Will Seiji Ozawa’s presence in Vienna help add more women to the orchestra’s ranks? “The Vienna Philharmonic will doubtless fall back on the assertion that change can only come gradually: It can’t be expected to alter the male-to-female ratio overnight. So let’s look at the employment numbers for six years from 1997, when the orchestra proclaimed a new, enlightened policy of hiring women, until 2003. It’s men, 21; women, 3. How’s that for even-handed progress?”
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Orchestra May Close For Lack Of $20,000
The Saskatoon Symphony is asking the city for a loan of $20,000. “The symphony has been steadily dipping into the red since the 1990s and this season is carrying an accumulated debt of more than $180,000. Because of its debt, the symphony cannot borrow money from a bank. Without the loan, the symphony may have to close.”
Christ Movie Kicking Up Buzz
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is generating the biggest buzz of any movis this year. “Gibson has said he wanted to make the ‘most realistic’ Jesus movie ever made. The R-rated subtitled film, which contains scenes of blood-drenched violence and physical suffering, has generated intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience — and by some Jewish leaders who fear that the portrayal of Jesus’s scourging and crucifixion in such excruciatingly realistic detail will spark anti-Jewish feelings.”
Ontario Orchestra’s Board Quits Over Controversy
The entire board of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sympny resigned Monday before a meeting of the orchestra’s 2,400 members could vote on whether to remove the board. “The resignation of the 14 board members is just the latest instalment in a series of crises flowing from the board’s decision Nov. 27 to fire the KWSO’s principal conductor, Berlin-based Martin Fischer-Dieskau.”
Pain And The Last Minute Resignation
National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Geon van der Wyst was slated to dance a number of major roles this season. But a few days before the season began, he reconsidered. “My knee was acting up. and I had made a promise to myself after my last surgery, that I would take a long and hard look at my career options if another problem developed. I feel guilty about pulling out just before the season, but the pain was telling me that it was time to stop while I still had my dignity.”
A New Scottish Poet Laureate
Edwin Morgan, 83, has been named Scotlan’s new “Scots Makar”, the equivalent of a poet laureate. ” ‘The Scots Makar’ is a term dating back to the Scots poets of the 15th and 16th century. The unpaid position lasts for a three-year term and his task will be to represent and promote Scots poetry.”
In RoadTrip: Leaving Berlin With A Cheer
Sam Bergman on tour with the Minnesota Orchestra: “We’re more or less at the midway point of the tour now, and fatigue is starting to become the rule rather than the exception. Today, we’ll fly from Berlin to Cologne, hop a bus to Düsseldorf, play a concert, and head back to the hotel in Cologne. It’s one of the most exhausting days of the trip, and we’re changing up repertoire as well, including the addition of a piece which we have barely rehearsed, and which involves some brutally intricate string playing. Keeping a cool head will be paramount, and if things don’t go well, a sense of perspective will be necessary as well.”
Descriptive Mode – The Lowly Adjective
Pity the poor adjective. “Writers frequently pull out the adjectives when they either haven’t, or are afraid they haven’t, provided sufficient data – specific nouns and active verbs – to get their ideas across.”ut adjectives are key to the best sort of writing…
The Ongoing Pillaging Of Iraq
Turns out the looting of Iraq’s National Museum was a small thing compared to the pi;;aging of Iraqi Archaeological sites in the past year. “The market in illicit antiquities is global. Along with trafficking in drugs and arms, it is one of the most widespread crimes. Iraq has lately become the crux of the problem of the global black market in antiquities because of the increased amount of theft.”
UK Places Export Ban On Work By Unknown 15th Century Artist
“Arts Minister Estelle Morris has placed a temporary export ban on The Virgin in Mourning to allow £600,000 to be raised to keep the painting in the country. Owned by an anonymous collector, it is one of just two works by the 15th Century artist – whose identity is unknown – in the UK.”