“Avery Fisher is a misunderstood treasure. Concert halls — indeed, all places where people gather — should not be measured by their iconic status. They should be measured by the service they perform for their communities. In that regard, Avery Fisher has done a yeoman’s job. Its ultimate shortcoming may be that it’s not Carnegie, but that’s also its saving grace. While the out-of-town orchestras rush to perform at the grand old hall on 57th Street, Avery Fisher plays a different — and sometimes more vibrant — role in the city’s musical life.”
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Sculptor of Heroes
Many of us have a distinct sense of what we think constitutes a fitting statue in honor of a great figure. That image comes from the 18th century, and “when we visualize one of these heroes, we are almost always referencing Jean-Antoine Houdon’s brilliant sculptural portraits. Between 1775 and 1789 he sculpted the men of letters and of the nobility of Europe and America.”
SARS Slays Lion King
Toronto’s SARS scare has claimed another victim – the Lion King. The show has seen ticket sales plummet after tourists began staying away from the city over concerns about SARS. “The show’s closure will bring to an end the a run of 1,300 performances since March 2000.”
Artistic Success…On The Backs Of…
An arts organization’s biggest asset? Its volunteers. “Anyone who believed the media coverage of the arts might end up thinking that they were a haven for fat cats on inflated salaries, cushioned by state subsidy and Lottery grants. Talk to anyone who actually works for your local theatre, art gallery or stately home and you begin to see a more heartening picture of goodwill and altruistic dedication to the play, the music, the paintings. Every volunteer is a romantic at heart, hoping to be brushed by stardust.”
Higher (Blogger) Education
Blogging is catching on with academics. “In their skeptical moments, academic bloggers worry that the medium smells faddish, ephemeral. But they also make a strong case for blogging’s virtues, the foremost of which is freedom of tone. Blog entries can range from three-word bursts of sarcasm to carefully honed 5,000-word treatises. The sweet spot lies somewhere in between, where scholars tackle serious questions in a loose-limbed, vernacular mode. Blogging also offers speed; the opportunity to interact with diverse audiences both inside and outside academe; and the freedom to adopt a persona more playful than those generally available to people with Ph.D.’s.”
UK Audience For Foreign Films Drops
Britons are watching fewer foreign films in theatres. Why? “The problem with foreign-language films is that they became increasingly marginalised in the schedules on BBC2. They would be shown intermittently and late at night because that was the only way we could get them into the schedule, partly because BBC2 has become a more mainstream channel. It’s not a niche channel any more.”
Looking To Bust Piracy Without Breaking Privacy
Big media companies have been trying to catch pirates by trying to track down people trading the movies or music. But Paul Kocher is trying a different way. “Instead of trying to track everyone’s habits and patterns, Kocher’s code would create a forensic trail to allow law-enforcement authorities to hunt down criminals – but only after there is evidence that illegal copies have been made. Says Kocher: ‘We’re trying to create a system where there will be consequences if people don’t obey the laws, but anonymity will be protected if they do’.”
Foundation Reform – Who Pays The Expenses?
A proposal before Congress would force foundations to cover their administrative costs outside the five percent of their assets they’re required to give away each year. “Foundation execs are in a flutter. They see the bill as a threat to the immortality of their institution, and perhaps of their founders’ names. In their view, the bill demands that they either cut costs to the bone (at the expense of more difficult or adventurous projects) or go extinct. Susan Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, has said the bill will force foundations “to eat into capital and the country will lose these… public assets for the common good’.”
Is Free TV Worth Saving? Does Anyone Care?
“Since the 1950s, the free broadcast system has served as the great galvanizer and equalizer, accessible to anyone in the nation owning a rooftop antenna and a TV. Even today, most Americans get their news from TV broadcasters. Yet some critics say the system is irreparably broken and growing more irrelevant in the face of competition from cable and satellite services, even as the federal government has moved to prop up the broadcast industry.”
Why Movie-goers Are Staying Away From Foreign Films
“There’s still an audience for good foreign films, but it isn’t getting any younger, or bigger. On the other hand, Hollywood’s favorite customers, heavy movie users in their mid-teens to their mid- or late 20s, have been turning away from subtitled films in droves, and not just because their mothers warned them about reading in the dark.”