Americans have long been fascinated with Irish poetry and literature. “The latest sign of our interest is the awarding of this year’s Pulitzer Prize to Paul Muldoon, an excellent Irish poet now living in New Jersey. Why do we love the Irish so much? In large part it’s because these poets have portrayed an Ireland that seems glamorously different from our own modern, urban, technological society.”
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What’s In A Voice?
Why do those radio announcers with melodious vocal timbre so often turn out to be singularly unattractive when you meet them in person? “While there is a clear connection among age and sex and the pitch of a person’s voice, there’s no connection between pitch of voice and height, weight or any other dimension of an individual’s size… However, there are ‘telltale’ signs of body size in the ‘shape’ or resonance of the voice.” A university study is examining the connections.
Peter Prier Preps A Pack Of Plucky Perflers
Every professional requires proper training, and luthiers, the mysterious perfectionists who construct the violins, violas, and cellos used by the world’s musicians, are no exception. But your average university doesn’t offer a major in fingerboard shaving, or even a seminar in perfling. So where do budding luthiers turn for instruction in their craft? A surprising percentage turn to the teaching shop of a single man. In fact, the proliferation of American luthiers is largely due to the efforts of one Peter Prier, of Salt Lake City.
Why It’s Difficult To Get Publishing Sales Figures
“Nobody talks about publishing numbers because they are so unbelievably low. How many authors really make a living wage from their advances? How many books actually earn out, or pay their authors anything beyond the initial advance? And how many copies sold turn any particular book into a best-seller? Those are the questions all people interested in publishing think they want to know—and their answers are the ones publishing executives go out of their way not to reveal. A book can be on the best-seller lists for a couple of weeks and have sold 30,000 copies. Within publishing, that’s a reasonably good showing, but compared to, say, the music or movie or magazine business, where sales are measured in millions, it seems like nothing.”
Oregon Symphony Facing Deep Cuts
The Oregon Symphony has become the latest in a long line of North American orchestras to announce severe fiscal problems and a series of deep cuts to deal with them. Over the past few years, as the American economy has nosedived, the orchestra’s endowment has lost fully 50% of its value. To make up the difference in revenues, Oregon will cut several staff positions, slash salaries, and even reduce the pay of its conducting staff (including legendary outgoing music director James dePriest) by 10%. The ensemble is also asking next season’s guest performers to voluntarily reduce their fees, and although no cuts are immediately being made in the salaries of the orchestra’s musicians, the subject is sure to come up when their contract is renegotiated next year.
Musicologist’s Body Pulled From River
A body pulled from Boston’s Charles River this week has been positively identified as that of musicologist John Daverio, who disappeared last month. Daverio was a professor at Boston University, and was considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the music of Robert Schumann. Medical authorities say that Daverio drowned, but the circumstances surrounding his death are still a mystery, with his colleagues and friends dismissing the possibility of suicide.
Why Arts Don’t Play On TV
Why don’t the arts find more of an audience on TV? It’s because they’re ghettoized in “high art” packaging, says one BBC producer. “Hollywood and the advertising industry have succeeded in adapting music, verse and dance to popular taste where television has so far failed.”
Colorado State Arts Budget Depends On Cigarettes?
The Colorado legislature, which had been debating whether to cut state arts funding, voted to restore some of it, but there’s a but (or is that “butt?”). Funding for the interlibrary loan program and the arts council would be contingent on the state receiving its tobacco payments.”
Florida Contemplates Eliminating Arts Funding
Florida arts groups are barcing for the worst – that state arts funding will be eliminated. “Even in the dark days of the early 1990s, when the National Endowment for the Arts was under attack, no state government joined the chorus to eliminate arts funding within its own borders. Florida in particular was among some that increased support to compensate for the reduced role of the NEA. But that was before the economic shudders of the dot-com bust, the Sept. 11 attacks, Wall Street scandals and wars on terrorism and Iraq caused tax revenue collections to plummet.” However, “this is not an economic issue. The legislators have turned it into a policy issue.”
Assessing Blame In Iraq Looting
Who will be blamed for allowing the looting of Iraq’s museums? “Many Iraqis already believe that allied forces targeted ancient sites during the first Gulf War out of malice; this new destruction of Iraq’s cultural heritage may soon be attributed not to Iraqi criminals but to coalition intentions. In this war US commanders were already provided with a list of the most important of an estimated 10,000 ancient sites in Iraq. The Americans claim that they took great care to avoid hitting these but say that Saddam Hussein deliberately sited many of his defences near such places to give them cover.”