“The deficit is the result of shortages in ticket sales and annual fund donations, as well as declines in major one-time gifts and contributions from the ISO Foundation, whose board manages the orchestra’s endowment.” Musicians and staff took pay cuts earlier this year.
Tag: 11.17.09
Need A Literary Award To Help Promote Your Book? Buy One Here
Prizes have now taken the place of reviews as “the means by which many people now decide which books to buy, when they bother to buy books at all.” So supply meets demand: we have the National Best Book Awards (resemblance intentional), which has “150 active categories” and for which every book entered (fee $69 per category) becomes a finalist.
New Horizons In Classical Music Outreach: Concert In A Brothel
“Punters and employees at the Eros Centre in Leipzig [will] be treated on Friday to six musicians and a singer from the city’s Forum for Contemporary Music (FZML) performing ‘licentious and erotic’ works.”
Losing Govt., Corporate Funds Could Be Good For Theatre
“While hardship will not necessarily produce better art, standing outside official patronage might at least encourage artists to kick against the establishment rather than adorn it. The art we have enjoyed over the last 12 years has been wealthy, and wealthy art is supine.”
In LA, The 110 Freeway Is Operatic Material
“According to L.A. Opera, ‘The 110 Project’ tells the story of four central characters as it travels through 70 years of L.A. history” in communities along the freeway. “So what will the opera sound like? You guessed it: the music is said to be inspired by freeway sounds….”
When Universal Removed Black Actors From A UK Poster
“Studios make dumb decisions all the time. But … the real underlying issue behind these kinds of gaffes” is homogeneity among the higher-ups. “The decision-makers at studios are virtually all white, so they don’t see potential racial slights in the same light as they would if they had someone — anyone! — of color in the executive suite.”
Isn’t It Romantic? Harlequin Starts Self-Publishing Division
“The self-published novels won’t be sold under the Harlequin brand, but Harlequin, which sells about 1,500 romances every year, is hoping it could become a grooming ground for future authors.” That’s in keeping with tradition: Over the last decade, Harlequin says, “at least 50 of its authors have come from the ranks of its readers.”
After Protest, Greek State Film Awards Canceled
“More than 200 directors, producers and screenwriters withdrew 52 films from the [Thessaloniki Film Festival], undermining the state awards, which selects winners from Greek films that unspool at the fest.” Filmmakers were protesting the nation’s film funding laws.
Report: White Guys Still Have A Lock On TV, Film Writing
“The WGA West’s 2009 Hollywood Writers Report finds ‘little if any’ improvement in employment and earnings for women and minority writers. The report … found that women scribes remain stuck at 28% of TV employment and 18% in features while the minority share has been frozen at 6% since 1999.”
Hollywood’s Composers And Lyricists To Join Teamsters?
“Composers and lyricists are among the few Hollywood creatives without a collective bargaining agreement. Services like orchestration, conducting and music performance are covered by American Federation of Musicians (AFM) agreements, but not the act of writing music or lyrics.”