October 19, 2012   |
| | | Thought of the Day | | If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. --George S. Patton
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| Quote of the Week | | One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. --Bob Marley
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| | Fazil Say in Turkish Court |  ISTANBUL -- Noted Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say appeared in court on Thursday to defend himself against charges of offending Muslims and insulting Islam in comments he made on Twitter. "Why such haste?," he tweeted in a joke about a call to prayer that lasted only 22 seconds. "Have you got a mistress waiting or a raki on the table?" Raki is a traditional alcoholic drink; Islam forbids alcohol and many Islamists consider the remarks unacceptable. Prosecutors in June charged Say with inciting hatred and public enmity, and with insulting "religious values." He faces a maximum 18 months prison term. Say, who has served as a cultural ambassador for the European Union, rejected the charges and demanded his acquittal, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. The trial was adjourned until Feb. 18, but has instilled fear among Turks over freedom of expression in their country. |
New York Times Hires Critic |  The New York Times has a new music critic, a 39-year-old mother of three young children with a PhD in Italian literature. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, whose first review appears today, has in recent years written about music for The Wall Street Journal and The Classical Review, two outlets with which she'll no longer be affiliated, now that she is a free-lance for the Times. She estimates she'll be contributing two to three reviews a week, as well as the occasional feature. Having studied the violin, and now "easing back into it," da Fonseca-Wollheim says she'll probably be focusing largely on string and chamber music in her new job. "I think it's important that critics be able to do what they write about," she said in a brief phone interview. Born in Brussels to German parents, da Fonseca-Wollheim lives in Manhattan with her husband, Bret Louis Stephens, foreign-affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal. |
| | | October Video of the Month | | |
Alvin Ailey Dance Names New CEO |  Bennett Rink, senior director of development and external affairs for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, is to be the organization's new executive director, succeeding Sharon Gersten Luckman, who has been in the job since 1995, and who is one very, very hard act to follow. The sweeping changes on her watch have included raising the endowment from zero to $55 million and opening a dazzling permanent facility in Midtown following a $75 million capital campaign. The company, which includes a large school and the Ailey II company, is financially solid. Rink was hired in 1994 as manager of special events, and has worked his way up the ladder over time. "I started out at Ailey doing whatever needed to be done, even if it was stuffing gift bags in the kitchen of the Pierre Hotel," he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. Rink's appointment follows a nine-month national search. Robert Battle, named artistic director in July 2011 succeeding Judith Jamison, was also an internal candidate. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
Welsh National Opera Gets $2 Million |  Welsh National Opera has announced the launch of "British Firsts," a series of contemporary operas to be staged over the next five years, all U.K. premieres. The project is being funded by a $2 million gift from members of the Getty family. It is not a coincidence that the premiere of Gordon Getty's 60-minute Usher House is among the five. That will be directed by WNO Chief Executive and Artistic Director David Pountney, along with a completed version of Debussy's one-act opera, The Fall of the House of Usher. The two works, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, will be performed together at WNO in summer 2014 and at the San Francisco Opera in fall 2015. (Getty is based in San Francisco.) |
Seattle Symphony/Opera Players May Strike |  Musicians of the Seattle Symphony and Opera Players' Organization (SSOPO), an organization similar to but not part of the American Federation of Musicians, have voted to authorize a strike. Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera administrations last week put forth a contract offer that called for a 15 percent reduction in orchestra compensation in the 2012-13 season. SSOPO claims that its members have in recent years made concessions amounting to over $9.6 million, and that more of the same is simply untenable. They also point to the new, revitalized regime at the orchestra under Music Director Ludovic Morlot and Executive Director Simon Woods as all the more reason to keep artistic quality at optimum levels. An SSOPO news release claims the orchestra had a balanced budget (of about $24 million) in 2011-12 and anticipates one for 2012-13. However, the orchestra is carrying forward $11 million of debt. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Mikko Franck Scores Big | |  From An American in Paris by Frank Cadenhead A top orchestra manager in Paris once told me in private "What is Mikko Franck still doing in Finland?" Born in Helsinki in 1979, he was already on the international circuit at 23 and has frequently guest-conducted in Paris. He would be an obvious choice for a major orchestra and his leadership of the Finnish National Opera comes to an end next year.
His musical gifts were on display when he replaced music director Myung Whun Chung on October 13 at Salle Pleyel with little notice. On the program was a concert version of Wagner's epic Tristan und Isolde (which he had never conducted before) with today's leading Wagnerian soprano, Nina Stemme, singing Isolde and a strong cast supporting her. The hall was, of course, long since sold out and it was to be broadcast live on France Musique. Read the full story |
| Can I Get A Tax Deduction For My Professional Services? | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to LawAndDisorder@MusicalAmerica.com Dear Law & Order: Performing Arts Division - Many nonprofit arts organizations have board members or other affiliated parties who offer their services free of charge or at a reduced rate to support the organization. Is it possible for the nonprofit organization to give a tax letter for the value of the donated services? If so, under what circumstances and how should it be handled to comply with tax rules? Examples would be a photographer who gives her services at a reduced rate or an advertising agency that offers graphic design services free of charge. Read the full story |
| Performing on the High Seas |  From Ask Edna by Edna Landau
For the answers to the questions below, click here. When I had the pleasure of meeting with participants in the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival last summer, I addressed a number of questions that had been submitted in advance. One question concerned playing on music cruises, and how to apply for such opportunities. I decided to defer an answer until I had time to research the topic, hence this week's column. I have never taken a cruise so I cannot speak firsthand of the experience. However, I hope that what I have learned and the links below will prove beneficial to those interested in going this route. |
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