The Seattle Symphony is in the market for a new concertmaster, following music director Gerard Schwarz’s decision to fire Finnish violinist Ilkka Talvi, who had held the post for two decades, and a mind-boggling sixteen candidates have been invited to sit in the orchestra’s first chair before a decision is made. But there’s a lot more to winning the one of the more coveted positions in the orchestral business than just being a top-notch violinist…
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Saudi Censorship Starting To Crumble
“Pioneered two decades ago by men whose work is banned here, a genre of politically charged fiction in Saudi Arabia is now being produced by more writers and in greater quantity than ever before. It marks an artistic advance in a society in which writers have long confronted the deadening effect of state censorship, and a milestone in a desert kingdom where most people were illiterate a generation ago. The writing reflects the rising discontent in the kingdom and across the Middle East, where young populations increasingly exposed to Western ideas are demanding more social and political freedom. By taking on the powerlessness of women, the tyranny of tribal society and the role of religion in the birthplace of Islam, the writing is slowly undermining the cultural conventions that have kept provocative fiction off bookshelves here for years.”
Taking The Measure Of Merce
Merce Cunningham is old, and there’s no getting around that fact. At 86 years old, he is a physical shadow of his former self, unable to dance or even walk without a lot of assistance. “But if his body no longer wishes to do his bidding, his mind continues to inspire people who rightly regard him as the enemy of cliché and the champion of difference. The fact that one of America’s greatest universities has mounted its largest-ever interdisciplinary arts project under the title Encounter Merce bears eloquent witness to the potency of his influence… And who better to embody creativity in the arts than a man whose entire career has been devoted to taking the path less travelled by?”
Casting the Canadian LoTR Dream Team
So Toronto will play host to the first theatrical staging of Lord of the Rings. That’s all well and good, but who exactly is going to headline such a blockbuster show? If we know Canada, the best bet to sell tickets will be to pack the cast with Canadian superstars, so what about Christopher Plummer as Gandalf, Jim Carrey as Gollum, Martin Short as Bilbo Baggins, or even (wait for it) Celine Dion as Legolas? Hey, it could happen…
Free Market Competition Comes To Academia
“In the academic world, the Chronicle of Higher Education is the newspaper of record. From stories of embattled administrators to the latest faculty appointments, its 140-plus pages have provided readers with industry news, job listings and similar information each week for nearly 40 years. Last January, three ex-employees challenged the Chronicle’s grip on academic news by going online with a free, Web-based rival, insidehighered.com… In the coming months, insidehighered.com plans a major marketing campaign that will include advertising and direct mail,” with the focus on the versatility and publication speed of the online model. The site’s founders even expect it to turn a profit in the not-too-distant future.
Gilead Takes Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction has been awarded to Marilynne Robinson for her long-awaited second novel, Gilead, which chronicles the life of an Iowa minister. The circle’s poetry prize went to Adrienne Rich.
Kelley Plagiarism Lawsuit Dropped
A lawsuit alleging that celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley used another author’s work without permission in her book about the family of President Bush has been dropped, after the plaintiff decided that he was likely to lose the case on a technicality. “Under federal law, if a copyright holder fails to register with the office before an alleged infringement takes place, the holder is limited in the damages and lawyer’s fees he can recover.” Kelley has always maintained that her use of material from the other author’s web site was legal under the “fair use” doctrine.
Is It Dance, Or Is It Theatre?
Choreographer/director Matthew Bourne has a new dance on display at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, but he might object to that description. Specifically, Bourne insists that Play Without Words is not dance, but theatre. “Mr. Bourne and his allies insist on a distinction between abstract dance and narrative dance, which they barely see as dance at all. For Mr. Bourne, as quoted in The New York Times, ‘I’ve always been excited by the strangeness of ballet, but I can’t bear it when people just come forward and do a turn in the air for no reason.'”
Lexicography For Hipsters
Most people don’t think of lexicographers as having a great deal of impact on their daily lives, but as guardians of language, the people who write dictionaries and create the rules of pronunciation and proper usage actually wield a fair amount of influence over what we say and how we say it. Now, a new generation of lexicographers has begun to reshape the language business, and they appear to be better equipped to take the reins of American English at a relatively young age than any of their predecessors. “Today’s rise of young, hip lexicographers reflects changes in the culture at large,” not the least of which is the profound impact of online culture in shaping the academic mind.
A Great Weirdness
Sex and Character by Otto Weininger, published in 1903 has had an outsized influence. It is a weird and great book. “The appearance next month of a definitive English translation, published by Indiana University Press, is a major cultural event — one that is, arguably, at least several decades overdue.”