Open Source As Guiding Principle The open source movement isn't just for computers anymore. Numerous businesses and intellectual projects are adopting the open source model, and enjoying good results. "Open source draws on some of these collaborative traditions but remains a highly distinctive phenomenon. It has come of age thanks to global electronic networks that make exchanging information cheaper than ever before, at a time when the market for information-based products, whether software, music or opinion, is larger than ever. Prospect 02/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:46 pm
So Who Needs Libraries? "Only now in the bright light of the Google Era do we see how dim and gloomy was our pregooglian world. In the distant future, historians will have a common term for the period prior to the appearance of Google: the Dark Ages." Washington Post 02/15/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:10 pm
Libeskind To Design Prague Dali Museum Architect Daniel Libeskind has accepted a commission to design a new museum in Prague dedicated to the work of Salvador Dali. "The museum, estimated to cost $15.7 million, is to display between 1,000 and 1,500 of Dali's works on loan from collections in Spain, France and Germany. The museum also will include a contemporary art exhibition hall, a restaurant, apartments for visiting artists and a theater." Denver Post (AP) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 7:09 pm
Women Barrier - The Vienna Philharmonic Will Seiji Ozawa's presence in Vienna help add more women to the orchestra's ranks? "The Vienna Philharmonic will doubtless fall back on the assertion that change can only come gradually: It can't be expected to alter the male-to-female ratio overnight. So let's look at the employment numbers for six years from 1997, when the orchestra proclaimed a new, enlightened policy of hiring women, until 2003. It's men, 21; women, 3. How's that for even-handed progress?" Straight Up (AJBlogs) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 8:59 am
Ontario Orchestra's Board Quits Over Controversy The entire board of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sympny resigned Monday before a meeting of the orchestra's 2,400 members could vote on whether to remove the board. "The resignation of the 14 board members is just the latest instalment in a series of crises flowing from the board's decision Nov. 27 to fire the KWSO's principal conductor, Berlin-based Martin Fischer-Dieskau." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/17/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 8:12 am
The Rehabilitation Of Franz Welser-Most When conductor Franz Welser-Most led the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the early-90s, he was not liked by his musicians, who dubbed him 'Frankly Worse than Most." He was soon run out of the job. A decade later he is the much-loved leader of the Cleveland Orchestra. So how did musicians and critics get Welser-Most wrong the first time around? La Scena Musicale 02/12/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 11:00 pm
Korean Wins Top Composer Prize The $200,000 Grawemeyer Prize is one of the top awards for composers. "The 2004 winner is the Korean composer Unsuk Chin - the third woman to take the Grawemeyer. Like the rest of us, composers come in all shapes and sizes, but Chin isn't quite what you'd expect a modern composer to look like: she's petite, delicate, almost weightlessly graceful, with the kind of sultry, heavy-lidded eyes that you see on James Bond's sexier villains." The Independent (UK) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 10:53 pm
Toronto Symphony Musicians Win 11 Percent Pay Raise Breaking from a trend in the rest of the orchestra industry, the Toronto Symphony has given its musicians an 11 percent pay raise. "Andrew Shaw, TSO president and chief executive officer, described the increase as "moderate and prudent," citing a surge in sales that is expected to swell annual attendance by at least 50,000 seats over the level reached two years ago." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 10:46 pm
Canadian Recording Companies Hunt Down Downloaders "Last week, the Canadian Recording Industry Association went to court to force Internet service providers to surrender the names and phone numbers of 29 people suspected of uploading music for illegal digital dissemination." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 9:14 pm
In RoadTrip: Of Acoustics And One's Place In An Orchestra Sam Bergman on tour with the Minnesota Orchestra in Frankfurt: "When our principal, Tom Turner, had a family emergency and had to miss the first week of the trip, I was vaulted up to third chair in order to fill in the gap. This was fine with me, since you can hear nearly the whole orchestra from the third chair, but when Tom returned to us last night in Frankfurt, I was sent back to the fifth stand, which is something like being moved from first base to left field and then being asked to call the balls and strikes." RoadTrip (AJBlogs) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 7:37 pm
Where Music Is Just Music - Isn't It? Alex Ross ponders the attractions and liabilities of encounters with classical music. "The strange thing about the music in America today is that large numbers of people seem aware of it, curious about it, even mildly knowledgeable about it, but they do not go to concerts. The people who try to market orchestras have a name for these annoying phantoms: they are 'culturally aware non-attenders,' to quote a recent article in the magazine Symphony. I know the type; most of my friends are case studies." The New Yorker 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:23 pm
EMI Blocks Beatles Remix From Being Sold Recording giant EMI is preventing a remix that includes songs from the Beatles' White Album from being sold. "DJ Danger Mouse created The Grey Album using Jay-Z's vocals and beats made by sampling music on The White Album. EMI, which releases Beatles records, has served cease and desist orders to the DJ and record shops stocking it." BBC 02/15/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:04 pm
