“The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has found its new top administrator at the head of the largest ballet company in America. Anne Parsons, 46, general manager of the New York City Ballet, has been hired as the executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The appointment comes at a crucial moment for the DSO, which is coping with a $2.2-million accumulated deficit, searching for a successor to music director Neeme Jarvi and developing a long-range vision for the $60-million Max M. Fisher Music Center, which the orchestra opened to great acclaim in October. The DSO has been without its top administrator since former president and executive director Emil Kang, in the wake of the deficit, resigned in December after 3 1/2 years at the helm.”
Tag: 04.22.04
Kahane to Colorado
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra has reportedly settled on conductor/pianist Jeffrey Kahane as its next music director, succeeding Marin Alsop. Kahane also heads up the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, recently founded a new music festival in northern California, and is a frequent guest with many major American orchestras. There is no word yet on when his tenure with the CSO will begin.
Never Saw It Coming
With Herbert Axelrod on the lam, New Jersey has lost arguably its most dynamic and generous arts supporter. “People in the arts world were stunned. To tell the truth, they said, they had not seen him in months. And perhaps oddly, considering Axelrod said that he wanted to hear his instruments played in New Jersey, Axelrod and his wife were not current subscribers to the NJSO.”
At Least The Instruments Have Integrity
When news broke of Herbert Axelrod’s shady financial dealings, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra could have been excused for panicking. After all, this alleged criminal had just sold them $18 million worth of supposedly priceless instruments. But NJSO officials say that regardless of Axelrod’s behavior in other areas, the deal that brought the orchestra its collection of Strads, Guarneris, and Amatis was on the up-and-up, and they’ve got the papers to prove it.
Never, Ever, Ever Leave Your Violin In The Car
“A thief recently broke into a car and made off with two 1840s violins owned by musicians in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. More than two weeks after the April 5 theft, police have not recovered the rare instruments, which are worth tens of thousands of dollars.” The theft was particularly brazen, taking place while the instruments’ owners were less than a block away buying a parking pass for their car.
So You’re A Poet? Better Watch Your Back.
Maybe it’s that poets tend to be such tortured souls. Or maybe the constant battle for public understanding and acceptance is just too much for some. But whatever the reason, a new study makes it perfectly clear: poets die younger than other writers. “On average, a poet had a life-expectancy of only 62… compared to playwrights’ average age 63 years, novelists’ 66 years and non-fiction writers’ 68 years.”
French Unions Disrupt Cultural Events (Again)
“Protesting French actors and technicians, who prompted the cancellation of most summer arts festivals last year and forced the resignation of the French culture minister this spring,” are again disrupting cultural events in France and threatening the Cannes Film Festival.
RSC Takes On New Work
The Royal Shakespeare Festival is producing a festival of new works, its first serious new work at Stratford since 2001. “The recommitment to new writing signals a return to the RSC’s traditional values, widely seen as having been dismantled by Boyd’s predecessor, Adrian Noble, who moved the company out of its London base at the Barbican, and threatened to bulldoze the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) in Stratford.”
How Can West End Theatres Justify Ticket Prices?
“To many, the West End feels like the airline industry in the days before Easyjet and Ryanair arrived: prices always rise faster than inflation, but the product never really improves. Sure, some of the stuff on stage is superb, but the customer service is terrible. The seats are generally cramped, the toilets are tiny and the bars are usually worse.”
BBC Assailed For Lack Of Creativity
The BBC has been criticzed in a report that says viewers think the originality and creativity of TV has slipped. “The BBC was singled out by Ofcom yesterday and told to stop chasing ratings and making copycat television shows as the media regulator claimed current affairs, the arts and religious programmes were being pushed out of peak viewing hours on terrestrial channels.”