Hip-hop pioneer and media mogul Russell Simmons is taking a public stand against the racially charged and misogynist language that permeates much of today’s rap music and hip-hop culture. Simmons is calling for “a voluntary ban on the three words he considers the most unacceptable, and among the most common, describing ‘bitch’, ‘ho’ and ‘nigger’ as ‘extreme curse words’ that were inconsistent with any sense of social responsibility by rap artists or their record companies.”
Author: sbergman
Robbing Peter To Pay The IOC
Michael Billington says that the UK’s proposed cuts to cultural subsidies in order to meet the high cost of staging the 2012 Olympic Games are stunningly wrongheaded. “The overall effect is dismal. It leaves the impression that the government is ready to rob Peter to pay future Pauls. Also that it doesn’t understand that artists, like athletes, need grassroots encouragement to achieve national standards.”
Bacon’s Trash Worth Nearly £1m
A motley collection of items discarded by the artist Francis Bacon has sold at auction for a whopping £965,490, nearly twice its pre-sale estimate. “Most of the lots could be described as ephemera at best. Among them were various diaries, some entirely blank.” The auctioneer, a small outfit in Surrey, UK, had its biggest night ever, and was nearly overwhelmed by the level of interest.
SPCO Names Winner In Composer Competition
German-born composer Carl Christian Bettendorf has been named the first winner of a new competition for emerging composers sponsored by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Bettendorf will receive a $3000 cash prize – the SPCO plans to make the competition an annual event.
Zukerman Slammed In Toronto
Conductor/violinist Pinchas Zukerman brought his Ottawa-based National Arts Centre Orchestra to Toronto last weekend, and the reviews were beyond scathing. Zukerman, who has been a controversial figure since taking over the NACO, took fire for his programming choices, conducting style, and solo violin skills, with one critic writing, “It doesn’t get any worse than this.” Interestingly, the same program had gotten positive notices back home in Ottawa.
New Music Pays Big Dividends For Scottish School
The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama’s festival of new music was created only last year, but Michael Tumelty says that its growth from year one to year two has been stunning. “Whereas the bulk of performances last year were small group chamber-type performances, such was the clear success of the venture that the academy has placed its symphony orchestra, chorus, and the RSAMD Big Band at the disposal of the festival… In all, there will be around 35 premieres in the five-day fest, featuring the work of about 24 composers.”
NY Phil Now Looking For Two Podium Leaders
In an unusual move for an American orchestra, the New York Philharmonic is adding a new position, principal conductor, to its artistic roster. The person hired to fill the new job would have authority greater than that of a principal guest conductor, but would still be under the music director’s final authority.
The Word You’re Looking For Is “Overreaction”
A group of British cellists traveling home from a performance on a nearly empty train this week took advantage of the abundant space by placing their instruments in empty seats. But “they were left astonished after being ordered by a ticket inspector to buy additional tickets” for the cellos. When the musicians refused, the inspector called police.
Correction: Burns Isn’t Reediting WWII Doc
A day after the Washington Post reported that filmmaker Ken Burns had agreed to recut the footage of his new documentary on World War II to include additional information on minority soldiers, Burns and PBS are denying the report, saying that the film “is complete.” The activists who had demanded the changes remain angry.
Smithsonian/Small Scandal Just Keeps Expanding
“Lawrence M. Small, the former secretary of the Smithsonian, rarely used his Northwest Washington mansion for institution-related entertaining in the past four years, despite receiving a housing allowance totaling $1.1 million since 2000 to make his residence available for official functions, institution records released yesterday show.”