“Art opens people up and delves deep. Anyone who’s ever poured out his passion on a dance floor, sung John Mayer in the shower or felt rapture at Swan Lake knows it. But can that delving heal people, in both body and mind, as a veritable army of art therapists, drama therapists, dance therapists, cinema and photo therapists, expressive arts practitioners, patients, their families, hospice workers and holistic musicians believe?”
Tag: 07.23.03
The Dave Eggers Show
Chances are, you’re either sick to death of hearing about Dave Eggers, or you can’t get enough of him. Either way, there’s little doubt that the ultra-independent Eggers is raising the bar for authors, publishers, and the book industry in general. His readings are more like stand-up comedy acts; his commitment to small, independent booksellers is legendary; and his burning desire to use his unexpected wealth and fame to craft a literary world based less around marketing and more around, well, literature, appears to be quite genuine. Of course, he’s also ridiculously good at self-promotion, but then, that’s part of the game, isn’t it?
Trying Anything To Get The Kids Involved
A new educational initiative sponsored by the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival combines the classics with modern pop music overtones, in the hope of making the genre less intimidating. It’s a strange effect, but John van Rhein says that if it works, it’s worth it. “If such tactics are what’s needed to turn on kids to a 173-year-old symphonic masterpiece, so be it… The project is one of many comparable initiatives undertaken by classical music organizations across the nation… In so doing, they are taking up some of the slack from an educational system that has failed miserably to keep classical music in the public school curriculum.”
And It Never Hurts To Have A Backup Profession
At a lakeside resort in Central Maine, the wait staff are no ordinary foodservice types. Quisisana, a resort catering to New England’s well-to-do, decided to kill two birds with one stone by recruiting its service staff almost entirely from the nation’s top music conservatories. Students from such prestigious institutions as Juilliard and New England Conservatory bus tables and wash dishes by day, then throw on tux and tails in the evening to provide entertainment for the resort’s guests. It may sound a bit exhausting, but for music students who would otherwise have to sacrifice their summer practice time in order to make money, it’s the perfect summer job.
Refusing To Roll Over For The Record Industry
One of the recording industry’s recent efforts to stem the flow of illegal music downloads on the internet was to issue subpoenas to dozens of American colleges and universities, demanding that the schools turn over the names and addresses of students known to be trading copyrighted material on school servers. But this week, two Boston schools have filed motions to quash the subpoenas, claiming that the industry failed to give the schools a reasonable amount of time to inform their student bodies. One Boston College administrator insists that the motions to quash are not designed to protect students engaged in illegal file trading, but to make sure that the law is followed to the letter.
Heritage Lottery Allocates £11.5 Million For Raphael
The UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed to contribute £11.5 million towards the possible purchase of a Raphael masterpiece owned by the Duke of Northumberland. The Duke has been planning to sell the painting to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, but agreed to give the UK’s National Gallery a chance to buy it first, so as to keep the important work in country. The National Gallery had originally asked the Lottery for £20 million, then revised its request to £11.5 million after concluding that their higher request would never be met. The gallery will now need to raise another £9.5 million privately in order to offer a “matching bid.” Even then, there is no guarantee that the Raphael would remain in the UK.
Deferring To American Nationalism
After hemming and hawing and delaying and looking nervously over their shoulders for the better part of two years, the folks at Miramax are finally releasing a supposedly controversial Australian film into the U.S. market. The delay, which began after the 9/11 attacks, and continued through the invasion of Iraq, was a result of studio fears that Americans would be furious at the plotline of Buffalo Soldiers, which revolves around American soldiers involved in “illegal activities.”
Tough Year For Roundabout
It’s been an up-and-down year for New York’s Roundabout Theater Company. Tonys were won and critics heaped praise on nearly everything Roundabout put on a stage this season, but the company ran a $2 million deficit that is likely to result in layoffs and wage freezes. Performances were packed for the revival of Nine currently running on Broadway, but such things seemed unimportant after artistic director Todd Haimes, who has been at the helm of the company for two decades, learned he had a rare form of cancer midway through the year.
BBC Phil Extends Conductor’s Contract
Gianandrea Noseda won’t be leaving the podium of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra anytime soon. The orchestra signed the young Italian to a 3-year extension (through 2008) after only a year on the job, and the announcement met with cheers from the musicians of the Manchester-based ensemble. Noseda succeeded the French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier, who many initially feared would be virtually irreplacable.
Um, So, Thumbs Down, Then?
Britain’s National Portrait Gallery has been getting an architectural overhaul lately, and the results do not appear to have pleased Richard Dorment. “Architects hate art. If you let them loose near a museum or gallery, you have to watch their every move, because they will do their best to leave their own galumphing paw prints all over the place, and in the process stamp on the works of art. For several months now I’ve been hearing angry denunciations of the National Portrait Gallery’s renovation of its once glorious Regency Galleries, but only last week, when I saw them for myself, did I register the full horror of what has happened there.”