June 2011 Archives

Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre's "House & Garden" reviewed.

Artist On Board

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The Brooklyn Museum Elects Fred Tomaselli; Part Of Its Greater Effort To Link Up With Boroughs Artists

Almanac

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http://tinyurl.com/433yh5w

Almanac

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Today's entry: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin on religion and modernity.
Today's the last day at MPR for the network's founder
Pissing freelancers off is a bad idea. You might think that they're "two-a-penny" to hire, but the good ones are worth their weight in gold.
...Is the arts field willing to educate through the arts, whether or not it has any measurable impact on audience development?

Four personalities

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One of my students explains that she's careful to play the way other people want her to.

Underestimating

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In comments on my blog, people think orchestra concerts are meant to be uplifting, so the audience needn't critique them.
Frederick Lawrence shares future hopes and plans for university's museum. No Rent-a-Rose (yet). Read the full settlement agreement.
Brandeis Settles Suit Over The Rose Art Museum -- It Will Not Close; No Art Sold; Search For New Director Is On
How Carnegie Hall and Roundabout Theatre are building relationships through their discount ticket programs, not just filling houses.
Here's my weekly theater guide.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Neville Cardus on lovability and fallibility.
President Klein rips AAMD's letter on jurisdictional grounds. It's time for alumni/student mobilization. Rename art repository "the Maier Mausoleum."
President Klein rips AAMD's letter on jurisdictional grounds. It's time for alumni/student mobilization. Rename art repository, "the Maier Mausoleum."
Yacoub Abu Ghosh, bass guitarist/composer, explains and plays at Canvas Cafe, Amman
Already Trying Limits To "Gallery Rage," The National Gallery To Soon Announce Display Of Long-lost Painting

The Art Cops: Art School Confidential

Art glut exposed. Who is making all this art and why?
Land of the red, white & blue, and home of the brave. Al Capp must be smiling.
"Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann," in honor of the birthday of America's greatest film composer.

Almanac

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Today's entry: P.G. Wodehouse on Victorian architecture.
AAMD asserts Randolph College should stop calling its art facility a museum, if it refuses to adhere to professional standards.
BBC's "Your Paintings" Shows Britain's National Collections, With Tour Guides, And Interaction

Shivers

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Hear an audience cheer, shout, and scream for a full minute, during a song in Stephen Sondheim's Follies.
Fundraising goal met. By not upping campaign when construction costs increased, Barnes shortchanged endowment and financial future. Merion closes Sunday.
It's not the cliche, but how you use it, that counts.
The American Composers Orchestra reaches across the great divide to jazz artists
The American Composers Orchestra reaches across the great divide to jazz artists

For last Saturday's performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony at the Round Top Music Festival, an orchestra of 88 gifted young musicians rehearsed for 22 hours over the course of six days.

A trip to Pittsburgh.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Evelyn Waugh on the difficulty of writing favorable reviews.
A roundup of seven long but lustrous nights (well, six nights and one afternoon to be precise) of Bay Area culture.
Reversal Of Fortune At Brooklyn Museum Forces Lehman To Dial-Back Evening Hours, Alas

Reasons for the silence

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There are structural reasons -- deep inside how classical music functions right now in our culture -- why orchestral quality isn't talked about in any detail.

Why my criteria matter

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How can you -- as a board member -- govern an orchestra, if you can't measure how well your orchestra plays?
Brainwaves, the Rapture, and the arts. What do the arts do to people, and why?
Looking at how to strengthen the arts, humanities, and social sciences...

