The government of Oregon’s largest city has $8.5 million in money from its (unpopular) Art Tax that has never been spent; this was reported shortly after the city cut arts grants by nearly half. - Oregon ArtsWatch
“Venezi, the daughter of a far-right militant and known for tossing her blonde mane in a popular shampoo ad, is seen as part of the (current) government's declared aim of ending alleged left-wing cultural hegemony in Italy. … Critics say her conducting record is too slim for a post like La Fenice's.” - ANSA (Italy)
Chilean conductor Paolo Bortolameolli, who was associate conductor under Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic through 2023, begins his term in Phoenix with the 2027-28 season. He will maintain his other current position, music director of the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile’s national opera house, and the Filarmonica de Santiago. - Arizona Republic
The annual Theatre in the UK report from the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre says that, despite soaring attendance, many theatres in Britain are expecting to post operating deficits — because, as costs have risen, ticket prices have not been raised so as not to drive away audiences. - The Stage
The 85-year-old former CBS anchorman has been judge and scorekeeper on the public radio comedy-quiz show for 12 years. His last show will air on May 23. - Inside Radio
“Among the largest 150companies, … in all leadership categories except music directors/principal conductors, women comprised between 59% and 85% of artistic and administrative roles.” - Dance Data Project
With a fine equivalent to a few days’ revenue and some marginal changes to its business practices, Live Nation will, more or less, plow ahead as the dominant force in live music. - The Los Angeles Times
“His working approach was that a literary agent should be a creative and business partner for writers — a relatively novel idea at the time that he launched the agency, in 1973. Writers House now has over 20 agents and 50 employees and represents hundreds of authors,” many of them very prominent indeed. - Publishers Weekly
Whatever happens on Oscar Sunday, I suspect that the two front-runners will share the spotlight in a spirit as companionable as it is competitive. - The New Yorker
The choice of Greg Greeley marks the first time in memory that Simon & Schuster had hired a CEO from outside the company. The 62-year-old Greeley succeeds Jonathan Karp, who announced last year that he was stepping down to found his own imprint. - AP
"What I find moving in these discussions is the intense yearning for a world that is more alive than secular scientists might think it is, a kind of seeking for a god that one suspects these scientists do not, at the same time, believe to exist." - The American Scholar
“The White House’s social media feed has issued a series of pumped-up videos that mix real Iran war explosions with movie action heroes, gaming footage and bone-crunching football tackles, leading critics like a top cleric of the U.S. Catholic Church to condemn a trivialization of deadly real-life conflict.” - AP
The fire will have obvious economic consequences for the city, particularly through the loss of businesses caught in and close to the fire. But the emotional effect of the fire will be felt by the city’s residents and visitors, particularly if the building lies in ruins indefinitely. - The Conversation
Art Gallery of Ontario deputy director and chief curator Julian Cox will leave his post this April after eight years in the role, marking the latest departure at the Toronto museum since it became embroiled in a controversy over a failed plan to acquire a work by Nan Goldin. - ARTnews
Roblox burgeoned during the COVID-19 pandemic; many of my students told me that their most cherished remote-learning memories were actually ditching Zoom classes to play Roblox together. - Psyche
