“Soulpepper Theater Company isn’t moving everything to New York for the month of July. Its theater in Toronto’s Distillery District will still be open, with six productions on two of its three main stages. But a dozen other Soulpepper shows are headed for Manhattan, and 65 artists are making the trip. Add support staff, and it’s quite a hefty operation.”
Calgary Arts Orgs Ask City For $2 Million From Economic Development Fund
Ten major organizations, among them the Calgary Opera, Alberta Ballet, and the National Music Centre, are arguing to the city council that they’re the best bet for increasing tourism. Says Alberta Ballet artistic director Jean Grand-Maître, “If we develop a thriving cultural sector, they may stop by in the city for a while before they get out to the mountains and before you know it, it won’t just be Banff that’s thriving right now.”
Terrible News For UK Arts Funding: Lottery Revenue Down £55 Million
“[National] Lottery operator Camelot has warned it expects the decline in sales to continue this year, which means arts funding is also likely to fall further. It is launching an internal review of its operations.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.20.17
Engagement Terminology
Since I got into the weeds of defining development terms last week (Development Terminology), I thought it was time to present the latest in my thinking about terminology related to community engagement. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-06-20
Great new jazz photography: Marc PoKempner portfolio from New Orleans
Photos of musicians making music – visualizations stirred in the photographers by watching sounds manifest – are exciting, and as different in style as the photographers and musicians themselves. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-06-20
Daniel Day-Lewis Is Retiring From Acting
“The 60-year-old star, who has played presidents, writers, and gang leaders in a career that has spanned four decades, has one final film awaiting release, an untitled drama set in the world of high fashion” to be released this Christmas. He gave no reason, and his spokeswoman said, “This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.”
UK Creative Industries Outline Needs In Brexit Negotiations
The government must become a “global-facing” nation after it leaves the European Union, according to the Creative Industries Federation, which has set out its demands to government as Brexit negotiations commence.
“Wonder Woman” Is The Biggest Hit Of The Year. So Why Was Gal Gadot Paid Only $300,000 To Star?
That pretty staggering disparity has left many people on Twitter gobsmacked, but in truth, Gadot’s $300,000 paycheck is perfectly in line with the amount of money paid to most actors at the beginning of their superhero careers.
Study: Attractive Students Get Better Grades
“More attractive students earn higher grades when they are seen than when they are not seen,” report economists Rey Hernandez-Julian and Christina Peters of the Metropolitan State University of Denver. This result, they add, was “driven mainly by courses taught by male instructors.”
Philadelphia Orchestra Executive Director Allison Vulgamore To Step Down
Vulgamore, 59, said she will take some time to decide what to do next. She previously spent 16 years running the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and arrived in Philadelphia during a time of crisis. The Philadelphia Orchestra was running chronic deficits, had exhausted most of its unrestricted endowment, and had spent several months without a permanent president, board chairman, and music director before Worley took over as chairman.
Maria Schneider: The Ten Plagues That Are Killing Music
“Musicians strive their whole lives to become like alchemists, healing the world with their music, turning the world’s pain to beauty. But we haven’t yet learned how to save ourselves. If we remain passive bystanders, I believe we will watch the music that we most value slowly silenced. Just ask the 80 percent of songwriters who have left the profession in Nashville.”
Music Critics Association Launches Award For Best New Opera And Picks Its First Winner
After many more glowing reviews, the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA) has named Breaking the Waves winner of its first Award for Best New Opera in North America. The award, which recognizes musical and theatrical excellence, will be given annually to a fully staged work that received its world premiere in the preceding calendar year. “Of the new operas that I saw in 2016,” said Heidi Waleson, opera critic of the Wall Street Journal, “I would say that Breaking the Waves was the most original, the most harrowing, and the most moving.”
Chicago Opera Theater Names Rising Female Conductor Its Next Music Director
Lidiya Yankovskaya, an alumna of the first-ever class of The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors who currently leads two new-music institutions and a small opera company in metro Boston, starts in Chicago with the 2018-19 season.