The Harlem Boys Choir is in crisis, with a $30 million lawsuit alleging sexual and physical abuse at the hands of trusted employees threatening to tear the organization apart, and the choir’s founder under pressure to step down. But Walter Turnbull insists that he did nothing wrong, and cannot imagine the choir, which has changed the lives of countless underprivileged kids, going on without him. Moreover, he is still incredulous that an employee with whom he trusted his choir of young boys implicitly could have turned out to be a child molester.
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The Power of Bach
A weeklong conference on the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach is going on in Toronto, and William Littler finds himself wondering what it is about Bach that continues to so fascinate and inspire musicians, audiences, and scholars across the generations. “Perhaps it is the very ability of Bach’s music to survive a variety of approaches that provides a clue to its universality. As [conductor Helmuth] Rilling put it, a bad performance of Bach is still Bach, but a bad performance of Handel isn’t very good.”
Between The Pope and The Publicity
This weekend, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will perform for the pope in Vatican City, the first American orchestra to do so. But the honor of being part of such an event is only part of what makes this trip so important to the PSO, says Andrew Druckenbrod. “It is crucial for the future of this organization that it is able to put itself on the big map as it has with this Vatican affair, even if it means the slight subordination of the music to the ‘event.'”
Whitney Sale To Bring $140 Million?
The sale of 44 paintings once owned by the Whitney family is expected to bring $140 million. It’s the highest pre-sale estimate ever – the collectioncludes work by Picasso, Manet, and major works by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Sir Alfred J. Munnings and John Singer Sargent. “The paintings are the property of the New York-based Greentree Foundation founded in 1982 by Betsey Whitney after the death of her husband, John Hay Whitney, to promote human rights, peace and international cooperation. Betsey Whitney died in 1998.”
The Politics Of Cleaning David
The “cleaning” of Michelangelo’s David is more about politics than aesthetics, claims one critic. “Fundamentally this is about money. The actual restoration itself may cost relatively little – a few hundred thousand dollars, maybe a million. But in terms of the increase in the number of admission tickets sold, the number of books, videos and toys purchased at the museum store, the reproduction rights – you’re probably talking billions. Why do you think the city of Florence and the Italian state are arguing over who owns David? The science they use to defend their decisions is irrelevant, it’s just window dressing to disguise a power struggle.
Taking On NC-17
The conventional thinking in Hollywood says that you can’t release a movie with an NC-17 rating if you want anyone to see it. And it’s true that many theaters won’t show NC-17 movies, and many publications won’t carry ads for them. But Fox Searchlight Pictures is testing the theory with a major release making its debut at the Sundance Festival. Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers features full frontal male nudity and a steamy sex scene featuring a brother and sister, will be released in February, with the controversial rating still attached, and the studio is convinced that Americans won’t be scared away by the ‘adults-only’ label.
Nightmare On Elm Street
Elm Street, a Canadian magazine aimed at women and featuring an impressive roster of writers and a broad cultural focus, has folded after seven years of publication. The failure of yet another high-quality Canadian periodical ought to be setting off warning bells, says Andrew Cohen. “We don’t have the depth, consistency or quality of periodicals that a country of our size should, especially in critical areas such as foreign affairs. Then again, when you’re paying writers the same rate as 20 years ago, you won’t attract the best.”
Waiting For A Facelift
The Walker Art Center is arguably the dominant institution in Minnesota’s arts scene, which is quite an accomplishment for a relatively small, quirky modern art museum housed in a decidedly dated modernist building. There are more glamorous museums in the Twin Cities, but Minnesotans love the Walker, with its claustrophobic stairwells, leaking skylights, and bare, unadorned concrete decor. On Valentine’s Day, the Walker will close for a year-long renovation and addition which will forever change its distinctive look and cramped feel. The renovation is a good thing, says Mary Abbe, but she’ll miss the old Walker.
Marley Quits Denver Center
“Donovan Marley, who as artistic director transformed the fledgling Denver Center Theatre Company into the largest regional theater between Chicago and the West Coast, announced Tuesday that he plans to resign before the end of his contract, citing his frustration over continuing budget cutbacks. In the past two decades, perhaps no individual has had more influence on the development of Colorado’s cultural scene. His exit not only is expected to trigger an upheaval that will be felt throughout the company’s 130-person staff, but is further evidence of the continuing demise of the American regional theater movement.”
Is Sundance Too Big?
Robert Redford’s little independent film festival isn’t remotely little anymore, and with the major Hollywood studios clamoring for ever more inclusion, “the question of whether Sundance has become too big and too co-opted seems ever more on point… And yet. There are more foreign films on hand this year than ever before, and despite premieres of such mainstream studio fare as The Butterfly Effect” – featuring Ashton Kutcher playing hopscotch with his past – Sundance continues to be mostly about the singular vision of the lone filmmaker.”