Wouldn’t it be nice to know how much money singers are making? AGMA, the singers’ union, doesn’t publish any financial figures for singers. The actors’ union, Screen Actors Guild (SAG), shares their numbers not only with their members, but publicly. They just came out with figures from 1999 showing a record-breaking year. How’d they do? Actors made $1.52 billion last year. Men got the “lion’s share of the loot” by nearly 2-1. AGMA doesn’t publish these figures-yet-and because so many jobs are not union jobs, the figures would not be an accurate representation of the monies actually earned by singers. But it would help. The numbers can be important in making union decisions. For example, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) which reported last week that its members experienced a no growth income year in 1999 are now warning members to prepare for a strike. Alan Gordon, can singers have this information?
Lofti Mansouri, 71, is one year away from retiring as general director of the San Francisco Opera, the second largest opera company in America.
Voice teacher Dale Moore is leaving Eastman School of Music to pursue private teaching in Indiana. Coach and conductor Benton Hess will be full-time at Eastman as of July 2001, leaving University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Soprano Ashley Putnam will join the Eastman faculty.
Toledo Opera has a new General Director in Renay Conlin, formerly cultural commissioner in West Virginia. She is the wife of Thomas Conlin, artistic director of the West Virginia Symphony. She replaces James Meena who is now conductor and director for Opera Carolina.
Congratulations to famed soprano Jane Eaglen and opera donor/volunteer Brian Lyson who were married in the lobby of the Seattle Center Opera House. The newlyweds now live in Seattle. Speaking of Seattle Opera, the McCaw family recently gave a gift of $20 million to create a world-class performance hall. The gift is the largest contribution ever made in support of an arts organization in the North Western region.
Louis Quilico died suddenly of complications following surgery at Toronto Western Hospital. He leaves his wife, concert pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico; his son Gino and daughter Donna; grandchildren. Quilico spent 25 years with The Metropolitan Opera
Too Busy Singing to Go Back to School?
Try a virtual course! We all know that singing now involves a lot of marketing and business savvy. Plus you need skills to make more at your day job! But your schedule changes too much to commit to a class and what if that job in Deluth comes through and you live neighborhood where you don’t like to go out at night. The good news is that now you can take nearly any class you want. Thousands of courses are available on: blackboard.com, smartplanet.com, learn.com, headlight.com, cybercampus.gg.edu. Some of them are free!
Taxes and the International Singer
There has been a media assumption that the three tenors’ tax problems came about because of the singers’ greed. But after speaking with other international level singers, a new picture emerges. Consider the letter in this issue from a singer talking about tax problems for American singers in France. Then over the newswire comes the following story:
“Pavarotti has agreed to pay £8 million to Italy’s Finance Ministry to settle a tax evasion case ending his four-year battle with Italian tax inspectors. Pavarotti, who has always denied any wrongdoing, says he has mixed feelings about the settlement “Satisfied? Yes, and no,” he said. “Yes, because it’s the end of a legal process, which has left me very bitter. No, because I have to open my sack and hand over billions of lira.” Pavarotti, who claims the tax haven of Monte Carlo as his official residence, was accused in 1996 of filing false tax returns for 1989-1991. After a long legal battle, an appeals court ruled last year that he spends most of his time in Italy and has to pay Italian taxes. In April, the pressure increased when prosecutors in Bologna sought Pavarotti’s indictment on tax fraud charges. He is one of dozens of Italian celebrities under investigation for tax evasion. Pavarotti, one of the world’s highest-paid entertainers, says he has always paid taxes, especially in cities where he has performed. “It’s very difficult to explain the life of one who travels the world, and who every year visits 50 different cities,” he said.” We removed the rude words about his size from the article but it is fairly clear that the world has judged him and the other two guilty without knowing the facts.
Rome’s Colosseum Now a Concert Hall
Rome’s 19-centuries-old Colosseum debuted as a concert hall in July, its newly renovated stage serving as the starlit venue for the premiere of a Sicilian composer’s work dedicated to Mother Theresa, Franco Mannino’s Missa Solemnis. The concert was the first on the ancient arena’s reconstructed stage.
You Think Learning language Is Boring? Then you haven’t studied Italian with Professor Tom Simpson at Northwestern University. Simpson takes students beyond the canned recitation most of us have suffered through in college lecture or lab situations (“When does the plane from Milan arrive?”), allowing them to learn and speak Italian in a novel way. They use Canon digital cameras, iMac computers, and iMovie software to conceive, create, perform, direct, film, and edit their own Italian soap operas. Completely in Italian, of course.
Resume/letters help
Your cover letter isn’t going well. “This letter to which whom I am referring to it…” OK so you’ve forgotten some high school grammar. No problem! Log on to www.grammarbook.com. Simple, useful and FAST!
New Music site online
This site caught our attention because you can make your own CDs and they have opera! You can listen to a 20 second snippet of each track before putting it onto your virtual CD. On the downside, I tried their “165-label music library” by pulling up various classical singers and found that the selection is quite limited. This may all change as they have hired Greg Sandow, as Editorial Director, who has written about classical music for The Wall Street Journal, teaches graduate courses at Juilliard, and has successfully produced four of his own operas. Anne Midgette, who wrote the article in Opera News on Eve Queler, covers classical music and the arts for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Art News, and many other publications. This will be an interesting site to watch. www.musicmaker.com. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/pub/search/search2?f=PRN/prnpub&p1=20000717-NYM024&redir=oneupframe&doc=PRN/prnphotos/docs/012/990)
