Franklin Mint Closes Stores, Museum "The Franklin Mint, the company known for its eclectic range of pricey collectibles, from Scarlett O'Hara dolls to miniature John Deere tractors, has closed its 30 retail stores and its museum." NJOnlines (AP) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 9:06 am
Franklin Mint Closes Stores, Museum "The Franklin Mint, the company known for its eclectic range of pricey collectibles, from Scarlett O'Hara dolls to miniature John Deere tractors, has closed its 30 retail stores and its museum." NJOnline (AP) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 9:06 am
Prado Attacked For Plans To Show Contemporary Art Spain's Prado Museum is being attacked over plans to show contemporary art alongside Spanish masters Velázquez, Goya and El Greco. "The Prado's director, Miguel Zugaza, ignited the controversy by inviting Miquel Barceló, who has used insects, meat and rotten plants in his works, to exhibit alongside some of the Madrid museum's greatest paintings." The Guardian (UK) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 9:49 pm
Austin Museum Cancels Building Plans Citing the difficulty of raising $43 million, the Austin (Texas) Art Museum has canceled plans to build a new home. "The museum was designed in the late 1990s during a much stronger economic climate in Austin. Museum officials say they are beginning to look at other options for the museum." Austin Business Journal 02/11/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 5:12 pm
Monuments In Virtual 3D "A team at the University of Geneva have been using sophisticated 3D computer modelling technology to bring historical monuments to life. They have developed virtual reality models of two Turkish mosques dating from the Ottoman era of the 16th century which let you move around and explore the buildings in real-time." BBC 02/12/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 4:12 pm
In RoadTrip: Tough Day In Vienna Sam Bergman on tour with the Minnesota Orchestra: After a great reception in New York, the orchestra moves on to Vienna, and Sam finds the orchestra in a funk before a concert in the Musikverein. "Like I said, you’ve got to learn to shake off the hard days, or they’ll eat you alive. Consider me well-shaken." RoadTrip (AJBlogs) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 11:55 am
Harlem Boys Choir Dumps Leaders The Boys Choir of Harlem has decided to fire its executive vice president, Horace Turnbull, and strip its founder, Walter Turnbull, of his chief-executive duties. "It was like a ma-and-pa candy store," says one board member. "He [Walter Turnbull] viewed the choir as his creation and [acted as if] he deserved full entitlement. There were clearly problems which were addressed by the independent members of the board, but there were obstacles at every single step." New York Post 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 9:03 am
Washington Chamber Group Disbands After 36 Years The Theater Chamber Players, a "much-admired Washington ensemble that presented a brainy mixture of new and established music" founded by pianist Leon Fleisher and Dina Koston in 1968 is disbanding after 36 years. "The group elected to retire because of differing views on its most appropriate future direction." Washington Post 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 7:59 am
Carmen In The Round The first Seville International Festival next September is offering a $28.5 million production of Carment staged in the actual places they're set in the opera. "It will unfold in six hours and on three separate stages, all linked to the original sites described in what is hailed as the world's most popular opera." Yahoo! (AP) 02/12/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 4:54 pm
New Hampshire Symphony Declares Emergency The New Hampshire Symphony says it will have to cut back its season and let some musicians go if it fails to raise more money in the next few months. "The symphony has already scrapped two planned performances, scheduled for late February, as a cost-saving measure. Officials say smaller monetary donations from corporations and individuals, reduced government support, and the level of ticket sales have contributed to the trouble." Manchester Union-Leader 02/11/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 4:22 pm
UK Report On Publicly-Funded Arts Projects Is Grim A report on cultural spending paints a sour picture. "From the building of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to the restoration of the Royal National Theatre, the Commons Public Accounts Committee report highlights a series of publicly funded projects that went wrong. The report criticises Arts Council England and urges it to spend less cash in London - even though it is the nation's artistic and cultural hub." London Evening Standard 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 8:59 am
Was Lottery Money Wasted On Arts Buildings? A parliamentary report says British lottery money is nbeing wasted - pointing to two funded institutions - the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield and the Dovecot Arts Centre in Stockton-on-Tees - which closed for lack of visitors. "And it says another £78m spent by Arts Council England is tied up in five projects facing cash problems." BBC 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 7:49 am
Attack On English Arts Funding A new report for British MP's criticizes the way lottery money is awarded to arts groups. "It attacks Arts Council England for wasting lottery and taxpayers' money to bail out venues such as the Royal Opera House and Sadler's Wells in London, and for not putting enough cash into working-class areas or attracting more diverse groups to theatres." The Guardian (UK) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 9:52 pm
