Booing Police?
The New York Times recently reported that at the Metropolitan Opera’s first performance of Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail, the soprano singing the role of Konstanze, Alexandra Deshorties, was booed repeatedly and loudly during the applause that followed her Act I aria. The same thing occurred after her Act II aria. The offending audience member was escorted outside before the third act after complaints from nearby patrons prompted ushers to ask for his ticket. The man claimed that he had lost his ticket, but it was later discovered that he had simply moved to Row K in the orchestra section after spying an empty seat from his ticketed seat in the top balcony.
Don’t Forget To Turn Your Phone Off!
In February, the NYC Council voted with an outcome of 40-9, to ban the use of cell phones in movies, performances, museums and galleries. They will still be allowed at sporting events. A violation and a fine of $50 will be imposed on an individual caught talking on a cell phone, listening on one, or being in possession of a ringing cell phone during a performance. Enforcement of this new law has not yet been decided.
“Meet Me in the Lounge After Intro to Turntables?”
The Berklee College of Music might be adopting a new course. In addition to music theory and ear training, students might soon be learning the technique and history behind turntableism. As jazz has become more accepted as a major in top conservatories, some schools, such as Berklee and NEC, are looking towards the addition of hip-hop to music education.
Opera Teaches Children About Holocaust
Brundibar, an opera composed entirely for children in 1938 by Hans Krasa, received its first performances in Nazi-occupied territory at a children’s orphanage. Since the children were prohibited from attending cultural performances, this gave them the opportunity to perform in their own opera. Later, as many of the original directors and production staff were sent to the Theresienstadt camp at Terezin, they were able to organize 55 performances in the camp itself. Today the children’s opera is being produced by a small company in New York City as a way of connecting today’s youth with the history of the Holocaust and developing an early love of opera.
Opera Execs Throw In the Towel
The Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Arizona Opera are both searching for new leaders. After five years as executive director, Jack Mulroney of the Opera Company of Philadelphia is retiring. He will continue to serve on the board of directors, however (as he has for the last 20 years), and will also continue his fund-raising activities. Rumor has it that former Artistic Director of Arizona Opera David Speers is stepping down after only five years because his expansive and expensive aspirations for the company were not well received by the board.
Budget Cuts Everywhere, And the Arts Go First
In an epidemic of budget cuts in the flailing economy, New Jersey’s governor James E. McGreevey announced a proposed budget that would include cutting all of the state’s approximate $32 million arts budget. Arts organizations are devastated at the news, but McGreevey says it is necessary to make a dent in the $5 billion deficit. San Francisco Opera announced a 25 percent cut in it operations budget, which will kill about 20 performances and three productions and cause salary cuts and wage freezes throughout the company. New York City’s budget cuts have resulted in productions being cancelled and employees being laid off at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Most cultural institutions have to look towards corporations and individual grants for their funding, but even those are at a low.
Singers don’t have to join AFTRA and AGMA
Check with the singer’s union, AGMA, before someone tells you that you have to become a member of the union AFTRA in order to perform with them. AGMA has been fighting for your rights. Because of the fact that AGMA recently won the right to represent the dancers in the Broadway production of the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp musical Movin’ Out when their product was released to television and radio, this right has been extended to all members of AGMA. Under AGMA’s contracts, members of AGMA are not required to join or pay dues to AFTRA in order to receive the compensation to which they are entitled as a result of the release of their product in any other media, with the exception of the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, where longstanding AFTRA agreements are already in place regarding such compensation.
British Arts Council Saves the Day
Things seemed hopeless for the English National Opera: no general director for six months, about $2 million in the red, facing strikes by the orchestra and choristers. Because of a last minute plea to the British Arts Council, the council swooped in and bailed out the English National Opera in less than 24 hours, granting an undisclosed sum as a stabilization package. The ENO is trying to restructure their administration and pare things down to be able to stay afloat, and they were able to secure the appointment of Sean Doran as general director.
Washington Opera Finds a Temporary Home
As the theater for Washington Opera is undergoing remodeling, WO will be moving into the boomy Constitution Hall for the next season. Extensive adaptations to the hall are necessary; for example the stage will be extended into the audience so that the audience will actually be on three sides of most of the stage. The orchestra and conductor will be located behind the stage, behind the sets and singers. The conductor and singers will be in contact through the use of inconspicuous television screens.
Trawick Artists Update
We informed you that Trawick Artists was dissolving, but as things have worked out, Trawick will exist solely as a booking agency and not as an artist’s management agency. Brenda Trawick had asked her employees to work out of their homes until new office space could be allocated, but in the meantime, quite a few people have been let go and some have opted for retirement as Trawick attempts to prune down administrative costs. Community Concerts, a division that Trawick Artists purchased from CAMI in 1999, has had complaints from singers who have not been paid. Many of the performers who have agreed to tour with Community Concerts this season agreed to do so only after securing payment directly from the presenters.
