Dance executives across the country bemoan the modern-day public’s lack of interest in the form, and despair of ever again convincing large numbers of ticket-buyers to attend a traditional ballet not concerned with nutcrackers and sugar plum fairies. But Kennedy Center chief Michael Kaiser insists that the marketing of dance is not rocket science. The key is to trust the public’s intelligence, create a marketable identity for your company, and never to overestimate your own popularity.
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Is Maazel Cheating, Or Just Using What He’s Got?
Multitasking is essential in today’s classical music world, where music directors are expected to be fundraisers and cheerleaders as well as conductors, and composers can’t even get a foot in the door without a finely honed set of self-marketing skills. But recently, composer/conductor Loren Maazel has been raising eyebrows with his own version of the musical multitask: spending his own money to get his own opera produced by one of the top companies in the world. “The London papers report that the Maazel project has caused bitter infighting at all levels of the company… Gifted composers would line up to write a commissioned work for Covent Garden. But Mr. Maazel has bought his way to the top without having paid his dues as a composer.”
Can Architecture And Naïveté Point The Way Forward For Palestinians?
Architect Doug Suisman doesn’t really know much about Mideast politics, and doesn’t pretend to know how Israelis and Palestinians can ever be made to live in peace side by side. But Suisman’s idealistic design for a post-war Palestine, commissioned by the Rand Corporation, is raising eyebrows in geopolitical circles for its breadth of vision and pie-in-the-sky hopes for a thoroughly modern state. “Rand, where the analysis is meant to be astringent, not romantic, has now bet heavily on naïveté. It has presented Mr. Suisman’s idea of Palestine to the White House, the European Union, the World Bank and others, as well as to the Palestinians and Israelis. The idea has captured the attention, and imagination, of at least some Palestinian policymakers.”
Competing For A Place At The Table
The competition among young up-and-coming classical singers is intense, occasionally brutal, and fiercely New York-centric. So what’s a young singer supposed to do to get a bit of attention? One increasingly popular route to success is to take part in the dozens of high-profile competitions held around the world. “For those who are prepared and mature enough to handle the pressure, and who are granted a bit of luck, competitions can indeed launch a career. Young singers receive coaching from famous musicians while making valuable contacts. [But] to be sure, competitions are notoriously unpredictable.”
Growing A Better Breed Of Conductor
Ask any orchestra musician to name the biggest problem in their industry, and you’ll likely hear, “not enough good conductors.” But like the weather, everyone talks about the lack of conducting talent on the international scene, but nobody does anything about it. Except maybe Leonard Slatkin, whose five-year-old National Conducting Institute brings together talented young baton-twirlers to learn not only the finer musical points of the job, but also the diplomatic skills necessary to succeed in orchestral music’s most difficult and multi-faceted profession.
32 Pollocks Unearthed In New York
“A trove of 32 previously unknown works by abstract art icon Jackson Pollock has been discovered by a family friend, who said Friday he would like them to tour internationally and be studied by art historians. Alex Matter, a filmmaker who knew Pollock from childhood, said the collection was among the possessions of his late parents, who were long associated with Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner. About two years ago Matter stumbled upon the artworks, wrapped in brown paper since 1958 and stored for almost three decades in a warehouse in East Hampton, Long Island.”
A Mammoth New Theatre For The District
Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth theatre has been around for a quarter century without ever managing to settle down. Until now. “After playing for 25 years in churches, reconditioned auto repair shops, borrowed lodgings and places with stage ceilings only 12 feet high, the adventurous theater company today has almost everything its heart could desire. Just in time for tonight’s official opening” at its new home in downtown D.C.
Woody’s Walk of Fame
Woody Allen has been the man of the hour thus far at Cannes, and his latest film is generating more buzz than anything else on the screening list. But all the attention still won’t net Allen the festival’s coveted Palme d’Or – his film is being screened out of competition. Still, the French adulation for a filmmaker who is better known for his personal quirks than his movies in America appears to be well justified this time around, as Match Point is being hailed as Allen’s best work in decades.
Edmonton Symphony Back In The Spotlight
Less than five years ago, it didn’t seem too big of a stretch to suggest that the future of the Canadian orchestra was no future at all, with the cash-strapped and internally roiling Edmonton Symphony serving as the poster child for all that was wrong with the industry. These days, Edmonton has a dynamic new music director (who, incidentally, refuses to allow anyone to call him “Maestro”,) a much-improved bottom line, and a growing national profile, highlighted this week by a visit to Canada’s capital city.
Already-Did-It-Yourself Video
Those old homemade film reels squirreled away in a box in your attic may just have some value beyond your immediate family. “In Toronto, [two film historians] founded Home Made Movies, a database dedicated to helping people catalogue and preserve the tiny fragments of film, scattered in attics, basements, flea markets and second-hand stores, that they believe serve as significant documents of our informal, domestic social history. Alongside them, an international groundswell with the same priorities has emerged.”