Zukerman Returns To Ottawa Orchestra

Pinchas Zukerman has ended his “medical leave” from Ottawa’s National Arts Center Orcehstra. “Last week, Zukerman apologized to the NAC players in a letter. It was not made public but included the words ‘I am sorry,’ said orchestra manager Christopher Deacon. Initial reaction from the players was conciliatory. ‘I think that sort of thing goes a long way to correcting the situation’.”

The Rising Cost Of Donations

“While it used to be enough to just list a contributor’s name in a program book or on a wall plaque, donors expect a little more gratitude. Local arts groups are now offering donors and members gourmet dinners, complimentary tickets, cocktail parties, discounts on merchandise, subscriptions to magazines, valet parking, priority seating, and even all the cookies and coffee you can consume during an intermission.”

The Orphaned Movies

Changes of ownership of movie studios can have dire consequences for movie projects in production. “In the wake of two massive show business deals — Sony’s $4.9-billion pact with MGM and Disney’s $7.4-billion purchase of Pixar Animation Studios — the production and development on three movies have been terminated, while two finished films have been shelved with no immediate plans for release.”

After Munitz, What Next For The Getty?

“With the Getty’s big endowment, it is thus particularly important that the board be able to exercise sound, independent oversight over whoever is chosen as the next president. There were major questions surrounding the board during Mr. Munitz’s term as president–that he had recommended as board members individuals too closely tied to him through past business dealings–and so there was not the effective oversight that is especially necessary in an organization as wealthy as the Getty.”

Martins And The City Ballet Legacy

“Veteran New York City Ballet fans — who witnessed the glory days under Balanchine — habitually carp about Peter Martins’s ballets. Even these naysayers admit he has craft, but they sense the absence of imagination. They’re also put off by the aridity of his pieces in the classical mode and the hostility between the sexes that prevails in his contemporary-style works. It’s possible, too, that the detractors conflate Martins’s lack of choreographic genius with other perceived flaws. During his tenure, the custodianship of the Balanchine repertoire has, arguably, been careless.”