Despite a great season that included its first trip to Carnegie Hall in 16 years, the Buffalo Philharmonic posted an operating deficit of $1.1 million. “Management said weakness in fund-raising and ticket sales, higher costs for performances and health care and a onetime real estate write-off from the sale of the Birge Mansion contributed to the loss.” And prospects could be worse for the next season…
Blog
Art Of The Cell Phone
“The increasing power of cellphones is fast shaping innovative forms of compact culture: micro-lit, phone soap operas and made-for-mobile dramas that can be absorbed in less time than it takes to flick through a book introduction.”
Endangered Species: Plays On Broadway
“According to producers, no new play that has opened on Broadway in the last two and a half years has turned a meaningful profit. With the average cost of producing a new play on Broadway approaching or surpassing $2 million (“Gem of the Ocean” cost $2 million) and the traditional audience for plays seemingly shrinking, producers and playwrights say that a lasting losing streak could have a disastrous effect on the theater as a whole.”
Do Computers Stunt Education?
A new study reports that students who were heavy users of computers did worse in school than those who were not. “From a sample of 175,000 15-year-old students in 31 countries, researchers at the University of Munich announced in November that performance in math and reading had suffered significantly among students who have more than one computer at home. And while students seemed to benefit from limited use of computers at school, those who used them several times per week at school saw their academic performance decline significantly as well.”
The Perils Of Electronic Libraries
With tight budgets for college libraries, does it make sense any more for schools to buy expensive books? Why not outsource and subscribe to electronic libraries? “Having a fully outsourced, electronic library would mean giving up control of the information available on your campus, and allowing lawyers, accountants, and vendors’ content specialists to make decisions about access to published research — much like HMO clerks deciding what medical care your doctor can provide. Can innovation and excellence flourish in that kind of environment? That is one of the questions that keep librarians awake at night, but it is a large question.”
In Praise Of Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn loved to dance, and she was perfectly fashioned by nature and temperament for the physical rigors, fiendish politics and unforgiving geometry of ballet.
BBC To Cut Thousands Of Jobs
The BBC is cutting jobs and reorganizing administratively. “Almost 3,000 jobs are expected to go, mainly from administration departments.” Some “departments at the BBC will move from London to Manchester, as part of the BBC’s aim to be more reflective of UK audiences. The BBC believes it can save hundreds of millions of pounds as a result of the cuts, which will be effective over a three-year period.”
Art Basel Miami – Buying Art As A Lifestyle
“If spending millions of dollars on art was something done in private a few years ago, conspicuous consumption is back. At this spinoff of the highly successful 35-year-old fair in Basel, Switzerland, young, hip hedge-fund managers, Fortune 500 executives and A-list actors are shopping side by side in a spree fueled by new wealth, a hot art market and the headlong pursuit of membership in a glamorous, elite club.”
Royal Academy Secretary Resigns
Lawton Fitt has resigned as secretary of the Royal Academy. “Ms Fitt, who joined the academy only two years ago, was the first woman and the first American to be appointed as the RA’s secretary, one of the two most powerful positions at the organisation. But earlier this year reports spread of her feuding with Norman Rosenthal, the long-serving exhibitions secretary, a man who is admired as much for his inspired curatorial talent as he is loathed by many people for his abrasive style.”
La Scala – Europe’s Cultural Event Of The Year
La Scala makes its traditional opening Tuesday. “The opening performance – always on December 7, the feast day of Milan’s patron saint, St Ambrose – is an opportunity for the rich and powerful to network, and an excuse for others to protest. It is customarily too the pretext for a shock and awe display of furs, jewels and cleavage. But not since 1946, when Toscanini lifted his baton to reopen the theatre after it was damaged by allied bombs in the second world war, has there been quite such a sense of occasion as this year. Almost everyone who is anyone in Italy will be there.”