Steve Reich turns 70 next year, and as the music world gears up to celebrate the ever-changing, never-at-rest composer, the man himself shows no sign of realizing that he’s supposed to be in the twilight of his multifaceted career. “His ideas emerge in a swift current of words, formed by the crisscrossings of different streams of thought – not unlike his music, in which ideas are introduced, examined, juxtaposed, pursued, rediscovered.”
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A True Temple Of Modern Art
“The Italian, US-based collector Carlo Bilotti is in discussions with Rome City Council to convert a former chapel in the north of the city into a centre for contemporary art which will display works by Damien Hirst and other artists from his collection… Mr Bilotti says he aims to create a ‘modern meditative environment’ in the chapel which will be modelled on the Rothko chapel in Houston, Texas.”
Casting Stones
The UK’s National Trust is lashing out at the government for what it says is “an ominous silence” surrounding the Trust’s plan to preserve Stonehenge by diverting auto traffic away from the historic site. The government has been considering such proposals for half a century, and the Trust fears that what appeared to be an impending agreement has been moved to the back burner yet again.
More Space? How About More Art?
Certainly, the Tate Modern has earned the right to expand its gallery space with five years of tremendous success as London’s hottest contemporary art museum. But will there really be enough art to fill all that additional space? “Of immediate and growing concern is the oft-repeated criticism that Tate Modern’s collection looks thin and impoverished compared with the scale and grandeur of its monolithic home, [and the museum’s director] has in the past lamented the virtual non-existence of an acquisitions budget for the institution.”
The Passion Of The Bach – Well, Some Of It, Anyway
Next month, conductor Roger Norrington will stage a recreation of Felix Mendelssohn’s famous 1829 performance of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, which many scholars consider to have been the catalyst for the widespread 19th-century revival of Bach’s music. But fans of the famous choral work may be shocked by what they hear: “Huge numbers of the meditative arias and chorales have gone. The story line is there, but I suppose [Mendelssohn] thought people just couldn’t handle four hours, three-and-a-half hours, or whatever it is.”
Benedetti Sticking To What She Knows
Nicola Benedetti is officially the new It Girl of the moment in the classical music world, and her name has spread so quickly that she still seems a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. But unlike several other recent teenage flavors of the month, the 17-year-old Scottish violinist has no plans to parlay her newfound celebrity into quick and easy cash by entering the much-reviled borderworld known as “crossover.”
SLSO Cancels More Auditions, But Will It Matter In The End?
The St. Louis Symphony has canceled another round of auditions – for principal and associate principal cello – as the ensemble’s nearly month-old work stoppage drags on. “Throughout the past several weeks, the SLSO musicians have claimed that in order to attract the best of the best world class talent they need to keep pace with what their peer orchestras pay. The SLSO management claims this isn’t the case and the organization will be able to attract the same level of musicians they always have, even with a lower pay scale. The… cello audition cancellations may be the first real test of that philosophy.”
The Management Carousel Spins In St. Louis
“The St. Louis Symphony has named Jeremy Geffen, artistic administrator of the New York Philharmonic since 2000, as its own vice president for artistic administration… Geffen replaces Kathleen van Bergen, who succeeded Simon Woods in a similar position at the Philadelphia Orchestra last fall, after Woods was named president of the New Jersey Symphony.”
Seattle’s 911 Hits The Skids
Another Seattle arts group is facing a crisis. 911 Media Center has laid off three of its five staff, and is cutting back after a costly move and a downturn in fundrasing. “The immediate problem is money, but the real problem is a crisis the organization survived two years ago, when a four-person board out of touch with the membership fired a popular and effective director and triggered a membership revolt.”
Philadelphia Added To King Tut Tour
Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute has been chosen as the fourth and final stop of the blockbuster King Tut show touring America starting this summer in Los Angeles. “A consortium of three companies – National Geographic; AEG Live Exhibitions of Los Angeles; and Arts & Entertainment International of Aurora, Ohio – is organizing and touring the show for the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Egyptian government hopes to raise at least $10 million from each venue to pay for restoration of ancient monuments and to build a new museum in Cairo.”