Mark Hanson will become only the fifth executive director of the Symphony since the position was created in 1939. Like his predecessors, he combines training in arts management with a history as a practical musician.
What’s The Point Of Intermissions?
“If there is an art to intermission, what are its elements of style? When is the long event transporting, and how does the break (or two) become the worst part of the night? The feeling varies from dance to music to theater, from night to night and place to place.”
Can Danny Feldman Save The Pasadena Playhouse?
“The Pasadena Playhouse, which holds the designation of the State Theater of California, marks its centennial this summer. And while that’s reason to celebrate, the theater continues to struggle for survival amid serious financial challenges. Now, eight months into the job, Feldman has his work cut out for him.”
The Ideal EU City Of Culture (According To The EU)
“A new index by the EU Joint Research Centre published Thursday measures 168 cities in 30 European countries and ranks how they perform in 29 areas of culture and creativity. The ideal city would have the cultural venues of Cork, the cultural attractiveness and knowledge-based jobs of Paris, the innovation of Eindhoven, the new creative jobs of Umeå, the education system of Leuven, the openness, tolerance and trust of Glasgow, the connectedness of Utrecht and the good governance of Copenhagen.”
An Expedition To Spiral Jetty
“The road conditions near the jetty were highly variable, which was to say not always roads. The lake’s water levels, too, needed to be below 4,195 feet for us to see it, and those levels were partly dependent on snowfall (this winter there was lots) and how much of that snow, by the time we arrived, had melted and sluiced down the mountains — water that also, en route to the lake, could turn the 16 miles of unpaved roads into impassable mush.”
Time To Do Away With Long Plays And Intermissions?
“Ask me while stuck in traffic on my way to the Mark Taper Forum or the Geffen Playhouse what my favorite dramatic genre is and I’ll likely say, ’90 minutes, no intermission.’ Don’t judge me. The stretching out of plays by intermissions might make sense for producers worried about the sales revenue of overpriced food and drink. But the practice is a holdout from an era when people had discrete work hours, less harried commutes and minds that were free of Facebook, Twitter and email nudges.”
Report: Vast Majority Of Pre-Columbian Art In San Francisco’s Mexican Museum Is Not Museum Quality
“According to the report, only 83 of 2,000 artifacts from the pre-Hispanic, or pre-Columbian, era could be certified as museum-quality by an independent team of museum curators who came from Mexico City to conduct the test. The other 1,917 are considered “decorative,” and will probably be given to schools or smaller museums before the museum moves from its temporary Fort Mason site to a permanent home in a luxury condo tower being constructed near SFMOMA.”