The 2006 edition of the Adelaide Festival will aim to heal the wounds left by the much-maligned 2002 version overseen by Peter Sellars, and the latest thinking appears to be that a merger of art and technology is the best way for the festival to move forward. “It is minimalist, futuristic and, to use one of [festival] director Brett Sheehy’s buzz phrases, ‘reflective of the giga-faceted world in which we live’.”
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Australia Losing Two Important Aboriginal Works
“Two important paintings by the famed Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri that sold at a Sotheby’s auction on Monday have gone to overseas collectors. It is believed the National Gallery of Australia had hoped to buy Emu Corroboree Man as it was the first painting Clifford Possum produced. The gallery appears to have lost out when furious bidding pushed the price to a record for the artist. Melbourne art dealer Irene Sutton bought the small work for $411,750, which she said was on behalf of an American collector… As it was brought back from the US for the sale, it is not covered by Australia’s Moveable Cultural Heritage Act, which restricts the removal of early Aboriginal works from Australia. The second Clifford Possum, a wall-sized painting titled Man’s Love Story, was bought by a French collector also for $411,750. It also falls outside the heritage act.”
Melbourne Goes Pop (Sort Of)
The Melbourne Symphony is launching a new series of pops concerts to go along with its classical offerings, prompting consternation from some corners of the business in which such shows are thought to represent a dumbing down of the product. But to judge from what’s being placed on the pops shows, these will be a far cry from the pops shows played by many American orchestras, in which 100 classically trained musicians become a droning backup band for an aging pop star. The Melbourne series will be more in the model of Arthur Fiedler’s old Boston Pops concerts, featuring light classics and jazz-influenced works.
Atlanta Art Schools To Merge
The Atlanta College of Art has announced a plan which would remove it from the city’s umbrella organization, the Woodruff Arts Center, and would see it join forces with the new Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of art and Design. SCAD “now has more than 7,000 students enrolled in classes at its flagship Savannah campus. About 150 students have signed up for fall classes at the Atlanta location, and SCAD projects that 600 students will be enrolled by 2008. About 350 students attend the Atlanta College of Art, which calls itself the oldest private college of art and design in the Southeast.” News of the proposed merger came as a shock to faculty at both schools, and there are issues of accredidation to be considered, as well.
American Woman
Current controversies aside, Marin Alsop’s journey to the directorship of the Baltimore Symphony began decades ago, and didn’t come about because she was looking to be a pioneer. She just wanted to conduct, and saw no reason why, in the 20th century, a woman shouldn’t be able to do that. But regardless of gender, it’s extremely hard to become a professional conductor – after all, you have no instrument to practice on, unless you can convince a group of 6 dozen or so friends to let you practice on them. Further, being an American is arguably a bigger impediment to success than being female. Alsop’s ascension to the top conducting ranks may be instructive not only for women, but for all young musicians looking to wave the baton themselves someday.
Do Not Question Harry, Worthless Muggle!
Book critic David Kipen expected to hear from a few disgruntled readers when he gave the latest Harry Potter book a lukewarm review. What he didn’t expect was the death threat. “When somebody e-mails to say, ‘Seriously bitch u need to watch what teh f — you say,’ it certainly commandeers a critic’s attention. Add to that the dozens of correspondents who took the trouble to call me dork, idiot, schmuck or worse, and it’s all occasioned some serious soul-searching here on the literature desk.”
Netflix Doing Fine
Profits at the online movie rental service, Netflix, nearly doubled in the second quarter of 2005. “Emboldened by the second-quarter surprise, Netflix management predicted it will finish this year with a profit of $2.4 million to $11.9 million, a reversal from just three months ago when the company warned it might lose as much as $15 million with Blockbuster hot on its trail… Netflix ended June with 3.2 million subscribers, a 53 percent increase from a year ago. Blockbuster’s online rental service is believed to have between 750,000 and 1 million subscribers.”
PICT Director Departing
“Stephanie Riso, a co-founder and managing director of Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, will leave the company in January to pursue her career as a performer and composer… Riso co-founded PICT with the company’s artistic director, Andrew Paul, in 1996.”
But It Worked On The Home Shopping Network!
As it turns out, nobody in New York is much interested in the life of Suzanne Somers. The former sitcom star spent $4 million to bring her autobiographical, one-woman show to Broadway, where it received scathing reviews, flopped hard and closed after less than a week. A further planned tour to Toronto has been scrapped as well.
You Mean They’re Human?
“Their rarefied vocations notwithstanding, orchestra players are as normal as most other people. But somehow a stereotype grew up around classical musicians long ago, and it endures to this day.” Namely, that they walk around all the time in tuxes or topcoats, that they listen to nothing but the classics, and travel by streetcar or some such antiquated mode of transport. In other words, they are fictional characters in some turn-of-the-20th-century novel. Anyone wanting a dose of what classical musicians are really like need only get to know the members of the New York Philharmonic…