The audience for traditional classical music is overwhelmingly caucasian, whether in Europe or North America, and despite paying frequent lip service to the vague concept of “diversity,” few practitioners of the art have made any serious attempts to widen the appeal of the genre. So why does classical music receive such a huge percentage of available public arts funding? “This has always been the case, but now that cultural diversity has moved to the top of the funding agenda, it’s become a serious political embarrassment. There’s something disquieting, in 2003, about the sight of an all-white orchestra playing to an all-white audience.”
Tag: 10.18.03
Has Montreal Chosen Dutoit’s Successor?
Rumors are swirling that the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, which was left headless following the abrupt resignation of Charles Dutoit in 2002, has already chosen a new music director, and is simply waiting for the right time to announce. “Security is high. No one with authority has let a name slip… Still, there are some suspects worth re-examining.” Any serious conductor who is fluent in French could be a candidate, but the names Eliahu Inbal, Emmanuel Villaume, and Yan Pascal Tortelier are among those who are frequently spoken of as serious contenders.
Rebuilding Iraq’s Artistic Infrastructure
It may seem a bit premature for a country in which large chunks of the population are still without power, private homes, and schools, but a group of U.S. arts leaders have been dispatched to Iraq to survey the damage caused to the country’s cultural scene. Iraq’s global cultural significance cannot be overstated – this is the cradle of civilization, after all – but at a time when the future could not be more uncertain, many arts leaders are concerned that even the country’s most venerable institutions will have a hard time making the transition to a post-Saddam Hussein reality.
D.C. Arts Center Facing Eviction
A seemingly endless battle between the city government of Washington, D.C. and a small arts center housed in a former junior high school came to a head this week, as the District served the Millenium Arts Center with an eviction notice. Accusations are flying back and forth – the MAC doesn’t pay its rent; the city doesn’t keep its word; etc. – but both sides seem almost eager to force a public confrontation over a dispute which has been simmering quietly for several years.
Show Me A Man…
Philip Marchand thinks that the world of Canadian literature could do with a good, healthy shot of testosterone. “I don’t know if there is any wider significance to this year’s rash of novels populated by feminized or ineffectual men. There has always been this tendency in Canadian literature, particularly French Canadian literature, but it has never seemed so blatant as now.” Regardless of the cause, Marchand finds himself pining for the strong male characters of Mordecai Richler, or at least the suave calm of Robertson Davies’ men. Is Canada in the grip of a newly metrosexual literary tradition?
Detroit’s New Digs: Spending Money To Make Money
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra could very well have chosen to spend the last few years hiding under a pile of the Motor City’s ever-present downtown rubble, and hoping that the financial roof wouldn’t fall in. After all, orchestras are in terible shape just about everywhere, and Detroit is hardly a model for the type of forward-looking urban development that orchestras must embrace to make strides in an increasingly diverse entertainment universe. Instead, the DSO took a big, beautiful chance, and invested millions in a newly revitalized concert hall in one of the city’s most blighted neighborhoods. No one yet knows if the plan will succeed, but thank God someone is still trying, says William Littler.
Missing The Substance: Can Morrie Make the Jump?
Sportswriter Mitch Albom’s tender memoir of a friendship with an old college professor was a surprise hit when it shot to the top of the bestseller lists a few years back. But the elements that make Tuesdays with Morrie a great book may be the very elements which are making a new theatrical version somewhat disappointing, says Chris Jones. “It has so little shading and such limited thematic complexity. One could make a decent argument that the shamelessly sentimental Tuesdays With Morrie is to Hamlet what Dr. Phil is to Sigmund Freud. It uses the same language, but it emphasizes simple, accessible communication rather than difficult truths.”