Digital, high-definition radio hasn’t exactly caught on in the U.S., where consumers have been loath to shell out hundreds of dollars for new digital receivers, and most listeners aren’t even aware that HD radio exists. But in the U.K., digital radio is now so standard that the communications regulator is looking into setting a mandatory shut-off date for traditional analog radio.
Author: sbergman
Endlessly Looking For $$ In Charlotte
The music director of North Carolina’s Charlotte Symphony announced his departure recently, citing exhaustion and the intense pressure of dealing with the orchestra’s “financial situation” as factors in his decision. So what will it take to put the orchestra on firm fiscal ground? A lot of things, as it turns out. The endowment must be built up, more tickets must be sold, and most importantly, a city with little to no history of high-end cultural philanthropy needs to discover one, and fast.
A Scottish Windfall (And All They Had Do Was Ask!)
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra was recently asked to produce a list of all the things it would do if money was no object. The resulting list of ideas – a series of top-drawer commissions, a new conductor set to make a significant impact on the SCO’s programming and profile, and a standardisation of its ticket prices that includes reductions of up to 50% on the most expensive – was enough to convince the Scottish Executive to come through with an additional £350,000 of funding, a significant boost for the ensemble.
Canada Council Grants Handed Out
“The chronically underfunded Canadian Opera Company is one of the big winners in Canada Council for the Arts’ one-time grants totalling $33 million announced this week… Only a few organizations – including the COC, the National Ballet of Canada, the Montreal Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony and the Stratford Festival – got seven-figure grants.”
The Rise Of Torture As Mindless Entertainment
Why are vicious scenes of torture in movies suddenly considered entertaining? How can anyone watch one human being torture another in hideously realistic fashion and not head straight for the exit? “The most troubling part of this wave is how brazenly torture is presented. Many of the depictions are gratuitous and exploitative; others are more restrained. But rarely is the subject dealt with critically, or as something more than a visual provocation.”
Senate Wants Smithsonian Shake-Up
“Members of a Senate oversight committee yesterday recommended a shake-up of the Smithsonian Institution, starting with its governing board, whose members were depicted as out of touch with the management of the 160-year-old museum complex.”
$20 Million TV Art Fraud Leads To Guilty Plea
“A satellite TV show host has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from an investigation into bogus artwork sold through televised auctions that defrauded customers of more than $20 million.”
Why We Need So Many Book Prizes
The shortlist for the International Man Booker Prize, not to be confused with the original Man Booker Prize, will be announced this morning in Toronto, and despite some skepticism as to the need for yet another literary prize, John Fraser says that it’s all in a good cause. “There’s never enough to be done for the beleaguered world of books. If anything will get a worthy offering off a seller’s shelves and into the hands of a willing reader, even by curiosity aroused through the latest “damn book prize,” then all well and good, or even better!”
Court Ruling Hasn’t Fazed Movie “Scrubbers”
Mere months after a federal judge ruled that it is illegal to produce unauthorized, “sanitized” versions of feature films with profanity and sexual content edited out, the practitioners who sparked the case are back at it. ” Thanks, in large part, to what they say is a loophole in copyright law that allows cuts for educational purposes, some of the companies that were ordered to turn over their inventory to Hollywood studios instead are scrubbing more movies, and other firms are getting into the market.”
Chicago’s Love Affair With Sol LeWitt
“Sol LeWitt, the master of Conceptual and Minimal art who died this week in New York at age 78, was one of the few artists from those movements who caught on fairly early and strongly in Chicago. His ascetic geometrical sculptures and wall drawings could hardly have been expected to overcome a local taste for figurative fantasy art, but overcome it in large measure they did, and he exhibited here more frequently and in greater depth than just about any other East Coast artist who achieved prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s.”