It was the first symphony orchestra in the entire Far East, founded in 1879. (That’s only 37 years after the New York Philharmonic, the United States’ oldest orchestra.) Says music director Long Yu, “You can find all the programs through the First (World) War, Second (World) War, Cultural Revolution and till today – they have not stopped playing concerts. … They did function in the Cultural Revolution – Chinese folk songs, but they still played. It is amazing.” – Chicago Tribune
Tag: 08.07.19
New York Mag Gives Decolonize This Place A Museum Target List
Now that Warren Kanders (“the tear-gas CEO”) has been chased off the Whitney’s board, “which institution might wind up in the crosshairs next? We looked at the makeup of various museums and ranked whose ties make them likely targets of outrage.” – New York Magazine
Tourists Are No Longer Allowed To Sit On Rome’s Spanish Steps
If they do, they can get €400 tickets. And if they try to wade in the Trevi Fountain the way Anita Ekberg did in La Dolce Vita? €450. Those guys in centurion costumes who pose with tourists at the Colosseum are now forbidden, and there are plenty of other new rules “intended to ‘guarantee decorum, security and legality’ by prohibiting actions that are ‘not compatible with the historic and artistic decorum'” of the historic center of the Eternal City. – The New York Times
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Loses Its Director. What Does That Mean For The Yet-To-Open Building?
“Where they are right now — making that transition between heavy construction and the other things a museum does — is the most fragile and sensitive time for any organization,” said Justin Jampol, director of the Wende Museum of Cold War History, which opened in Culver City less than two years ago. “It’s a big switch and it has a very stressful impact on the organization.” – Los Angeles Times
Emmys Follow Oscars – No Host For This Year’s Awards
How is the decision going down with people who’ve hosted awards shows in the past? Pretty well, apparently. – New York Magazine
Benefits (Yet Again)
It’s been two years since I posted my effort at categorizing the benefits of the arts. The subject is an urgent one because of both the social and political pressures to justify funding and our need to be able to articulate the inherent value of the arts to a disbelieving (or at least bemused) public. So, again, here goes. – Doug Borwick