mamet’s Washington
David Mamet’s interest in the inner workings of politics has been evident at least since he wrote the screenplay for 1997’s Wag The Dog. His latest play, though, shows a new subtlety in Mamet’s understanding of the game of politics, as well as the public’s attitude towards it.
Get Ready For High Sticking In The Viola Section
How do you get thousands of Canadians interested in your orchestra? Put some hockey in it, of course. “Wednesday night, trail-blazing Montreal maestro Kent Nagano will lift his baton to conduct what is perhaps the world’s first symphonic ode to hockey.”
PhilOrch Expanding Alternative Concert Formats
Peter Dobrin says that the Philadelphia Orchestra’s new marketing strategy and 2008-09 season announcement show that the orchestra is serious about engaging new audiences. “To give you some idea of the scale of change, consider the fact that only half the orchestra’s presentations next season will follow the traditional concert format. That’s practically a revolution.”