Japanese Culture Seeps In To Korea For 50 years after World War II, South Korea banned Japanese culture from the country. But in 1998, some of the restrictions were lifted. Since then, "Japanese movies, video and computer games, songs and albums are not sweeping through the Korean Peninsula like a tycoon, but are seeping in through cultural osmosis brought on by gradual market integration." Korea Times 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 6:02 pm
Remembering Nicholas Goldschmidt "When he died last Sunday (at age 95), he left the kind of void all unique personalities do. He was one of a kind, this country's most remarkable cultural entrepreneur, an adopted Canadian who gave native Canadians the confidence to walk tall on the world's stage." Toronto Star 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 8:19 am
Young American Conductor: The Opportunities Are In Europe American conductor Karen Kamensek is a rising young star in Germany, where she's been appointed chief conductor of the Freiburg Theatre. Why Germany? "Job opportunities for Americans in Europe are certainly better these days than at home, Kamensek told F.A.Z. Weekly. It might simply be a matter of numbers: There are over 80 functioning operas in Germany alone, and Louisville's opera, for example, plays maybe three operas a year, while at Freiburg, we play three to four a week." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 5:52 pm
Les Miz Musicians To Be Replaced By Machine Almost half the musicians for Les Miz in London's West End will lose their jobs when the show moves to a smaller theatre next month. "Nine musicians out of 21 will be replaced by an electronic synthesiser, of a kind being used for the first time in the West End. US producers have said the Sinfonia synthesiser "gives more bangs to the buck than musicians". The Guardian (UK) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 9:54 pm
Urban Comes To Broadway Three new productions featuring African-Americans are coming to Broadway. "Theatergoers today typically have to go to venues well beyond the neon lights of Times Square to find plays that address modern cultural struggles and ideas that aren't set to music. The triptych of African-American tales spanning the post-World War II era to the present will temporarily add more color to Broadway's palette, but along the way may also prompt a discussion about what really constitutes diversity on US theater's most high-profile road." Christian Science Monitor 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 5:19 pm
Walrus Editor Steps Down David Berlin, the founding editor of Walrus magazine, produced in Toronto, is unexpectedly stepping down after only three issues. The magazine of arts and ideas has a circulation of 32,000 subscribers. "They are dropping 29,000 to 30,000 on newstands and a 30 per cent sell-through is the industry average. At that rate they are rivalling or outselling Maclean's on the the newsstand." Toronto Star 01/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 8:12 am
UK's Most-Borrowed Author Who's the most-borrowed author in British libraries? Children's writer Jacqueline Wilson. "Her name may not be as famous as JK Rowling but she is hugely popular - her books are "growers" and tend to sell through children's word of mouth." And, she's sold 30 million books. BBC 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 7:37 am
UK's Most-Borrowed Author Who's the most-borrowed author in British libraries? Children's writer Jacqueline Wilson. "Her name may not be as famous as JK Rowling but she is hugely popular - her books are "growers" and tend to sell through children's word of mouth." And, she's sold 30 million books. BBC 02/13/04
Posted: 02/13/2004 7:37 am
It's Poetry, Not Flowers For Valentine's What does the love of your life want for Valentine's Day? Nope, not flowers. It's poetry. "In a survey of 1,000 people for the Spoken Word Publishing Association, 19% said they would prefer loving words. The only gift they wanted more than this was one which puts deeds before words - a holiday mini-break." The Guardian (UK) 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 10:00 pm
FCC Considers A New Technology Future The Federal Communications Commission is considering regulatory changes that will change the way most people use telephones and the internet. The internet could be accessed over electrical lines, while phone service could be provided over the internet. One commissioner says that America "stands at the threshold of a profound transformation of the telecommunications marketplace." The New York Times 02/13/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 6:18 pm
UK Tax Policy Change May Kill British Film Industry The British tax department "has shut a loophole which offered tax relief to film investors, fearing it was being abused." As a result, say some critics, the healthy British film industry may be devasted as investment dries up. BBC 02/12/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 3:45 pm
- UK Tax Change - Movies Need Time To Adapt "Few in the industry defend the tax-avoidance schemes as a means of raising film funding. Indeed, many believe that the cash the schemes has attracted into the industry has led to a flood of substandard films, produced for tax-avoidance rather than artistic reasons, which have little hope of securing a cinema or television showing. What the industry objects to is the lack of warning about the move. This has left filmmakers about to go into production with no time to raise alternative funding." Financial Times 02/12/04
Posted: 02/12/2004 3:40 pm
