“While British music educationalists agonise over the merits (or otherwise) of ‘leading’ our children to orchestral music via urban grime projects in Hackney, the Chinese – as in so many Far Eastern countries – have stolen a march on us simply by introducing their children to classical music as a matter of course with no patronising sweeteners attached. As a result, there’s a buzz around the genre which is wholly absent in the West.”
Tag: 05.31.06
Art For Free
Baltimore’s two largest art museums are scrapping their admission fees, an initiative made possible by a major grant from city and county governments. “The new policy, modeled on that of several other museums nationwide, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Cincinnati Art Museum, is aimed at boosting attendance, increasing visitor diversity and raising the city’s profile as a tourist destination.”
Yahoo Remakes Its Video Strategy
Yahoo is reprogramming its online video service so it’s more like YouTube, an internet upstart that has amassed a large audience during the past year with a free web service that encourages people to post and share homemade clips.
Labour’s Arts Support Legacy
Britain’s Labour Party has one unequivocal success – its support of the arts. “Labour has a good enough story to tell on the arts – up 64% in cash and more in impact. Chris Smith is one of the few politicians to retire knowing he has done something brilliant – restoring free entry to museums and galleries, swelling attendances by 50%. But politics and art rub along like a fingernail on a blackboard: ministers too rarely sing its praises.”
Harrison Birtwistle Places Himself
“Yes, people attack for me being this shocking radical who writes this incomprehensible music, but really I think I’m doing the same sort of thing as Beethoven. When the Queen asked me what sort of music I write, I said, ‘Like Beethoven’s’, which sounds like a joke, or arrogant, but actually it’s true. Now I suppose everyone will say I’m a terrible reactionary.”
Major Egyptian Tomb Revealed
“Buried under 13 feet of rubble and stones just 16 feet away from King Tutankhamun’s resting place, the chamber is believed to be the 63rd tomb found since the valley was first mapped in the 18th century. It is the first chamber discovered since the boy pharaoh was uncovered in 1922.”
Thieves Stealing Statues For Scrap
Two bronze statues worth £45,000 in total have become the latest artworks to be stolen by thieves believed to be taking sculptures for their scrap value in the UK.
HMV Buys Ottakar’s
HMV has agreed to buy Uk book retailer Ottakar’s. Why was Ottakar’s for sale? “Over the past year the book market has undergone a significant change, with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms.”
Orchestras – The Best Or Worst Of Times?
Allan Kozinn wrote a piece in last Sunday’s New York Times contending that rumors of the demise of classical music are greatly exaggerated. But Greg Sandow doesn’t believe it, and a vigorous debate has broken out…
Here’s Betting He Doesn’t Call This One “Ilyitch”
Playwright Peter Shaffer, best known for dramatizing the life of Mozart in Amadeus, is taking another crack at the classical music world, with another famously tragic composer as his subject. The as yet untitled play, which Shaffer has spent a decade writing, focuses on the life and (mostly) death of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and the New York producer that first brought Amadeus to the stage is already licking its chops at the prospect of a sequel.