Padded

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Playing legato -- binding together successive tones -- is important in classical piano playing. But how is it done?
A follow up to last week's post on 'good work' in the nonprofit sector and comments on it
If "Spend Shift" consumers want community, connection, quality, and creativity, we can help
Some thoughts on the passion to collect.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Artur Schnabel on his repertoire.
How A Little Experiment In Interaction May Help Lead To The Creation Of Lasting Museum Memories
Perkins was the archetype of the creative musician incapable of letting his style freeze in place
The composer's eloquent thoughts on why art and artists matter
The latest choreography at Houston Ballet's new Margaret Alkek Williams Dance Lab.
Jack DeJohnette, Von Freeman, Charlie Haden, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Owens: Jazz Masters, all
Five criteria for judging how well an orchestra plays. Why don't we see them used more often?
That was then and this is now. Amazing all around.
With arrest of alleged Boston crime boss, hope springs anew for return of Gardner Museum's stolen masterpieces. (Probably false hope.)
Art in America Decides To Give All Readers A Work Of Art; Which Artist Agreed To Oblige?
Staked out the next-new-thing as Whitney's prime territory. Artworld opinion has been kinder to the curator he battled.
The canned creator of "Spider-Man" takes a shot at Twitter--and misses.
Barrington Stage's "Guys and Dolls" reviewed--ecstatically.
Got a television? Tune me in tomorrow. Or just go here and watch me now.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Margaret Mitchell on reputation.
On looking at things very closely, from frames to fair use.
Why San Francisco Opera's new production of The Ring should be re-dubbed "The Carbon Dioxide Ring"
Raphael Loewe, RIP
Those who believed that applying public pressure to China could only prove counterproductive were proven wrong. Free Liu Xiaobo!
...here's my heartfelt plea for playgoers to turn off their cellphones.
Here's my weekly theater guide.

Almanac

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Today's entry: David Mamet on reviews.
As Ai Weiwei Is Released, El Paso Museum Wins An Award For Its Cultural Diplomacy Gambit
A few ways in which pissed-off artists and arts organizations react to articles which make them unhappy
I offer four detailed criteria for good orchestral playing. But how often are these things talked about?
He just redesigned fleursdumal.org, "the definitive online edition" of Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil." It's simple, elegant, and dives deep.
An Anecdote In My Review of "Breaking Ground" (Today's WSJ) Tells The Tale

Snapshot

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This week's video: "The 100 Greatest Movie Threats of All Time."

Almanac

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Today's entry: Larry McMurtry on the strong, silent type.
Musings following the publication of a review about my chorus's latest performances
Funders and large theatres seem poised to battle over the future of the producing org in art making. That's not a good thing.

The Royal Danish Ballet tries to have it both ways

This Is Bad

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Brooklyn Museum Cancels Street Art Show: No Money For It
New Yorker magazine's fabled fact-checkers missed a lot in Rebecca Mead's piece on Crystal Bridges. I fill the gaps.
and it's got a gay men's chorus

Almanac

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Today's entry: Larry McMurtry on the blissful ignorance of youth.
At Long Last, Dorothea Rockburne Gets A Retrospective; Will Parrish Show Push Her Forward
California collectors have a penchant for museums-of-one's-own. Andersons donate art but no cash. Tour their private facility.
By-and-large, are nonprofit arts organizations doing 'good' (i.e., excellent, engaging, and ethical) work?
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/06/11-hours-to-go-and-lady-blunt-is-some-way-short-of-target/

Benny Carter, Trumpeter

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The great alto saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader was also a trumpet master.
The news about Prince and the Montreal Jazz Festival stirred up a storm of comments.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Larry McMurtry on women and progress.
Museum Store Deal Privileges A "Sexy Book" Publisher For What? No Rent, Just Publicity?
The Congressional Budget Office analyzes policy choices in a new report

To my knowledge, Genadi Zagor is the most ingenious improviser in today's world of classical piano.

My Annual Garden Tour For The NYTimes: This Year In Connecticut -- One In Particular Is Painterly
If you're given the rare chance to do a documentary inside the NY Times, why focus on the minor characters?
AEP and The National Guild of Community Arts Education hit the nail on the head!

Change Of Heart

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Collector Mickey Cartin Blasts Chelsea Galleries And The Art They Show. But How Does He Know?
"A Little Journey" reviewed.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Larry McMurtry on women.
Anti-war art is alive and well in Ft. Worth and Houston.
No amount of grandiose architecture or eye-popping engineering can trump the as-yet-unknown quality of the collection.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/06/the-met-giveth-the-met-taketh-away/
If you're wondering what they think jazz is in Montreal, don't miss this item.
He's Selling Tourism To Egypt, Fine, But Museums Shouldn't Fall For His Terrible Cleopatra Exhibit
selected from a field of national candidates in a process led by Provost Marshall, with participation from students, faculty and staff
In spite of everything, here's my weekly theater guide.
People think of the strangest things in a crisis.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Larry McMurtry on hope.

