“The Symphony of Southeast Texas violinist Yu Zhao Gu, 60, died of a heart attack that struck during the symphony’s Saturday evening performance while sitting beside his wife and stand partner, Ying Zhao, at the Julie Rogers Theatre in Beaumont.” – Beaumont (Tex.) Enterprise
Blog
‘Relevance Is Becoming The New Litmus Test’: England’s Arts Funder Will No Longer Give Grants Based Solely On Excellence
“Arts Council England has revealed it will now decide what to fund based principally on how ‘relevant’ it is to audiences – and it will ‘no longer be enough’ to produce high-quality work alone. This was one of 11 points … [that] will be the driving factors for the funding body’s next 10-year strategy.” – The Stage
State Funding For Culture Slashed In São Paulo By New Reality-Star-Turned-Governor
“Nineteen federally-funded museums, cultural institutions and events in São Paulo could be impacted by steep budget cuts proposed by the state’s governor João Doria, a millionaire who appeared on the Brazilian version of The Apprentice before he took office in January this year.” – The Art Newspaper
Biopic Of India’s Prime Minister To Be Released On Election Day After Commission Declines To Intervene
“Opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, had petitioned the Election Commission to delay the film’s release until after the polls close on May 19, on the grounds that it was propaganda for the incumbent prime minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Producers announced that the film” — titled simply PM Narendra Modi — “will release simultaneously in 38 countries.” – Variety
Nashville Symphony Hires First African-American Principal In 50 Years
Titus Underwood has been acting principal oboe for more than a year and has just been awarded the position permanently. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, he was previously associate principal oboe of the Utah Symphony. – Nashville Public Radio
Why Printed Books Are Better For Teaching Kids To Read Than E-Books
Electronic books are becoming increasingly popular for storytime, but the researchers found the bells and whistles, such as sound effects and animation, can sometimes distract young children. – CBC
TV Viewers Are Skipping Ads. So Networks Are Changing Formats
How? Like micro-blocks – short ad breaks that are short enough -15-60 seconds that the networks hope viewers won’t fast forward through them. – Variety
The Shed Is A Huge Experiment: Let’s See What Happens
So far the Shed has raised an astonishing $500m. As is traditional in the US, where public funding for the arts is minimal and institutions rely on philanthropy, the names of the biggest donors are prominently displayed in the foyer. These include companies such as Coach and Google, who have neighbouring offices and stores. “We’ve got [wealth] right there in our face,” says Alex Poots, “and as long as they keep being generous, this kind of ecology is a transformer for arts. Call the Shed the Robin Hood, but let’s see if it works.” – The Guardian
The Sad Death Of A Scholar Trapped In The Role Of An Adjunct
“To be a perennial adjunct professor is to hear the constant tone of higher education’s death knell. The story is well known—the long hours, the heavy workload, the insufficient pay—as academia relies on adjunct professors, non-tenured faculty members, who are often paid pennies on the dollar to do the same work required of their tenured colleagues.” – The Atlantic
Can The Shed Save The Soul Of Hudson Yards?
Zachary Small: “The answer is a thumping no. The cultural keystone of the Far West Side development is a haughty hybrid-performance venue in a city already overflowing with them at places like the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, Performance Space New York, the Museum of Modern Art, and MoMA PS1.” – Hyperallergic