He wrote on Facebook that when his shows across Europe were cancelled on 7 May, it was in the belief that fans would receive a refund. While this was the case in the other countries the singer had been scheduled to visit, a decree passed by the Italian government offered only vouchers for scrapped music events. – The Guardian
Vienna Philharmonic Back In Concert Hall For First Time Since Pandemic
“[The orchestra’s] 2,854-seat Musikverein, considered by many the world’s most beautiful concert hall, was filled with only 100 people Friday for the first of three days of programs with Daniel Barenboim.” The AP’s Ronald Blum reports on the safety measures the Philharmoniker are taking and how they expect performances and audience sizes to ramp up over the next few months. – Yahoo! (AP)
Are Young Dancers Specializing Too Soon?
In sports medicine, a growing body of research suggests that specializing in one form of training increases the risk of injury and burnout in young athletes. Not all sports medicine research is analogous to dance, but some dance-medicine practitioners, and dancers, say it might be best for students to mix it up. – Dance Magazine
2021: A Traffic Jam Of Postponed Biennales
Following a wave of postponements due to the public-heath situation, it seems that 2021 may give 2017 a run for its money. There are at least 20 major biennials—more biennials than months—so far scheduled for next year, many of which were originally due to take place in 2020. – Artnet
Why We Push Harder When The Finish Line Is Close
Whatever it is you’re striving to achieve, science shows you’re likely to push harder the closer you feel to the finish line. When researchers first speculated about this tendency, they called it the goal gradient hypothesis. And it turns out to have interesting implications not only for predicting when we’ll push ourselves the hardest, but also for marketers hoping to convince us to buy our next cup of coffee or take our next airline flight (at least, once we start flying again). – Scientific American
Study: 90 Percent Of America’s Music Venues Could Be Gone Permanently
According to a new survey, 90 percent of independent venue owners, promoters and bookers say that they will have to close permanently within the next few months, if they can’t get an infusion of targeted government funding. – NPR
Jazz Saxophonist Don Weller Dead At 79
“A world-class saxophonist with a big sound, a big presence and a capricious improviser’s imagination, [he] sometimes seemed more at home playing pub gigs in his Croydon birthplace than chasing the high-profile career implied by his collaborations with a raft of stars. … Despite a late start, a self-effacing nature, few recordings, and a guileless indifference to just about any form of PR, he left an indelible impression.” – The Guardian
How Indie Movie Theatres Are Innovating
“We will always have storytellers that want to tell stories and cinema has become an essential part of the way modern society does that,” said Tori Baker, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Salt Lake Film Society, which operates two art house theaters in Salt Lake City. “Sustainability — such as how many people at once, concession costs, what those concessions are — might shift. But what art houses have that the big chains don’t is the ability to innovate that experience.” – Huffington Post
Dancing In The Streets For George Floyd And Racial Justice
The Electric Slide in Harlem and the Cupid Shuffle in Newark; the bomba in Puerto Rico and voguing in Chicago; Ojibwe and Nuhua dances in Minneapolis and haka in New Zealand — those are just a few examples of dancing at recent protests that have been making the rounds on social media. “Some came to the streets with the purpose of dancing. Others were moved to dance more spontaneously, and surprised to find themselves seen by millions online.” Reporter Siobhan Burke talked to several participants “about what it has meant to them to dance in protest.” – The New York Times
Poets Threaten Boycott Of Poetry Foundation Over Response To Antiracism Protests
“More than 1,800 people have signed on to an open letter criticizing the Poetry Foundation’s response to the protests sweeping the United States, pledging not to work with the organization until it meets demands that range from replacing its president and board chairman to redirecting funds to antiracism efforts. The Chicago-based foundation is one of the nation’s wealthiest literary organizations, with an endowment that exceeds $250 million.” – The New York Times
Annenberg Space For Photography In L.A. Closes For Good As Funders Pivot To Pandemic Recovery
The museum, one of Southern California’s leading venues for photo exhibitions, had been closed for three months because of the coronavirus lockdown and was unsure when, and under what rules, it could reopen. “Its parent organization, the Annenberg Foundation, … ‘will be focusing its philanthropy especially on public health, food insecurity, economic recovery, helping get people back to work and social justice nonprofits.'” – Los Angeles Times
AMC Says It Will Reopen Its Cinemas Worldwide In July. Here’s Why It Needs To.
Affirming warnings it gave last week, the world’s largest movie theater chain reported that it lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a period that saw the beginning of the coronavirus shutdown. Though last week’s report warned of “doubt” that AMC could remain a “going concern,” the company’s CEO said Tuesday that, “in the end, AMC will both succeed and prosper.” – Variety
Pandemic Could Wipe Out More Than Half Of UK Performance Venues
“Half of all music venues and 70% of theatres across the UK face permanent closure as a result of the coronavirus crisis, industry leaders have told a committee of MPs.” Testified one exec, “Our latest survey told us 70% of theatres or production companies will run out of cash, go out of business, by the end of this year.” – The Guardian
Italians Revel In Tourist-Free Museums
With only a trickle of EU tourists arriving, Italians have a historic opportunity: the chance to see their own masterpieces free from throngs of tourists and by booking just days in advance, rather than weeks or months. – CBC
A Spreadsheet That’s “Freaking Out” The Theatre World
Producer Marie Cisco created a public Google spreadsheet and titled it “Theaters Not Speaking Out.” It was open for anyone to edit, and it had a simple directive: “Add names to this document who have not made a statement against injustices toward black people.” At 5:50 p.m. PDT on that Saturday, May 30, she shared the document on her personal Facebook page as well as with the Theater Folks of Color Facebook group to which she belongs. – Los Angeles Times
Viewer Numbers Show Black American Movie, TV Shows Do Well Internationally
Netflix has begun sharing viewership results with its creators, resulting in what DuVernay called “astounding numbers” that are in dismaying contrast to how her major studio films, “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Selma,” fared with limited international releases. – Baltimore Sun
When Will It Be Safe For Us To Sing Together Again?
To many scientists and doctors, the risk of singing is clear. “It’s not safe for people to simply return to the choir room and pick things up,” Lucinda Halstead, the president-elect of the Performing Arts Medical Association, said in a telephone interview. William Ristenpart, a chemical engineer at the University of California, Davis, who has studied how disease-carrying particles spread during speech, said in a Zoom interview that he “would strongly agree with the assessment that singing, especially indoors in enclosed spaces, is a terrible idea right now.” – The New York Times
MOCA Cleveland Cancels A Show About Black Victims Of Police, Then Apologizes
The museum withdrew the show when it got uncomfortable with the content. Shaun Leonardo, the artist, says he wasn’t consulted. Now the museum has apologized for the cancellation. – The New York Times
Classical Music In The UK Is In Mortal Danger. Why Aren’t People With Clout There Publicly Fighting For It?
As the novel coronavirus spread, the machinery of live classical performance ground to a halt months ago, putting thousands out of work; the industry will be one of the last to return to full activity, and no one can yet agree on how or when that can happen; unlike continental Europe, Britain doesn’t provide nearly enough public funding to see classical music through the crisis. Many famous theatre folk are sounding the alarm for their art form, writes Charlotte Higgins; why aren’t well-known classical lovers doing the same? – The Guardian
El Sistema Alum Will Be Next Chief Conductor Of Royal Liverpool Phil
Domingo Hindoyan will succeed Vasily Petrenko on the podium of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in September 2021. A former assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper in Berlin, Hindoyan began studying music in El Sistema in his native Caracas and went on to study violin and conducting in Geneva, where he now lives with his two children and his wife, soprano Sonya Yoncheva. – Gramophone