Reinventing The Calgary Phil

The beleaguered Calgary Philharmonic, which very nearly became part of the list of defunct North American orchestras last year, is back in business, with a tough new CEO at the helm and a professed commitment to financial responsibility above all. In addition to hiring retired oil executive Mike Bregazzi to run the organization, the CPO is dramatically restructuring the role of its board, increasing its regional visibility, and introducing a flexible ticket-pricing plan which it hopes will draw new audience.

Revenge Of The Teenage Art Gangs

Teenage art gangs seem to be hip right now. “These days the very youngest and hippest American collectives all seem to come from Rhode Island, namely groups such as Forcefield and Dearraindrop. These are apparently two distinctly different organisations who happen to share the same provincial bohemia and a not dissimilar anarchic aesthetic of extreme visual and sonic overload; what’s more their combined ages probably add up to just one mid-career abstract painter.”

Union Rejects Pay Cuts

The union representing performers at America’s opera and ballet companies says it is ready to help managements address ongoing budget problems within their organizations, but says that pay cuts should not be on the table. According to union officials, too many companies think that their fiscal woes can be solved simply by slashing payroll, and do not have an adequate long-range plan for financial success.

Unrepentant Pirates

A new survey estimates that more than 35 million adults spend at least some amount of time downloading copyrighted material online without paying for it. The vast majority of these amateur pirates also claim to be indifferent to copyright law, saying that the legality of file-sharing ‘doesn’t concern them.’ But the recording industry points out that the study was conducted before the industry announced plans to sue individuals found to be illegally downloading.

CBC Radio Ratings Up

“English- and French-language Canadian Broadcasting Corp. stations rose from 9.5 per cent of audience share in 1998 to nearly 11 per cent in 2002, taking third place overall. This spot was the longtime domain of country music, until it was pushed out by talk radio in 2001.”

Puppet Masters

“Long relegated to children’s birthday parties, puppets are no longer considered strictly kiddie fare. At venues like New York’s P.S. 122, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and HERE Arts Center, puppeteers are tackling Rossini operas, Shakespearean tragedies, and Ionesco tales. Puppets are also a growing presence on Broadway.

When Stalin Tried To Kill John Wayne

A new book reports that Stalin was so enraged by the anti-communism of movie actor John Wayne, he tried to have him killed. “John Wayne – The Man Behind the Myth, by British writer and actor Michael Munn, says there were several attempts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to kill the man known to audiences around the world as Duke.”

Art In Slow Motion

In Laguna Beach, California people create living tableaux of great works of art. “This experience in trompe l’oeil (fooling the eye), an artistic extravaganza once featured on ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not,’ takes place not in Hollywood, but 50 miles south in the hilly coastal art colony of Laguna Beach. Quiet most of the year, and filled with white water, surfers, and artists, the village comes alive every summer as it hosts the Laguna Beach Art Festival and the internationally acclaimed Pageant of the Masters, where a cast of thousands have mastered the art of holding still – for about 90 seconds.”