Next month, Britain’s BBC Radio 3 will play Beethoven. For six days. Which seems like a long time – not that Ludwig van isn’t great and all, but, seriously? Six days? Long time. Still, Stephen Moss is up for the challenge, and just to prove that it’s not all a waste of time, he’s doing his own personal Beethoven marathon a week early…
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Art Across The Green Line
“When the Berlin wall came down, the Greek Cypriots relabelled Nicosia the ‘last divided city in Europe’. The Green Line, marking the point at which Turkish troops stopped their advance after the 1974 invasion, cuts the capital neatly in half as it zigzags from west to east across the island… Although Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 and Green Line checkpoints have been open for the past two years, the lack of a formal peace settlement means that the ‘dead zone’ is still a heavily charged feature of the island’s landscape. Leaps of Faith, an international art exhibition in public spaces on and around the Green Line, is an ambitious attempt to challenge political clichés about the division of Cyprus and at the same time reinforce the newfound relationships between the Greek and Turkish communities.”
UK Arts Prize In A Big Hole
“A disused Welsh coal mine which reopened as a working museum has won a prestigious UK arts award. Big Pit, in Blaenavon, south Wales, beat three other shortlisted attractions to scoop the £100,000 Gulbenkian Prize. The museum, also known as the National Mining Museum of Wales, opened in 1983 – three years after closing as a working coal mine. Ex-miners work as guides, taking visitors on tours underground. Big Pit was nominated for the Gulbenkian Prize following a £7.1m refurbishment programme, completed in February 2004.”
Leadership Vacuum In Honolulu
Internal politics and bitter rivalries are roiling the Honolulu Symphony, which has seen its CEO, its president and several key board members resign in recent months. At the heart of the chaos appears to be a dispute over who should fill the post of president of the organization, and the infighting has spilled out into public, with the orchestra’s board chair now offering to be the next one to step down. The symphony has been plagued by budget problems in recent years, and its musicians reopened their contract and accepted major salary cuts last season. Meanwhile, former Pittsburgh Symphony CEO Gideon Toeplitz has agreed to become the HSO’s interim president, and will be in place within a few weeks.
Walker COO Resigns Abruptly
Weeks after opening a major expansion, Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center has accepted the resignation of its chief operating officer, who oversaw the year-long construction project. “[Ann] Bitter’s surprise departure comes at an awkward moment in the Walker’s development. Its addition by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron has received rave reviews, but the building’s experimental architecture and mid-construction design changes forced the museum to cut costs by leaving the offices unfinished. Completing the offices and an adjacent sculpture garden are expected to cost up to $5 million more.”
Is Nielsen Undercounting Minority Viewers?
The Nielsen ratings company wants to roll out its new automated “people meters” in the Washington, D.C. market as soon as possible, replacing the decidedly outmoded info-gathering method of having select viewers keep a written diary of their viewing habits. But five of D.C.’s major TV stations have filed objections to the switch, saying that the meters undercount minority viewers and young viewers.
The National Violin
The market for high-end string instruments has become so absurdly expensive in recent years that most soloists are dependant on the good will of wealthy benefactors to purchase and loan them a Strad or del Gesu. But for Min Lee, one benefactor just wouldn’t have fit the bill. The rising young violinist plays on a 1704 Guarnerius fiddle purchased for her at a cost of $500,000 after an extraordinary public/private fundraising campaign spearheaded by the government of her native Singapore.
New York Acting To Lure Hollywood Back To Town
New York City has apparently had enough of losing film productions to Toronto, and has begun offering a generous package of incentives to filmmakers. “Producers are offered a 15 per cent tax credit for productions that shoot at least 75 per cent of their project in New York’s five boroughs. To sweeten the deal, the city is offering free advertising for the films on city-owned billboards and bus shelters.” But you won’t hear Toronto complaining – “a bold increase in Ontario’s tax credits for the industry, which offer both Canadian and foreign productions a tax break for shooting here, has helped reinvigorate the city’s flagging industry.”
PBT Exodus Continues
“Two key staff members left the struggling Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre this week, further fueling concerns about the company’s viability as its leaders try to eliminate a $1 million debt and attract new audiences. The departing veterans include Mary Ellen Miller, who has led fund raising at PBT since 1992, and Molly Mercurio, public relations director. Ballet school director Roberto Munoz has announced that he will leave at the end of the summer, as will Gail Murphy, director of marketing. PBT, which lost its managing director a year ago this month when Steven Libman resigned, is being run by Robert Petrilli, interim managing director, and Terrence Orr, artistic director. Earlier this year, the company suspended its search for a permanent managing director.”
Bring On The War
The war in Iraq isn’t even over yet, and already, the mass marketing juggernaut is gearing up to sell a sentimental version of it to a public that seems all too ready to embrace the pre-nostalgia. “Taking aim at the 18-to-34 set, publishers will soon roll out first-person tales from the front… Meanwhile, television, which couldn’t locate a young audience for its Vietnam-era American Dreams, may end up with two series set in Iraq – a cable drama from Stephen Bochco and a network comedy from Golden Girls writer Mort Nathan.” Why the rush? It’s a new post-Vietnam generation, says the conventional marketing wisdom, and they’re ready to get past old ideas about war as a national humiliation, even if their parents aren’t.