The Boston Symphony Orchestra has had a change of heart regarding its recent decision to hike the prices of some tickets at Symphony Hall by as much as 80%, after hearing from hundreds of angry subscribers. High ticket prices have become a way of life for major American orchestras, and the BSO’s are some of the highest in the industry, but in the process of reassessing its pricing scale, the orchestra had decided that a batch of seats in the second balcony had been dramatically underpriced, and hiked the per-concert price from $57 to $83. After weeks of protest and the launching of a web site excoriating the price hikes, the BSO announced that it will offer subscribers some relief from the new prices.
Tag: 03.10.04
PA Summer Venue Shuts Down
“Seven months after it opened, the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts in the Poconos has run out of money and canceled its summer concert season featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.” The PSO was notified of the decision in a letter dated February 26. The center may be able to reorganize and emerge as the high-profile summer venue it was intended to be, but at this point, all the big plans are on indefinite hold.
Good Idea, Lousy Execution
The short, sad story of the Mountain Laurel Center is a lesson in the risks of overreaching in the service of a great idea, writes Dan Majors. The project was underfunded from the start, and last summer, construction was still ongoing when the Pittsburgh Symphony showed up for the gala opening concert. Now, with Mountain Laurel officials looking for a state bailout only seven months after that gala, one has to wonder why no one addressed the financial precariousness of the project earlier.
No Rodin For Barrie: MacLaren May Close
“A multimillion-dollar deal to bring hundreds of bronze sculptures attributed to the French master Auguste Rodin to a small Ontario art gallery has collapsed, with the result that the gallery may be forced to close its doors as early as next month.” The 510 bronze pieces, reportedly worth as much as CAN$135 million, were expected to be the linchpin of an ambitious art project which would have placed Canadian and international sculpture in and around the town of Barrie, Ontario, home of the MacLaren Art Centre. But questions cropped up about the proposed deal to bring the bronzes to Barrie, with some experts even questioning whether all 510 pieces exist.
Northwestern Kills Off Organ Program
“Northwestern University on Monday officially ended the school’s storied organ and church music degree programs, citing the lack of enrollment and need to focus music department resources elsewhere.” But students in the program, who are protesting the decision, have some powerful allies – members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who are on faculty at the university are speaking out against the cutbacks, and letters of support have come from CSO music director Daniel Barenboim and Chicago Lyric Opera director Andrew Davis. Northwestern’s organ program has been a cornerstone of the school’s music department since the 1890s.
Oregon Symphony To Appoint New Prez
For mid-sized orchestras, finding and holding onto quality executives can be a difficult task. If an executive succeeds in creating a sustainable orchestra model at a top regional orchestra, s/he will likely be snapped up in short order by a more high-profile ensemble. Such was the case in Portland this past year, where Oregon Symphony president Tony Woodcock was snatched away by the Minnesota Orchestra, leaving Oregon scrambling to find a replacement who could match Woodcock’s skills. Today, the symphony will announce William A. Ryberg, a tenor-turned-banker who has lately been running a small orchestra in Michigan, as its new president, and all involved will cross their fingers in the hope that they’ve found another quality administrator, and that this one might stay.
Guilty Or Not, It’s A Damned Creepy Way To Make A Living
“A German scientist who created an exhibition of human corpses has been cleared of allegations that he illegally obtained some of the bodies. Gunther von Hagens was accused in several press reports last year of using bodies from China and Kyrgyzstan. But prosecutors in Heidelberg, Germany, said the corpses had been sold legally by institutions such as hospitals… Dr von Hagens was allowed to buy the corpses from such institutions because they were legal custodians of the bodies if the relatives of the dead had not claimed them.”
Are You There, Walt? It’s Me, Judy.
In a clear effort to show that it is serious about recapturing the imagination of the youth market, Disney has bought the rights to several of author Judy Blume’s novels for young adults, and plans to turn out a series of films based on them. The move comes less than two weeks after Disney announced that it had bought the rights to C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series.
The Musician Who Incited A Civil War (Maybe)
Rwandan musician Simon Bikindi has been arraigned before a UN tribunal in Tanzania, charged with inciting genocide in his native country through the lyrics of his music. Prosecutors claim that Bikindi’s music was designed explicitly to promote solidarity among the Hutu of Rwanda, and to stir up ethnic hatred against the minority Tutsi. Bikindi has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Case Of The Overlapping Board Member
Software magnate and collector Peter Norton has recently found himself split in two – as a member of the boards of directors of the Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art. .”In recent years, the Whitney, founded as a showcase for American art, has featured more international art, putting it in more direct competition with MoMA. Mr. Norton now serves on committees at both museums. What happens if both are bidding on the same acquisitions at the same galleries, or vying to get the same exhibitions? In the social order of generations past, it would have been unheard of to serve on the Whitney and MoMA boards at once.”