“Some artists—painters, for instance—have always been able to produce work themselves, relatively cheaply. Others, like musicians and filmmakers, had to pay for studio time, which proved prohibitively expensive for those without corporate backing. Now systems like ProTools enable musicians to produce top-quality recordings from a home studio for a fraction of the outlay. The new technology has given aspiring artists an unprecedented degree of control over their careers.”
Tag: 09.26.05
Louisville – Looking For A Leader
The Louisville Orchestra is looking for a new music director. What kind of person should lead the orchestra? “People expect more out of a music director now than they did, say, 10 years ago, because the structure of the orchestra has changed. There’s more raising money and less trading on big grants and gifts. By the same token, there must be artistic excellence. There has to be a balance. We cannot have an enigma on the podium, seen only at a masterworks concert. We have to have someone who is in the community representing the orchestra.”
Orange County PAC Employee Pleads Innocent To Embezzlement Charge
“An accounts receivable clerk at the Orange County Performing Arts Center has pleaded not guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from her employer since 2000.”
Colorado Ballet’s New Home Puts It In The Black
Colorado Ballet has been fighting deficits the past few years. But its move into Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera House has caused a spike in ticket sales and subscriptions. The new flush of cash seems to have solved the company’s money woes for now.
The End Of The (Brief) Era Of Juke-Box Musicals?
Juke-box musicals, those shows built around the pop songs of this or that band or performer seems to be dying as a genre. “With the departure of the King from Broadway’s Palace Theater when All Shook Up closes on Sunday, it looks increasingly as if the era of the tribute musical may be coming to an end. Between them, the Beach Boys show, the Lennon show and All Shook Up have lost $30m.”
Balt Sun Architecture Critic To Sell Properties
Edward Gunts wons properties in areas of Baltimore that he writers about architecture. The Sun has determined that Edward Gunts had “no nefarious intent to use his position for personal gain and did not consciously report or write any articles to enhance the value of the properties he owns. Still, it also is clear that Gunts should not be investing in Baltimore real estate while writing about architecture here. Gunts has agreed to comply with The Sun’s requests that he sell all of his properties by a specific date and not write about those two neighborhoods until then. Gunts will remain the newspaper’s architecture critic.”
UK Judge Convenes In Cuba Over Song Rights
An English court considering who owns the UK rights to some popular Cuban songs has adjourned to Havana. “The case was proceeding in London earlier this year when an attempt to hear from Cuban witnesses via a video link to Havana failed. The presiding judge, Mr Justice Lindsay, then made the decision that justice would be best served if he appointed himself special examiner, went to Cuba, and gathered evidence.”
A Dance Too Shocking For Kids!
London’s “Royal Ballet is about to open its new season with a work about a psychopathic dance teacher who abuses, rapes and kills his pupils which has been deemed too shocking and gruesome to be performed at matinees.”
Why Are Architects Bad At Theatres?
Architects have a terrible track record when it comes to building theatre spaces. “All the interesting practitioners say the same thing about buildings: ‘Why is it that we can’t build permissive, exciting, beautiful, available theatre space? Why is it that so many of our new buildings feel corporate, overmanaged, overfinished, icily perfect and therefore alienating to a process which by its nature is exploratory and provisional?'” Time for some new thinking?
Banned In America – Books That Get Noticed
“Since 1991, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has compiled an annual list of books that librarians, teachers or others report have been challenged; there were 547 challenges in 2004, up 25 percent from 2003. This wave started with the religious right around 1980. And it’s contagious. It has spread, so that anybody, including the liberal left, can say, ‘I don’t want my kid to read that book, therefore I don’t want that book around for any kid to read.’ “