The Oxford String Quartet is 60 years old. But its future is in doubt as Miami University of Ohio has declined to replace a departing violinist. “A group of distraught fans in Oxford, Cincinnati and as far away as Cologne, Germany, are campaigning to ‘save the quartet.’ They say the school’s prestige is at stake. But the dean of MU’s School of Fine Arts, Jose Antonio Bowen, thinks it’s a non-issue, and that eventually the school will want to emphasize other areas, such as world music.”
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The Magical Healing Powers Of Mozart?
“Over the past decade, Mozart has increasingly been placed in a role that is perhaps the most controversial of all: as healer of mind and body. In this New Age interpretation, Mozart is the ultimate composer-therapist whose music can help treat ailments ranging from acne to Alzheimer’s disease and even, it is claimed, make you and your kids smarter. Some of these claims are based on science.”
Harry Best-Sold Of 2005
The latest installment of Harry Potter was the best-selling book of 2005. “Proving its enduring popularity, which is likely to continue with the release of a movie adaptation this year, Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” was the fifth highest U.S. seller of the year.”
An Avian Duet
A group of musicians in Pittsburgh try to provoke birds into singing with them. “Some of the birds were more than just stimulated by the improvisatory serenade. A few chose to interact with the performers, who used extended techniques on their instrument to mimic bird song.”
Hong Kong Legislature Criticizes Gov On Cultural District
A Hong Kong legislative committee is criticizing the government for proceeding with a single developer for the city’s massive new cultural district.
Canadian Film Magazine Quits
“Take One Magazine, the national film magazine since 1992, has announced that it has suspended publication. Despite the magazine’s being run as a not-for-profit organization, founding publisher and editor Wyndham Wise says Take One had run into cash-flow problems that were becoming too difficult to contend with.”
Time To Restore California Arts Funding?
“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed education budget includes $100 million for art and music in the classrooms. This is a laudable step in the right direction, but it doesn’t address the critical need to restore the state’s arts infrastructure. The miserly million allocated to the California Arts Council was required to match a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funds from the arts license-plate program and other sources make up a total agency budget of $3.2 million. At its peak in 2001, the Arts Council had a budget of $32 million.”
Mary Cassatt Was A Feminist
So says Germaine Greer: “Her importance is embodied in those precious works that capture the excitement and tension of respectable women on the verge of the 20th century, the moment before the bonnet and the stays were finally torn off and thrown away for ever.”
Crowded Out – The Modern Museum
Museums are now so crowded it’s impossible to really see art. “The more I watch viewers thronging to sample the latest blockbuster shows, or the permanent collections at the Prado, the Louvre and the National Gallery, the less convinced I am that they are giving art any sustained attention. Most visitors move through exhibitions and museums with disconcerting speed. Pausing now and again in front of particular images before resuming the onward march, they do not seem prepared to scrutinise anything for a substantial length of time.”
Figure It Out – The Leipzig School
“Figurative art that was deprecated as hopelessly passé in Paris and Düsseldorf never lost its grip in Leipzig. The city prided itself on being the birthplace of Max Beckmann and (if you looked back a few centuries and across Saxony to Wittenberg) on a painterly lineage begat by Lucas Cranach.”