Blog

Trafficking In Ideas – It’s Getting Complicated

Debates over who owns ideas and creative work are getting fierce. “As a result of the move from a manufacturing and service economy to a knowledge and creative economy, intellectual property is now being asked to play a primary role that it is not capable of. Each kind of intellectual property, with its distinctive historical antecedents and unique characteristics, is under considerable strain. Multiple trends are undercutting and de-stabilising the entire system. We can see shifts and changes in how we have and share ideas and especially in how we develop and commercialise them.”

Muppets To Disney

The Jim Henson estate has agreed to sell TV and movie rights for the Muppets to Disney. “In the months before his death in 1990, my father, Jim Henson, pursued extensive discussions with the Walt Disney Co., based on his strong belief that Disney would be the perfect home for the Muppets.”

Gottlieb: City Ballet Misfires

Robert Gottlieb is getting downright cranky about New York City Ballet’s Balanchine celebration: “If only we could blame the erosion of the Balanchine repertory on these injuries, but for the most part, the girls who are still on their toes are having their troubles, too: They either aren’t ballerina material to begin with, or they’re not being helped to understand the ballets they’re appearing in.”

Florida Arts Groups Fighting To Restore State Funding Cuts

Last year the Florida State Legislature cut its arts funding by 75 percent. This year Arts and cultural groups are “fighting back to restore money that had been legally set aside for cultural and historic preservation. They have found surprisingly strong support, convincing many legislators that the arts are not just about culture but are also an economic issue important to tourism and jobs.”

In RoadTrip: High And Dry In Dusseldorf

Sam Bergman on tour with the Minnesota Orchestra: “The first element in Düsseldorf is always the concert hall. The Tonhalle is quite striking, visually, with an all-wood design, a conical ceiling that gives the whole room something of an observatory look, and every seat located quite close to the stage. However, this is probably the dryest hall we will play on the tour, and everyone in the orchestra remembers it from previous trips. Sound seems to die six feet in front of the stage in Düsseldorf, and the loudest, most resonant chord can dissipate so quickly that you feel as if you’re performing in an airlock.”

Encouraging Minority Strings

The Sphinx Competition was created to help encourage African-American and Latino string players. “This year, some 20 major orchestras — the Detroit Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra among them — will showcase Sphinx winners in solo appearances. Meanwhile, the number of competition entries jumped to 80 this year from “the 40-50 range” in 2003.”

Norah Jones’ Blockbuster Week

Norah Jones’ second album has sold more copies in its first week than any other release in the past 2 1/2 years. “Ms. Jones’s second album, “Feels Like Home” (Blue Note), sold 1,022,000 copies during the week ending Sunday, the best performance since ‘N Sync released “Celebrity” in July 2001, according to Nielsen SoundScan.”

Gioia: Of Arts And Logistics

Dana Gioia says his job as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts is to take charge of logistics. “He points out that it was Nancy Hanks, the endowment’s chair during the Nixon administration, who spread the money that helped build dance companies, opera companies, and museums. As Gioia sees it, there is no fight: Most people want the arts in their communities and schools. The only real issues are logistical.”