Looking At Art Since 9/11 What kind of art has been made since 9/11? Can any conclusions about it yet be made? "Writers, musicians, filmmakers and theater artists have struggled to create art in its shadow — art inspired not only by anger and disbelief but also by the bedrock American values that the terrorists were unsuccessful at toppling. Indeed, what art in the post-9-11 era seems to have in common is a commitment to making sense of an experience that epitomized senselessness." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/14/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 9:16 am
Study: American Participation In The Arts Is High A new study of audiences for the performing arts in America confirms a high rate of participation and consumption of the arts. "Approximately three-quarters of those participating in the newest survey reported attending one live professional performing arts event within the past 12 months. While this ranged from a high of 78% for Boston respondents to a low of 71% for those in Sarasota, the numbers nevertheless represent a significant level of continuity across a broad swath of the nation." Backstage 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:36 pm
Mel Brooks - Of Comedy And Music Mel Brooks has a musical ear. "Brooks writes the lyric and melody, leaving harmony and orchestration to others. He is too much a Broadway guy to be deemed an original composer, but he has an unerring ear for speech rhythms that translate into melody, a gift shared with the likes of Schubert, Janacek and Noel Coward. The comedy comes from close acquaintance with human frailty. The youngest of four boys, his father died when he was two and his mother raised the family sewing sashes for swimsuit straps and sequins onto frocks." La Scena Musicale 02/04/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 10:32 pm
A New Scottish Poet Laureate Edwin Morgan, 83, has been named Scotlan's new "Scots Makar", the equivalent of a poet laureate. " 'The Scots Makar' is a term dating back to the Scots poets of the 15th and 16th century. The unpaid position lasts for a three-year term and his task will be to represent and promote Scots poetry." BBC 02/17/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 7:34 am
Canada Reads More (This Time On TV Too) Canada Reads is a Survivor-style program where books are argued over before one is voted off the list by celebrities at the end of each show. This year's Canada Reads is being played out on TV, radio and in schools. Why? "In 2002, the program's first year, sales for Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion, first published in 1988, reached 80,000, pushing it to the top of bestseller lists. Last year's winner, Next Episode, also reappeared on bestseller lists, selling an additional 18,500 copies, while figures for the runner-up ran between 15,000 and 20,000." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 9:16 pm
Christ Movie Kicking Up Buzz Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is generating the biggest buzz of any movis this year. "Gibson has said he wanted to make the 'most realistic' Jesus movie ever made. The R-rated subtitled film, which contains scenes of blood-drenched violence and physical suffering, has generated intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience -- and by some Jewish leaders who fear that the portrayal of Jesus's scourging and crucifixion in such excruciatingly realistic detail will spark anti-Jewish feelings." Washington Post 02/17/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 8:47 am
Shock Of The New - Aussie TV Audiences Want Only The Familiar Yes, Australians seem to have caught the reality TV bug. But they also seem scared off of any show that is new and unfamiliar. "Every new series launched for the 'official' ratings year so far has fallen well short of programmers' expectations, while the tired and true get stronger." The Age (Melbourne) 02/17/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:50 pm
In Europe, Public Broadcasters Under The Gun Public broadcasting has a long and respected history in Europe. "But lately, public broadcasters have been thrust into the harsh glare of their own klieg lights. At the BBC and at a French public television network, France 2, top executives have resigned after journalists were cited for mistakes in reporting. In Italy, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has moved to increase its oversight of the public broadcaster RAI, raising concerns about independence of news and other programming. The new concerns come at a particularly bad time for broadcasters..." The New York Times 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:41 pm
The Battle Over Your DVD Player The struggle for what will be the next generation of DVD is underway. "The DVD is one of the success stories of the electronics industry of recent years. In the US alone, more than half of all homes have a DVD player. And it is now rare to find a computer that does not come with a DVD drive. The successor to the current discs are unlikely to be in the shops before 2005 but the tussle to become the standard for a multimillion dollar industry is already well under way." BBC 02/15/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 6:01 pm
Pain And The Last Minute Resignation National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Geon van der Wyst was slated to dance a number of major roles this season. But a few days before the season began, he reconsidered. "My knee was acting up. and I had made a promise to myself after my last surgery, that I would take a long and hard look at my career options if another problem developed. I feel guilty about pulling out just before the season, but the pain was telling me that it was time to stop while I still had my dignity." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/17/04
Posted: 02/17/2004 8:03 am
Saratoga Cancels City Ballet Residence After almost 40 years as summer residence of New York City Ballet, Saratoga, in upstate New York, has pulled out of the deal. "It was a cost-cutting measure. We hope to continue to work with the company but not in a residency situation." The New York Times 02/16/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 9:56 pm
City Ballet's Star In The Making New York City Ballet has a new star in the making - 20-year-old Megan Fairchild, who made her debut last week in Coppélia. She's only been at City Ballet for less than a year-and-a-half. "Once in the company, she stood out almost immediately for her appeal and her technical prowess; she’s extraordinarily swift, strong, clear, and daring." Seeing Things (AJBlogs) 02/15/04
Posted: 02/16/2004 5:42 pm
