The embattled Harlem Boys Choir announced yesterday that it has a plan to respond to its board’s demand that founder Walter Turnbull be dismissed in the wake of abuse allegations, but the choir’s proposal does not appear to include the full severing of Turnbull’s ties to the organization. The New York City Department of Education will review the plan, but has already called for Turnbull’s firing.
Blog
Looks Good On Paper
The revised 9/11 memorial is promising, says Benjamin Forgey, because it demonstrates a clear willingness on the part of the designers to be responsive to public concerns, and on the part of certain New York politicians to create a monument to human tragedy without making the experience of visiting it too bleak to attract visitors. But the design is still a major departure from Freedom Tower architect Daniel Libeskind’s vision for the site, and whether the actual memorial fulfills the promise of its redesign is still an open question.
Cutting, But Not Slashing
Like countless other arts organizations, the San Francisco Opera is going through some tough economic times. Unlike many other orchestras and opera companies, the company is refusing to hit the panic button, even after budgetary concerns forced it to trim the number of operas it would present in 2003-04. Berlioz’s massive “Les Troyens” was postponed several years to save the company $1 million, but “although much of the season’s repertoire is comparatively traditional, seven of the nine productions are new to the company,” including a daring (and not terribly accessible) 1978 opera by György Ligeti.
Cleveland Museum Expansion Delayed
“The Cleveland Museum of Art is delaying by four or five months a decision about whether to go ahead with a proposed $225 million expansion and renovation… The reason for the slowdown, museum officials said, is that construction documents prepared by New York architect Rafael Viñoly won’t be complete by March, when the museum had hoped to put them out for bids by contractors. The museum now expects the blueprints to be ready for bids in August, about a month after the museum decides whether it has enough money to go ahead.”
Asian American Workshop Shuts Down
“Money woes forced the [New York-based] Asian American Writers’ Workshop to close its doors last month. Public programs are canceled until at least the first week in February… Though AAWW has pulled in roughly $12,000 in individual donations since a November plea, the sum is only a fraction of what it needs. The $500,000 annual budget has been slashed nearly in half. Grants on which the group had relied, from charitable and arts foundations and from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, were denied for 2004.”
Talking The Talk
“Newly appointed [Canadian] Heritage Minister Hélène Chalifour Scherrer made her first official appearance in the cultural community Tuesday, sweeping into Toronto on short notice to meet with leaders of major arts organizations.” Arts officials were impressed with Scherrer’s seeming willingness to work closely with them to preserve Canada’s cultural diversity at a time when the government has said that there will be no new money available for the arts. Scherrer’s appointment had originally been met with uncertainty from arts organizations, as her background is primarily in sports, but her Toronto sweep is likely to enhance her popularity, particularly when compared with that of her predecessor, who was frequently criticized for a lack of direct engagement.
Shining The Light On Sundance’s Dark Side
The Sundance Film Festival was famously conceived to showcase independent film, and encourage aspiring young directors. But it’s been so successful that it’s now difficult to separate the world of the indies from mainstream Hollywood. A new book drives home that point by looking at the history of the festival, as well as at supposedly “independent” studio Miramax, which was actually sold to Disney more than a decade ago. Of course, “Sundance wouldn’t be Sundance without people grousing about celebrities, all while running from movies to parties featuring those same celebrities,” so it’s possible that the whole debate is missing the point.
Watch Your F*#@ing Adjectives!
It’s been decades since comedian George Carlin first gained fame with an unprintable routine he called “Seven Words You Can’t Say On The Radio.” So broadcasters and consumers nationwide were stunned recently, when the FCC announced that U.S. broadcast standards had not been violated during a live awards show broadcast on NBC, when the singer Bono used the word “fucking.” The word was allowable, said the FCC’s board of governors, because Bono had used it as an emphatic adjective, rather than as a verb meant to describe a sexual act. That’s a bit too far into the realm of semantics for FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who is now pushing for a flat ban of the word.
Selling It
In what is likely to be a controversial move within the classical music industry, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra will “rebrand” itself this week, with the assistance of a top UK marketing firm. The ‘new’ Philharmonia will stress accessibility (think Classic FM as opposed to BBC Radio 3) and attempt to attract “the type of people [who are] currently visiting Tate Modern,” and to do so without alienating its core audience. The orchestra will also look at ways to begin offering downloadable music online, and generally make a concerted push to pique the interest of a younger, more technologically savvy demographic.
The Online Film (R)Evolution
“In the late 1990s, a half-dozen online film companies – each promising to revolutionize movie viewing – were among the noisiest participants at the Sundance Film Festival. A few years later, the revolution has stalled. Most online film channels have disappeared (Steven Spielberg’s Pop, AntEye, Digital Entertainment Net, Scour and Pseudo), with some changing direction (Eveo is now a purveyor of rich media). The two leaders, AtomFilms and IFilm, have settled into relatively mellow maturity. But online film festivals, an offshoot of the commercial film channel, are stepping up to fill the void.”