“The State of Qatar has restructured its National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage (NCCAH), the organisation which oversees all cultural activity in the energy-rich Gulf state. The move follows the arrest last year of the NCCAH’s former chairman Sheikh Saud Al Thani and our revelations of his misappropriations of public funds.”
Blog
Defending Simon Rattle
Lots of press this week about Simon Rattle not living up to his promise at the Berlin Philharmonic. But Martin Campbell-White, Rattle’s agent, dismissed the German coverage: “This is one man mounting a campaign against Rattle … there is huge togetherness between Simon and the orchestra, and this episode has actually served to reaffirm their faith in him.”
The Opera Twins
Christopher and David Alden are opera directors. “They are that most unusual phenomenon – twins who have pursued the same career, as opera directors, and reached a comparable eminence. Next week, when David’s revival of Handel’s Ariodante joins Christopher’s well-received new production of Janacek’s The Makropulos Case in repertory at English National Opera, their work will be running in tandem. The Guinness Book of Records has been alerted.”
Want Higher Test Scores? Buy Books
A UK study reports that increased spending on textbooks translates directly into highe test scores. That same increase is not ween with increases in technology spending. Yet, tech spending is up while book-buying is down…
Literary Success – It’s All In The Timing
“The divide between sales of literary and commercial fiction has always been vast — the 345,000 copies that Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2004 novel “Gilead” sold in hardcover and paperback is an impressive figure, but not when compared with the more than 18 million copies of “The Da Vinci Code” in print in North America, and more than 60 million worldwide. These days literary fiction has to contend with two factors that are increasingly central to the publishing process: timing and volume.”
Brooklyn Swings
In the past few years, Brooklyn has emerged as a hot scene for jazz. “The rise of that scene — which, like its borough, is an assemblage of enclaves — has been one of the most significant developments for jazz in New York in recent years.”
Big Read – A Big Chore?
So the National Endowment for the Arts is launching a big program to try to get people to read more books. But Sara Nelson wonders if the whole thing doesn’t sound too much like homework. “I can’t help wondering whether it’s the role of the NEA to be the substitute teacher, a stranger granted authority to give a reading assignment. It’s like homework. Will even the most well-meaning outreach, participation by individual communities and NEA-provided educational materials really inspire a heretofore reluctant reader to pick up the titles he shunned in high school?”
Orlando Thinks Big For Performing Arts Center
Plans have been unveiled in Orlando for a massive new performing arts complex. “Drawing on the best features of arts centers around the world, planners envision three performance halls of varying sizes, as well as classrooms and offices. The center would sit on a large courtyard where outdoor concerts and shows would be staged. It would be flanked by private development valued at an estimated $500 million, including offices, hotel rooms, residential towers, restaurants and shops.”
If 4 Out Of 5 Prefer African…
“Last year, the music magazine fRoots polled what it considered to be the 200 most influential movers and shakers in the music industry (promoters, record companies and journalists) on the best global and folk records of 2005. Four out of the top five records came from West Africa.” So why does African music still have a tough time getting into the global mainstream?
Living And Dying By The Book Superstore
Book superstore chains have been putting small bookshops out of business. “Ultimately, though, the greatest vulnerability of chains may be their muscle-bound nature. If print-on-demand technology, though still poky and faintly disreputable, ever achieves the availability and quality of traditional books, the need for overstock returns, remainders, and huge retail spaces may evaporate. Strange to say, someday superstores may be the historical curiosity that indies are now in danger of becoming.”