Top candidate to take over as music director of the Toronto Symphony is former Tokyo String Quartet violinist Peter Oundjian. Oundjian retired from playing the violin in the mid-90s after an injury and made his conducting debut in summer 1995, replacing an ailing André Previn at the Caramoor festival. The TSO has been without a music director since June 2001.
Blog
Go West, Young Arts Lover…
It used to be that the quality cultural offerings in America were found on the East Coast. No longer. “The great and unfolding story of our cultural geography, however, is happening elsewhere now, driven by population shifts, new wealth, expanded education, international migration of artists and the evolution of a prismatic American aesthetic in cities from Miami to Seattle. Nowhere is this tectonic change more apparent than in San Francisco…”
Room At The Top
The San Francisco Symphony isn’t one of America’s Big Five orchestras – it’s helped expand the definition of the country’s best ensembles.
SF Opera – Best Of The Rest?
Of course the Metropolitan Opera is America’s best – and biggest. But San Francisco is surely second (or third?) best?
Have Muppets, Will Sell
The Muppet empire has been chopped into pieces since Muppet creator Jim Henson died in 1990. The company was sold soon after Henson’s death, and some of the characters were resold off to Sesame Street last year. The rest of the troupe has been on the market for the past year. Is Miss Piggy enough of an enduring character to endure?
SFMOMA – The Big Push
San Francisco’s highest-profile art museum? SFMuseum of Modern Art. “SFMOMA stands reinvented in its landmark – though not universally admired – downtown building designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta.”
SF Ballet – A Comer…
“Long regarded as a solid regional institution, San Francisco Ballet has vaulted forward in the past decade. Versatility and aplomb, distinctive stars from around the globe, depth in the corps, a clean and confident style and a broadly built repertoire now place San Francisco well ahead of the regional pack and into the first tier of major companies.”
The Big Orange
Sad economic stories from arts groups all over America are common these days. But in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange County, the story is mixed. “Success stories are almost as common as negative reports. The mixture of good and bad news here is further evidence that Orange County is a quirky place, not to be graphed on a simple upward or downward chart.”
The Life & Times Of A Dance Company…
Director Robert Altman wanted to direct a dance movie, and chose Chicago’s Joffrey Company to tell the story. “Artists steeped in the work of Vaslav Nijinsky, Antony Tudor and Frederick Ashton meet, or, rather, met Robert Altman, Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell during the three-month shoot took place all over Chicago as it focused on a story inside the life and times of the Joffrey.”
Escape From…
Looking back over this year’s offerings in arts and entertainment, there’s one trend that’s easy to spot – a low reading on the substance meter. “Maybe this year we needed an extra dose of escapism. But if the entertainment industry wants to stay connected with us in the long run, it needs to make more works that matter.”