Blog

Britain Forgets Its Centennial Composers

1905 proved to be a bumper year for birthing British composers. But you’ll not be hearing much about them this year. “So who’s to blame for centennial neglect? The finger points at craven British orchestras which seldom venture these days from a narrow corridor of safe works. London bands which once begged Lambert to conduct them cannot spare a birthday bouquet. Birmingham, which commissioned a Rawsthorne symphony, will not revive it. The Halle shows no interest in a local hero. Their timidity diminishes the art they exist to serve.”

The Endangered American Libraries

America’s public libraries are under threat. “From coast to coast, budget strains and tax pressures are forcing cities to make hard choices about how to spend limited money, and libraries, much to many residents’ dismay, are taking the hit. Residents are left stunned and outraged at the thought of doing without a beloved national resource. Can’t check out books for the summer, log onto the Internet for free, listen to preschoolers giggle during story time or get help searching for a job? Incomprehensible.”

D.C. Museum Eliminates Guided Tours For Small Fry

The National Gallery of Art is suspending its guided tours for groups of schoolchildren, and “reevaluating” its entire educational focus. The move won’t save a lot of money, since the guided tours were given by volunteer docents, but museum officials had noted a sharp downturn in the number of students participating in the guided tours, and an uptick in the number of children wandering the museum on their own.

After A False Start, Cleveland Back At The Proms

One year after an embarrassing cancellation, the Cleveland Orchestra is returning to the BBC Proms festival this summer for the first time in eleven years. The orchestra’s musicians forced last summer’s cancellation when they refused to allow the BBC to stream online audio from their scheduled concert without additional payment. But since then, the musicians have negotiated a new contract which allows their management to grant such streaming rights to presenters. Music director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct the performance, which will take place in late August.

French Court Slaps Down DVD Copy Protection

“A French court has ordered DVD vendors to pull copies of the David Lynch film Mulholland Drive off store shelves as part of an unprecedented ruling against copy prevention techniques. The appeals court ruled Friday that copy prevention software on the DVD violated privacy rights in the case of one consumer who had tried to transfer the film onto a video cassette for personal use. The ruling could be a major setback for the DVD industry, which places lock software on disks as part of its battle against piracy. The industry blames illegal copying for millions of dollars in lost revenues each year.”

Music & Art, Scratching Each Other’s Backs

Four years ago, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival decided that it needed more than just art to draw in the public, and launched a carefully tailored music component designed to dovetail with its existing visual art base. So far, it’s been a winning scenario for everyone involved: since the performances, which take place in the midst of the art fair, are free, crowds are far bigger than they would be at a stand-alone show with an admission charge; and the guest performers bring in people who otherwise might not think to attend an art fest.

Chicago’s Art War

This weekend, Chicago’s annual art fair kicks off. And so does Chicago’s other annual art fair. Oh, and the other one, too. In fact, the heated competition between two established fairs and one new upstart is garnering international attention, as lawsuits are filed, dates are juggled, and trash is talked. It’s a full-fledged art war, and while no one seems to be sure whether such a thing is actually good for art, it’s damned entertaining to watch.

Boston Theatre Shuns Touring Shows, Hopes For Profit

“Reeling from box-office losses, a downturn in theater attendance across the country, and unprecedented competition from Clear Channel Entertainment, [Boston’s] Wang Center for the Performing Arts will revamp its mission and programs next season… Instead of relying on touring Broadway musicals to anchor its season, the nonprofit Wang will produce or coproduce its own shows, with an emphasis on ‘event musicals’ and family entertainment.”

Browsing A Globe’s Worth Of Street Art

“Not everybody can stroll the streets of Melbourne, Baghdad or Vilnius, Lithuania, looking for street art, but one website lets everybody do so virtually, by bringing international images of spray paintings, stickers, stencils and more to the masses. Known as the Wooster Collective, the New York City-based site houses an array of graffiti and street art from around the world. Artists and camera-happy passersby send in photos of their works and sightings, and site creators put them up in blog-style postings that ensure the pictures take center stage.”