The Toronto Symphony has received a CAN$3.5m gift to endow its concertmaster chair, shortly to be filled by a new violinist. It is hoped that the endowment, which will allow the concertmaster to be paid a higher salary than is currently offered, will help attract more top candidates for the job.
Author: sbergman
Olympians Of The Staff
“When the Beijing Olympics open in August, to a heady mixture of sporting celebration and political controversy, music will play a huge part in reinforcing the image and message of the games.” In fact, a look all the way back to the original ancient Olympiad shows that “music has always played an important role in the event.”
Meadowmount Director Accused Of Sexual Misconduct
“A former student at the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music [has] sued the institution, saying the director lured him into a homosexual relationship and prostitution. The accuser, now a young adult living in The Bronx, has accused school director Owen Carman of paying his tuition in exchange for sexual favors, asking him to be a gay “escort” and pose nude, and prompting him to have three-way sex with another male escort.”
Is LA’s Signature Building Being Allowed To Decay?
LA’s Disney Concert Hall is five years old and thriving, and the LA Philharmonic has significantly boosted its profile as a result. “But while the Music Center is aglow over Disney Hall, it shows no pleasure writing checks. Anything the center can do on the cheap, it does. Disney is not well cared for.”
Young Frankenstein Actors Hit With Huge Pay Cut
“Like CEOs in the troubled airline industry, Young Frankenstein creator Mel Brooks and producer Robert F. X. Sillerman have embarked on a cost-cutting rampage in a desperate effort to keep their Spruce Goose of a show aloft. Their most dramatic move: slashing the lead actors’ salaries by 50 percent.”
Showcasing The Art Of Philly’s Skyline
“Galleries devoted to architecture are well established in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. But despite being the second oldest AIA chapter in the country, founded in 1869, Philadelphia has lacked its own showplace.” But that’s about to change, following the opening of a new architecture museum in the city.
Drawing A Crowd
A New York artist looking for a way to shock the public into paying attention to his work appears to have found one after he stenciled “The Assassination of Barack Obama” onto the window of the storefront housing his latest collection. Also paying attention: the NYPD and the Secret Service.
A Jazz Festival That Looks Unflinchingly To The Future
“With its devotion to the jazz avant-garde, [the New York-based Vision Festival] serves as a gravitational center, pulling musicians in from the margins. Its programming… confirms the continuing vigor of experimental improvised music.”
Kelly Retrospective At Basel
“Unlike most dealers at the Art Basel fair, who are showing a smorgasbord of the artists they represent, the New York dealer Matthew Marks has mounted an exhibition honoring one artist, Ellsworth Kelly, who turned 85 last month.”
Obscenity Charges Dropped In Sydney Art Case
“Australian police have dropped an obscenity investigation into photos of nude children at an art gallery that sparked a major debate on censorship… Police had shut the exhibit hours before it was to open and confiscated dozens of portraits of naked adolescent boys and girls.”