Canada’s culture minister Liza Frulla was defeated in Monday’s national election. “During Frulla’s tenure as culture minister, major issues on her plate included the introduction of satellite radio to Canada and the continued call for increased, stable funding for institutions like the Canada Council, the Canadian Television Fund and the CBC.”
Tag: 01.24.06
Contract Dispute At San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is locked in contract negotiations with its musicians. “At issue is the combination of base salary and extra payments that musicians earn after a certain period with the orchestra. Under the most recent contract terms, a player with at least 25 years with the orchestra earns a minimum of $110,760 annually. According to the musicians, the latest management offer would bump that to $114,140 in the first year, which would rank the Symphony last among the nation’s top seven orchestras; they’re asking for $117,104, which would put them squarely in the middle.”
Perkins Wins Childrens Book Honors
Lynne Rae Perkins’ Criss Cross, a humorous series of vignettes, illustrations and poems about a group of small-town teenagers, has won the Newbery Medal for “the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.”
The Porn Factor
“Not too long ago, pornography was a furtive profession, its products created and consumed in the shadows. But it has steadily elbowed its way into the limelight, with an impact that can be measured not just by the Internet-fed ubiquity of pornography itself but by the way aspects of the porn sensibility now inform movies, music videos, fashion, magazines, and celebrity culture.”
Columbus Symphony Names New Conductor
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra wraps up a three-year search by naming Junichi Hirokami as its new music director…
Explosion Rips Finland’s National Museum
The blast happened Monday night. “The investigation indicates that the explosion happened in a storeroom next to the silverware exhibition. The storeroom contains the museum’s master electricity switchboard.”
Coming To PBS – The Great Unifier?
Why did PBS choose Paula Kerger, a top executive at New York’s Thirteen/WNET to be the network’s new president? “She’s someone who we felt would be a great unifier of the system. Because she knows the system well — knows both newcomers and seasoned participants and brings a respect for the accomplishments of all — she will have a very unifying influence, which will be very constructive.”
Another London Bronze Stolen
A large bronze sculpture has been stolen from a London campus. This follows the theft of a large Henry Moore three weeks ago. “Police said 20 art thefts had happened in London in the past six months. Officers fear thieves are targeting valuable artworks worth millions of pounds so they can melt them down and sell them on as scrap metal at a fraction of the price.”
Spurling Wins Whitbread
Hilary Spurling’s biography of Matisse wins the top Whitbread. Spurling “spent 15 years writing and researching her two-part biography of the French Impressionist, was chosen over the four other Whitbread winners.”
Challenges For New PBS Boss
“The management change comes at a challenging time for PBS, which supplies programs to 348 stations. In recent years, cable has encroached on the documentary, nature, drama and children’s programming for which PBS is known. Even so, PBS has struggled to get its stations, which prize their autonomy, to agree on a common strategy to compete for viewers or even a consistent nationwide schedule.”