Back in the 1960s, Thomas Nystrom was the frontman for a nationally known rock band which once opened for the Beatles. These days, Nystrom is a 58-year-old music aficionado who has spent much of his time lately battling colon cancer. But yesterday, the old Minneapolis rocker fulfilled a dream which he swears was every bit as thrilling as opening for the Fab Four. As an audience of friends and relatives clapped, stomped, and cheered, Nystrom mounted a podium at Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall in full tux and tails, picked up a baton, and led his other favorite band, the Minnesota Orchestra.
Tag: 01.22.03
“Art Agent” Busted In Florida
A man posing as an agent for visual artists has been arrested in Miami, after scamming several American and Canadian artists out of their work, having promised them cash and publicity that never materialized. Michael Harrison, who operated under a false name that hampered his pursuers for some time, told his ‘clients’ that his brother had been killed in the 9/11 attacks (he hadn’t,) and convinced them to send their best work as a donation to a non-existant foundation in his brother’s memory.
Reneging on the Calgary Phil?
Several Calgary aldermen are discussing the possibility of yanking back a $250,000 pledge to the cash-strapped Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which filed for bankruptcy protection and suspended operations last fall. The city’s contribution was contingent upon the provincial government of Alberta offering up a like amount, but Alberta offered the orchestra an advance on future grants instead, and that has provided the excuse some aldermen opposed to the bailout wanted to reopen debate. The aldermen insist the provincial contribution is a loan, which does not meet the city’s ‘matching’ requirements. Provincial officials had insisted earlier that the funds were not a loan.
Boston ICA Gets New Leadership
“Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art has hired a new curator, Nicholas Baume, a 37-year-old Australian who has been the contemporary curator at Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum since 1998. Baume, who assumes the job in March, replaces Jessica Morgan, who resigned from the ICA in November to move back to her native England, where she is a curator at London’s Tate Modern.”
Kantor Named Editor Of NYT A&E
The New York Times has named Jodi Kantor as its new editor of the paper’s Sunday A&E section. Kanto comes from the online magazine Slate. “At Slate, Ms. Kantor, 27, had the assignment of developing ways to use the Internet to write about the arts, ranging from short, argumentative ‘Culturebox’ essays to online slideshows and a weekly e-mail exchange between professional therapists about developments on ‘The Sopranos.’ In the past, Ms. Kantor has contributed several pieces to The Times Book Review.”
Aboriginal Dance Company May Close
Australia’s National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association – a dance training institute – may close after management irregularities and plummeting enrollment rates were discovered. “An internal review has been established after the – discovered it had just 10 students and 28 staff members last year.” Say a board member: “Nobody had told us we had just 10 students practising on a regular basis The board had believed it had close to 80 students enrolled.”
Berlin’s Troubling Deal For A Big Collection
At virtually no cost, debt-ridden Berlin got the chance last month to “show one of the most distinguished private collections of its kind in the world — one that, moreover, has never been shown in its entirety to the public. Yet the collection has been unwelcome elsewhere because it belongs to Friedrich Christian Flick, the multimillionaire heir of a leading Nazi arms manufacturer. And for Berlin, a city that has served variously as the epicenter of the avant-garde and Nazi despotism, that fact presents a troubling dilemma.”
Norman Mailer At 80
At 80, with a new book out, Norman Mailer is still stuffed with big opinions. “People are always complaining in sports about how much money these athletes get. At least those athletes can answer, `I’m getting that money because I’m the best in my field.’ In literature it’s exactly the opposite. It’s the mediocrities who make the mega-sums. That was always true to a degree, but it’s intensified considerably.”
Honoring Nureyev 10 Years After His Death
On the 10th anniversary of Rudolf Nureyev’s death, the Paris Opera Ballet mounts a glittering tribute. “The occasion was above all a homage. Thus, with all the pomp and reverence that the Paris Opera Ballet reserves for such occasions, it opened with a défilé, or parade, in which 250 dancers — the entire troupe as well as children from its ballet school — walked slowly toward the audience to the march from Berlioz’s opera “Les Troyens.” A huge photograph of Nureyev then appeared on a screen, followed by a film depicting his life.”
An Ode To The Brooklyn Academy
“In New York, there is nothing to match the Brooklyn Academy of Music, affectionately known by its acronym BAM. Its three tiers hold around 2,000, but the embracing curve of its interior makes it seem intimate. What I love most about BAM is the sense that, like Topsy, it just growed. It doesn’t seem engineered. So many ‘arts centres’ – the Barbican and the Lowry not least – are really arts ghettos, plonked down and squashed into the middle of nowhere to suit the exigencies of the town planner.”