“Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra and music director of the Utah Symphony, has been named artistic advisor of Brevard Music Center [North Carolina] effective Oct. 1, 2007.”
Blog
Fallout Continues In Colorado
Since longtime Colorado Ballet artistic director Martin Fredmann was forced out last fall, the company has seen a number of changes on both sides of the curtain. But even if the changes eventually lead to a stronger dance troupe, there’s no question that a number of talented people have lost their jobs, and the wounds are still fresh. And some observers are wondering if the new regime in charge of Colorado Ballet is really as that interested in dance as they are in a balanced budget.
Honolulu Finally Finds New Leadership
The perenially strapped Honolulu Symphony has named a new executive director to replace Stephen Bloom, who resigned a year ago. Tom Gulick, a marketing expert who most recently served as director of Ballet Pacifica in suburban Los Angeles, “will have to immediately address lingering symphony concerns that include negotiating musician, management and staff pay raises — their first since taking a 20 percent pay cut and reduction in benefits in 2003 — and helping the orchestra’s search for a replacement for long-departed music director/ maestro Samuel Wong.”
US Invasion Video Game Irks Venezuelans
“A video game which features mercenaries invading Venezuela to guarantee oil supplies for the United States has become the latest source of tension between the two nations.”
In Toronto: What A Difference a Theatre Makes
Toronto’s National Ballet of Canada moves in to its new home at the Four Seasons. “Even for those accustomed to good seats at the ballet, the dancers’ personalities are suddenly more evident in the Four Seasons.”
Wrangling Over A DC Theatre
“In Washington DC “theater activists at least temporarily derailed a plan to create a roughly $2 million endowment for small area theaters. The endowment would have come from the sale of the Source Theatre’s longtime home, which is being bought by Bedrock Management for $2.8 million. The activists argued that the funds would be quickly dissipated and forgotten and that the artistic community would be better served by preserving the stage.”
Up Late For Michelangelo
The British Museum’s Michelangelo show has been so popular the museum has stayed open as late as midnight to accomodate the crowds. “Youths in black carried their skateboards, iPods playing the British rave band Arctic Monkeys shoved into pockets. Elderly people leaned on their canes. In the dim light, thousands stood in silence to focus on the artist’s 90 drawings, ranging from Annunciations to Crucifixions to male figure studies.”
That’s So Immature! (And That’s Good)
“New research shows a growing number of people are retaining the behaviors and attitudes associated with youth. As a consequence, many older people simply never achieve mental adulthood, according to a leading expert on evolutionary psychiatry.” But don’t fret: A “child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge” is probably adaptive to the increased instability of the modern world.
Casinos Make A Bet On Books
Casinos are booking authors to give readings. “It is one thing to see Siegfried & Roy or even Cirque du Soleil between playing the slots, but an author? For casinos, which are trying to attract visitors interested not so much in gambling as in a broad range of entertainment, it can make sense.”
NY’s Morgan Library Scores Concert Plans
“In a coup, the Morgan has lured away the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble from Zankel Hall by offering a bargain-basement price. The prestigious Boston Early Music Festival will present three concerts, a shot in the arm for New York’s relatively modest early-music scene. Glimmerglass Opera will bring previews of its offerings for next summer. And the library hopes to play host to a small contingent from the Vienna Philharmonic.”
