The Montreal Symphony has promoted Madeline Careau, already the head of the organization, to the newly created post of CEO. Careau has been a controversial leader in Montreal, expanding the orchestra’s concert repertoire to include “pops” shows, and presiding over a months-long musicians’ strike in 2005. She has been with the MSO since 2000.
Author: sbergman
White House To Showcase Lawrence Painting
“In its recent renovation of the Green Room, the White House has given a place of honor to a newly acquired masterpiece by Jacob Lawrence, one of the greatest African American artists of the 20th century.”
Sibelius’s Lost Years
Jean Sibelius was a prolific composer throughout most of his career, but amazingly, he produced not a single significant work in the last 30 years of his life. “It’s a creative silence all but unparalleled in music,” but the Finn never really stopped composing, and the reasons behind his withdrawal are complicated.
Pacific Symphony Okays 41% Musician Raise
“After arduous negotiations, the Pacific Symphony’s management and the union representing the symphony’s 88 musicians announced Wednesday that they have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract. The contract – the longest in the symphony’s history – includes a 41.5 percent compounded increase in musicians’ wages.”
Randolph Collection May Hit The Block
Virginia’s Randolph College is the proud owner of an impressive collection of American art valued at $100 million or more. But money is tight at Randolph these days, and the administration is considering selling all or part of the collection, much to the dismay of many alumni.
Indian Museum Trustees Unhappy With New Director
“A group of trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian have complained to the Smithsonian Institution that they were excluded from the selection of Kevin Gover as the new director of the museum.” The museum is standing by its search process, and the Gover appointment.
Hollywood Taking Serious Anti-War Stand
“Over the next few weeks, the war will land at many more local multiplexes, thanks to prominent feature films starring Robert Redford, John Cusack, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones – and co-starring the war either in the background or in your face. It is unprecedented for so many Hollywood films to depict a war in anything but flattering terms while the country is still fighting it… Why now? Filmmakers feel many Americans are seeing a sanitized, bloodless view of the war in the mainstream media.”
Musical Chairs
“Ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra, be seated. Not so fast, says the conductor. Violins, you may take your places to my left, for the moment. Violas, let’s see. Should you be on my right, or should the cellos go there? Basses, let me think. Winds, brasses and percussion, you know where you need to be. (Or do you?)” These days, there seem to be as many orchestral seating configurations as there are conductors. But how do they decide where they want everyone to sit, and why does it matter?
Pittsburgh GM Jumping To Ontario
The general manager of the Pittsburgh Symphony has resigned to take a job as executive director of the much smaller Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Ontario. Genevieve Twomey, an Australian native, has been with the PSO since 2000.
The Backstage Show’s Always More Entertaining
A Broadway-bound musical starring Randy Quaid and the Red Clay Ramblers has apparently run into some backstage trouble. Quaid’s wife/manager is publicly clashing with producer Ed Burke, complaining that he is “relentless in trying to force his vision of the show on her husband.” Meanwhile, “Quaid is under fire herself – she’s the target of backstage snipers who call her an “out-of-control maniac” who has “bulldozed” her way into every aspect of the production.”