“I still don’t have a programmatic answer about that. I feel like everybody, critics or fans or whatever, figures out where to draw their own lines and how to deal with every case. … I think there is a rush to disown a lot these guys, to make them disappear, and I think that that is certainly warranted morally in a lot of ways, but I think it lets other people off the hook.” (podcast with transcript)
Blog
Showing Business Execs What They Can Learn From Orchestras And Conductors
PBS NewsHour goes to visit a session of the Music Paradigm, conductor Roger Nierenberg’s seminar where corporate folks, high-powered doctors and the like study the examples of preparation and teamwork that an orchestra can offer. (video and transcript)
Director Of Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Resigns In Wake Of Harassment/Assault Lawsuit
In a statement issued Thursday evening, Albert Schultz said, “While I will continue to vigorously defend myself against the allegations that are being made, I have made this decision in the interest of the future of the company into which I poured the last 20 years of my life, and in the interest of the aspirations of the artists and administrators of the company.” The board immediately accepted the resignation.
‘No Meaningful Or Sustained Change In 2017’ – Things Are Getting No Better For Women And Nonwhite Directors In Hollywood
“The report, commissioned by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, surveyed 1,100 films made in the last 11 years, and found that just 4% were directed by women – which equates to 22 male directors hired for every woman. … Furthermore, just 5.2% of all directors – male and female – were black or African American, and 3.2% were Asian.”
Maurice Peress, Conductor Who Worked With Bernstein And Ellington, Dead At 87
“[He] spent the last 33 years conducting the student orchestra at the Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music, where he established a master’s degree in conducting. But before settling into that role he led major orchestras, conducted the premieres of important works by Bernstein and others, and helped Ellington orchestrate some of his signature compositions.”
New Director Of Shakespeare’s Globe To Let Cast Pick Roles And Audiences Choose Plays
“Saying she wants to dismantle theatre hierarchies, Michelle Terry announced [that] … none of the actors turning up for rehearsals [for Hamlet and As You Like It] will know which role they are taking, with the whole ensemble choosing who plays whom. In a similar vein, when the plays The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night go on tour, some audiences will be able to choose which one they want to see that night.”
Saudi Arabia’s Entry In The Gulf Mega-Museum Contest Is On Its Way
“After years of delays and a dearth of information, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (known as Ithra) in the eastern city of Dhahran is finally getting off the ground. The long-awaited culture hub, which is funded by the Aramco oil conglomerate, should be fully open and operational by the summer.”
Aharon Appelfeld, 85, Acclaimed Israeli Novelist
“Nearly all of his novels, stories and essays concerned the Holocaust, although Mr. Appelfeld preferred to say that his focus was far broader: Jewish loneliness, immigration and – as he once joked to the New York Times – ‘trivialities,’ the depiction of ‘small, ordinary, unheroic people.’ Unlike Primo Levi or Elie Wiesel, fellow chroniclers of the Holocaust, Mr. Appelfeld rarely ventured into historical analysis or first-person anecdote.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.04.18
Admission Revision: Metropolitan Museum Raises Eyebrows with Mandatory Fees for Non-New Yorkers
Were it not for my free-admission press pass, I’d be personally affected and affronted by the Metropolitan Museum’s new admissions policy. I’d feel as if a longtime lover had jilted me. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-01-04
Artichokes, Hearts
A while back I read that some folks were plucking artichokes from farm borders off the roads in California, apparently to sell. One doesn’t immediately think that these vegetable aardvarks are sustenance, although, indirectly, … read more
AJBlog: Out There Published 2018-01-04
The artist and his art
In today’s Wall Street Journal“Sightings” column, I offer some further thoughts on the wider implications of the James Levine scandal. Here’s an excerpt. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-01-04
Met Museum Now Will Require Non-NYC Residents To Pay Admission
The change reflects the Met’s efforts to establish a reliable, annual revenue stream after a period of financial turbulence and leadership turmoil, particularly given what the Met describes as a sharp decline in people willing to pay the current “suggested” admission price, also $25. But the move could provoke objections from suburbanites and tourists as well as outcry from those who believe a taxpayer funded institution should be free to the public.