“Struggling to balance its budget, [Boston’s] Museum of Fine Arts told 23 staff members yesterday that they would be laid off immediately. Though museum officials declined to say exactly who had been let go, they did say the layoffs had come from across the museum’s divisions, including its curatorial staff. That is in addition to five positions eliminated since January.” The layoffs included no curatorial department heads, unlike MFA’s last round of firings in 1999.
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Pianists On The Web
The 2nd International Piano e-Competition is underway in the Twin Cities, with the final six contestants set to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra later this week. The competition was started by a professor at the University of Minnesota who was disgusted by the nepotism inherent in many international competitions, and in addition to the unusual move of barring the students of competition judges from competing, he found a timely hook to get the press and public interested in his event: all the contestants play on a high-tech piano which can store the memory of their performances for online streaming and even remote judging. In fact, every round of the competition can be viewed live online.
Are Scottish Opera’s Problems Due To Bad Government?
The Scottish government, known as the Executive, should bear the blame for the current crisis at Scottish Opera, according to one UK paper. “The way the executive has treated Scottish Opera, denying it the funding necessary to be a company of worldwide renown while, instead, reviewing it to potential death in a wrong-headed switch of priorities, is symptomatic of its approach to the arts sector generally.”
Losing An Administrator, But Gaining A Half Mil
The Florida Orchestra, which has spent the last couple of seasons in dire financial straits, announced this week that it has received two donations totalling a half million dollars, which will be placed in a community trust. The orchestra is also losing one of its top executives: operations manager and artistic administrator Jeff Bram has announced that he will leave Tampa Bay to become artistic administrator of the Utah Symphony.
NY’s Mehta Takes A New Title
New York Philharmonic executive director Zarin Mehta will take on the title of orchestra president, according to the ensemble’s board chairman. Mehta, who came to New York after leading the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival, was a major player in the search that led to the hiring of Loren Maazel as the Phil’s music director. Mehta’s day-to-day duties will not change with the new title – most American orchestra CEOs also carry the title of president – and the move appears to be largely a vote of confidence in his leadership at a time when the Phil faces several challenges.
Hollywood Writers’ Talks Break Down
The Writers’ Guild of America has publicly rejected a “final” contract offer from the major Hollywood movie studios following eight weeks of negotiations. Both sides are downplaying the possibility of a writers’ strike, but neither side has been willing to budge on issues like DVD revenue (the writers want a chunk of it; the studios want to keep it all). The WGA last struck for 22 days in 1988, delaying the fall TV schedule.
Moore, Spurlock, and Marketing By Outrage
As it turns out, MTV is willing to air ads for Morgan Spurlock’s anti-McDonald’s documentary/diatribe after all. In fact, the whole dust-up appears to have been one of an increasing number of “the-world-is-against-me-whatever-happened-to-free-speech-for-the-little-guy” marketing blitzes, a technique used with great success by Michael Moore. “The episode offers a glimpse into the new world of documentary marketing, in which controversy and big-league publicity gambits are increasingly part of the strategy for box-office success.”
Concern About Culture At WTC Site
“Last June, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation invited arts groups worldwide to submit proposals for a museum and a performing arts center planned for ground zero. Since September, the corporation — together with the city and state — has been evaluating the 113 responses. It was expected to announce its selections in April, but the decision has been delayed, in part by the difficulty of finding a chairman of the foundation charged with raising $600 million for the cultural buildings and a memorial.” Critics are unhappy with the lack of transparency in the process. “Unfortunately, residents, arts sector leaders, artists and local elected officials have had little or no direct say in any of these decisions so far, and that does not bode well for a successful memorial/cultural fundraising campaign.”
Recording Companies To Limit CD Copies?
The recording industry is testing technology that would restrict backup copies made from CD’s. “Tools under review by the major labels would limit the number of backups that could be made from ordinary compact discs and prevent copied, or “burned,” versions from being used to create further copies, according to Macrovision and SunnComm International, rivals that are developing competing versions of the digital rights management (DRM) software.”
The Asperger’s Connection
Michelangelo is the latest historical figure to be diagnosed posthumously with Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s conjecture, of course, but “what is the link between this condition and creativity, be it in the arts or sciences?” Some experts suggest that it makes people more creative. “People with it are generally hyper-focused, very persistent workaholics who tend to see things from detail to global rather than looking at the bigger picture first and then working backwards, as most people do.”