It’s time again for the MacArthur Foundation to begin handing out its so-called “genius grants” – $500,000 gifts with no strings attached, awarded to the “most promising creative thinkers” in America – and this year, the city of Boston is home to no fewer than six of the recipients. “It is not surprising that Boston, with its top-tier universities and hospitals, would attract geniuses. But the Boston winners also represent something else: the triumph of synergy as people cross the traditional boundaries that divide one field from another.” The Boston winners include composer Osvaldo Golijov, female circumcision activist Dr. Nawal Nour, and Xiaowei Zhuang, a Harvard physics professor.
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Complete List of MacArthur Winners
Music As A Contact Sport
Conductor Keith Lockhart tore his rotator cuff last year, as a direct result of what he does for a living. Laugh if you must, but what orchestral musicians (even conductors) do onstage is a physical nightmare for the human body, and injuries are becoming increasingly common. String players contort their arms and shoulders into impossible positions to reach around their instruments, brass players spend hours with their lips frozen in a pucker, and a conductor leading a Mahler symphony might not drop his hands to his sides for more than a few seconds in a 90-minute performance. Many musicians are adapting new methods of relaxation and muscle relief in an effort to stave off career-threatening injuries.
A New Picasso Museum
A new Picasso Museum is about to open in Malaga, Spain. “Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the widow of Picasso’s eldest son Paulo, has donated 133 works to the museum and her son Bernard has given another 22. Another 49 works are on loan from other relatives for 10 years.”
The Raphael – Picture, Picture, Who Gets The Picture?
The status of Raphael’s “Madonna of the pinks” is growing increasingly murky. The Getty Museum has offered £35 million for the painting, and would export it to the US. But if the painting was valued at £20 million plus taxes for the owner and the money were forthcoming in the UK, the painting would stay in England. But should it be valued at £20 million? And the taxes?
A Tale Of Two Opera Openings
Two of the country’s grandest and most venerable companies, the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, began their new seasons recently, and they made an instructive contrast.” Both face financial challenges. The Met chose ear-pleasing fare for its opening. SF Opera, by contrast presented a challenging American work. And the grumbling at intermission?….
Glasgow Gallery Programmer Fired
The visual arts programmer for Glasgow’s Tramway arts space has been fired. The center has been under fire lately becasue of a plan for Scottish Ballet to take over the space. “We are not attacking the ballet – we support all art forms – but why should it be at the expense of such an important arts space? To pit two communities against each other in the arts world seems ridiculous.”
Take The Art Test
A survey in the UK showed that art literacy is very low. Okay, so it’s easy to ridicule the high percentage of know-nothings who took the survey. But how would you do? The Guardian put together its own art test… your AJ editor scored 75 percent (six of eight) … and you?
St. Louis Symphony Dumps General Manager To Save Money
The St. Louis Symphony, struggling to get its finances in order, has dismissed its general manager. The orchestra says the move is to help reduce expenses, and that the duties of the well-respected Carla Johnson will be divided among other senior staff. Critic Tim Page called Johnson “the administrative heart and soul of the St. Louis Symphony.”
Harbourfront Fires Another
Mere months after the much-publicized firing of Festival of Authors director Greg Gatenby, Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre has abruptly dismissed the man who has programmed its music for nearly two decades. Derek Andrews “was informed on Sept. 25 in a terse letter that his contract would not be renewed in December and that the non-profit corporation no longer needed his services… Andrews obsessively sought out and exposed new and young talent, helped establish Harbourfront as a key element in the international touring network, and provided a refreshing and intelligent alternative to mass-marketed commercial music.”