Video Vacation

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Hot summer jams for the performing arts set.
A west coast arts collective produces a rap song about the high-end supermarket chain. Clever. But slightly dated.
Times ignores information on Gardner Museum's website that could turn long story into a non-story. The Met's restored wreck.

A difficult discussion

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How well do orchestras play? That's a subject they themselves don't often talk about.

A difficult discussion

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How well do orchestras play? That's a subject they themselves don't often talk about.

A difficult discussion

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How well do orchestras play? That's a subject they themselves don't often talk about.

A difficult discussion

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How well do our orchestras play? They themselves don't seem to talk about this very often.

A difficult discussion

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http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2011/06/anomalies.html

A difficult discussion

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Something strange -- orchestras don't often talk about how well they play.
But what will the Common Core mean for the arts?
"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" reviewed.

Snapshot

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This week's video: Booker T. and the MGs play "Time Is Tight."

Almanac

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Today's entry: James Agate on being too busy.
A tribute to my mother--with a little help from Yvonne De Carlo.
A Critic's List Demands A Look At What The Market Says And How An Old Authoritative List Held Up
Why the hit Fox TV series should tone down the auto-tune
European experiences --
Wanna hear what I said at Investigative Reporters and Editors conference? Now you can! My deaccession-reporting strategies. Keller sighting.
Looking at a groundbreaking new study of the social media habits 207 arts and cultural organizations commissioned by Theatre Bay Area.

Carving a Sound

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The music in solitary craftwork.
No mention of buy-a-show (self-interested funding) or rent-a-show (megabucks fee to the lender). Perth's splurge.
Tell Me What You Think About Works At The Biennale: The New York Times' Interactive Gambit

Almanac

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Today's entry: James Agate on professionalism.

The Turning Point

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School of American Ballet offers a definitive argument for young men in tights

His 2010 summary was awesome, but this year's recap didn't drop a beat.
Why the closing of this leading theater has left me feeling sad and disappointed in the trajectory of the American Theater

MoMA As Rentier

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The Modern Cuts A Big Money Deal To Send Shows From Its Permanent Collection Far Away: Why So Shy?
Quoth the vain man, "Beware of vanity!"

Almanac

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Today's entry: Richard Brookhiser on poetry.

Giving it away

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Three different sites offer a full album stream of 'Bon Iver'. Is the demand for exclusive content decreasing?
LaRue Allen is rueful about how her parents were treated after paying less than recommended senior price for admission.

Read All About It

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Obama's attempt to criminalize Wikileaks ... the misjudged case against an NSA whistleblower ... and media propaganda.
Was This Bust Of George Washington Once On The Capitol, And In A Fire? Ask The Conservator
Musings on Chorus America conference, ViolaGate and an ugly tapestry hung upside down at Davies Symphony Hall
Musings on Chorus America conference, ViolaGate and an ugly tapestry hung upside down at Davies Symphony Hall

Could I poke you?

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The English National Opera's teaser for Nico Muhly's 'Two Boys' gets 46K views in 2 days.
GothamSchools coverage of protest around cuts to arts education illuminates the issues.

Big muddy

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On tornadoes, floods, and an unexpected trip to the emergency room.
Some of my choices may surprise you.
In Chicago and Washington, D.C., "Heartbreak House" and "Old Times" reviewed.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Lem Dobbs on screenplays as art.
Adding A New Art Star To Detroit's Museum Bounty; A Focus on Media And Light-Based Works
The City Schools Chancellor Says the NYCDOE is a national model for arts instruction...
it's more than a graphic, you can play it if you like!
Jesse Rosen puts a stake in the ground
Here's my weekly theater guide.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Lem Dobbs on the infantilism of contemporary filmmakers.
I'll be discussing dubious deaccessions, desperation deaccessions and, of course, deplorable deaccessions (some examples posted). Will I meet Bill Keller?
We have found new video of the pianist and the trumpeter performing at a Czech jazz club.
We have found new video of the pianist and the trumpeter performing at a Czech jazz club.
We have found new video of the pianist and the trumpeter performing at a Czech jazz club.
On two wildly contrasting approaches to processing similar articles
Let's Hope What's Happening In Vegas Does Stay In Vegas: There's Little Hope For Art There
Even music that isn't repetitive is subject to considerable repeating

Snapshot

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This week's video: Leadbelly and John Lomax in a 1935 "March of Time" newsreel.

