The Vancouver Symphony had a great year at the box office last year. “Subscriptions jumped 11 per cent and single-ticket sales edged up 5 per cent, putting a shine on a year that also saw a 7 per cent increase in gifts from major donors.”
Blog
Air Guitar That Sounds Good Too
“The Virtual Air Guitar project, developed at the Helsinki University of Technology, adds genuine electric guitar sounds to the passionately played air guitar. Using a computer to monitor the hand movements of a “player”, the system adds riffs and licks to match frantic mid-air finger work. By responding instantly to a wide variety of gestures it promises to turn even the least musically gifted air guitarist to a virtual fret board virtuoso.”
Say Goodbye To CDs
“It’s clearly time to move on. Think about it: No more nails-on-chalkboard-style skipping. No more secret tracks that scare the stuffing out of you 15 minutes after you think an album has stopped playing. No more fumbling around with those impossible-to-unwrap jewel cases. It was fun while it lasted. The music industry has declared war on its customers. Now it’s time to fight back.”
Kansas City Arts Scene Prices Out Artists
“It’s a process familiar to anyone who has watched the evolution of SoHo in New York or most other downtown revitalizations. However positive the impact on the Kansas City art scene – attracting new galleries and people like the Tylers away from the East Coast – urban renewal has also threatened to squeeze out the artists who pioneered its progress.”
When TV Gets Untethered
Our TV experiences are going to change radically in the next few years. “We won’t care if that show gets sent to us over a coaxial cable, a copper phone wire, or a satellite feed. With the cost of wireless coming down and the technology now vastly more powerful, it won’t be long before we will be able to obtain high-quality video without a pipe at all, directly to our next-gen video iPod or Internet phone or wi-fi-enabled home-entertainment server.”
UK Tax Changes To Discourage American Productions?
Leaders in the UK’s movie industry say proposed changes in the tax law will discourage American producers from filming in Britain. In proposals set out earlier this year, a film would need to be “culturally British” to be eligible for tax relief.
Billy Elliot Wins
The stage version of Billy Elliot won Best Musical at this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards for London’s West End. Brian Friel’s The Home Place was named best play, while Michael Grandage took the best director title for Don Carlos.
Harper’s Gets A New Editor
Roger D. Hodge is being named a the new editor of Harper’s Magazine. “After being turned down for an internship in 1996, he got a call back a few days later and has remained planted at the magazine since, holding a variety of jobs, most recently serving as deputy editor.”
The Waterstone Juggernaut Gets Bigger?
“The Office of Fair Trading is due to decide whether to refer Waterstone’s planned takeover of Ottakar’s bookshops to the Competition Commission. If the £96.4 million deal is given the go-ahead, Waterstone’s parent company, HMV, will control at least 23.6 per cent of the British book trade. Leading publishers and authors are making a last-ditch attempt this weekend to head off the deal, which some fear will mean too much power being concentrated.”
Will The Hermitage Refuse To Loan Art?
The director of the Hermitage warns “there is a real possibility that no Russian museum will lend works to UK or other European venues unless it receives ‘concrete guarantees’ from host governments that its collections will not be impounded, as a result of a long-running dispute between a Swiss businessman and the Russian government.”