“The radical fringe of serious music isn’t on Manhattan’s Lower East Side or at George Crumb’s house in suburban Philadelphia. It’s among the mystical and the devout of Eastern Europe and Russia, collectively called “holy minimalists” – and they’re championed by some of the world’s best-known performers. Spare in the extreme, might the music be too much an afterthought of the composers’ inner experience? Or do we just need a few decades to figure it out?”
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Barnes De-attributes Some Of Its Art
The Barnes Collection has just completed its first-ever professional assessment of its collection. “An in-depth study of the foundation’s collection has determined that perhaps as many as two dozen of its Old Masters, while still old, aren’t quite as masterly as Dr. Albert C. Barnes was led to believe when he bought them.”
Get With The Program (By Email, And In Advance)
Who has time to read program notes at the concert? “Now the Los Angeles Philharmonic has come up with something it considers a solution to the problem: FastNotes, a brief set of program notes to be e-mailed free to interested parties a week or so before a concert. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, the notes will include links to iTunes and similar websites that will allow FastNotes subscribers to hear a brief passage of the music to be played.”
Those Twisted Pianists (Aren’t They Fun?)
Which musicians are the best fodder for movie portrayal? Pianists, definitely. “For better or worse, it’s pianists, in particular, who seem the most narratively and pathologically appropriate musicians to be depicted on celluloid as twisted personalities.”
Sundance – Not Just For Movies Anymore
It’s become the hot place where creative teams go to put their plays together. “Every July, seven or eight playwrights, similar numbers of directors and dramaturges, and a few dozen actors, converge on Robert Redford’s rustic, wood-built compound on the lower slopes of 11,750-foot Mt. Timpanogos.”
Interlochen’s Successful Summer
The Interlochen Center has made some big changes in the school in the past year. Interlochen president Jeffrey Kimpton has been reorganizing the venerable institution and the changes seem to be paying off. “The goal is to retain Interlochen’s historical mission while adjusting to a changing society and becoming more financially secure. The quality and competence of the staff is paramount. This summer, we’ve not had one complaint about a teacher. Last year we had complaints all the time.”
In Minnesota: How About Restoring Arts Funding?
Minnesota’s state legislators “gutted arts funding” in 2003. Dominic Papatola writes that with the State meeting to consider funding for stadiums, they shouldn’t forget about restoring some of that arts money. “Yes, a bundle of money got tossed at the Guthrie and Children’s theaters. But cuts to the Minnesota State Arts Board — which serves individual artists, arts organizations and school kids from Moorhead to Ely to Rochester — cost the agency a third of its budget and two-fifths of its staff. Don’t forget that states and municipalities across the country are returning to the arts-funding table.”
Some Protest Hunter S’s Blast-off
Hunter S. Thmpson’s ashes were blasted off into space Saturday, but some of his admirers weren’t happy about the show. “I am pretty sure it isn’t how Hunter would have done it,” said longtime friend George Stranahan. The writer’s ashes were fired from atop a 15-story tower modeled after Thompson’s logo: a clenched fist, holding a peyote button, rising from the hilt of a dagger. It was built between his home and a tree-covered canyon wall.”
Will The Internet Save Classical Music?
“In the virtual absence of classical radio in America, the Internet can provide what radio does for other musical genres, namely a “free” means of hearing new and unfamiliar music, which if you like, you’ll go out and buy. But with the element of radio removed from the market structure, there are almost no places to randomly hear Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony or Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” while driving home from school or work. The Net provides direct access. With the stuffiness removed from the classical experience, people can hear just how glorious Stravinsky really is.”
Print-On-Demand Changing The Book Business
Print-on-demand books are becoming a big presence in the book marketplace. “Unlike previous self-published books, PODs are digitally printed, which makes them cheaper and quicker to produce. Since 1997, when the technology became widely available, print-on-demand companies have taken over a big chunk of the book industry. Out of the 195,000 titles printed last year, one of every four was a POD.”