Almanac

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Today's entry: John P. Marquand on the peculiarities of writers.

Only once

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H.L. Mencken on publishing a first book.

Canceled!

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A soap opera magazine screams with rage when soaps are canceled -- and sounds maybe just a bit like some of us in classical music.
Deficit about $2 million this year. Next year, endowment contribution to operations should be flat, due to delayed recessionary impact.
There's no excuse for making impecunious art lovers feel unwelcome at the ticket counter. The Met's stealth parking-rate increase.
Why I envy my brother.

Almanac

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Today's entry: John P. Marquand on what a writer fears.

Art And Obesity

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Is There Any Connection? Why Museums Should Resist The White House's Call To Make False Link
http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2011/06/that_cambridge_debate_--_strea.html
Watch the black-tie debate I took part in in Cambridge University, about classical music and young people.
Highly focused exhibit at the New Museums puts 85-year-old radical artist in the spotlight.
At a brisk tempo, eighth notes (with eighth rests after them), followed by staccato quarters! How do you play that?

Say no, Placido!

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In Breve: Catching Up

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These mini- or micro-reviews are not intended as deep analysis, but as guideposts.
The New York Philharmonic's totally confusing viral marketing campaign.

Ray Bryant, 1931-2011

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Our item about the pianist's death brings numerous comments, many of them about personal encounters
NYC's Museum of Arts & Design, which he wanted to demolish, can now breathe a sigh of relief. Any successor?
A discussion with the Kronos Quartet's David Harrington over a steaming pile of Swedish meatballs touches on the highs and lows of artistic collaboration
Attention AAMD annual meeting attendees! Here's what you should be discussing---ethical guidelines on self-interested sponsorship, rent-a-show.
Lessons in theatre appreciation from an eleven-year-old girl obsessed with Wicked.
Plus Its McQueen Gambit Equals An Opportunity: A Pricing Issue For All Arts Groups
The arts suffer from a value problem--we spend a lot of time talking about the part of what we do that isn't valuable and the stuff that is. Why?
In a small town, every landmark is a mirror that shows you yourself.

Almanac

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Today's entry: John P. Marquand on personality.

Dementia Drama

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On the various reasons to seek out an underground physical theatre production down a dog-eared corner of LA
A Short Piece On A 17th Century Bed Leads To A Few Thoughts About An Exhibition's Far-Away Origins
$25 is a lot, but you don't have to pay it. (It's voluntary.) Will other NYC art museums follow suit?
$25 is a lot, but you don't have to pay it. (It's voluntary.) Will other NYC art museums follow suit?
A new artwork by activist Gustav Metzger says more than it intends about dead trees
This new guide makes for a complete set, from Prek through 12th grade...
Lean, mean exhibition machine was responsible for big chunk of Philadelphia's best received, most illuminating recent shows. My Chagall video.
From Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Center "Follies" reviewed.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Milan Kundera on Wagner.
The National Gallery In London Takes On Climate Change With A Painting In Plants In Trafalgar Square
A study in contradiction!!
A proven track record as a leader and thinker on hot-button problems facing museum profession. A CultureGrrl thumbs-up.
Reading the loss in Mahler's Ninth from passages that -- in a very real sense -- have words attached.
Why teaching this is important...
Here's my weekly theater guide.

Almanac

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Today's entry: Dr. Johnson on reading and life.
More Than 40 Years Of Interviewing Went Into The Making Of !Women Art Revolution
Reminding people of who you already are can have more marketing power than any reinvention.

Co-Opting Public Value

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Why is it that big megacorporations are so damn good at public value-based branding, and we're...well, not so much?
Great that it's traveling. Not great that it's exhibiting curator-expurgated Wojnarovicz instead of the real reel. Calling Martin Sullivan!
What does the interaction between actors and audience actually do on a neurological level? It turns out that we may actually be synchronizing parts of our brains whenever we watch a live show - and that the more we're in sync, the more comprehensible an experience is for the viewer.
Are we barking up the wrong tree????
With the focus for so long on Iraq and Afghanistan, we forget the worst American war crimes of our time.

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