YouTube Forms New Symphony Orchestra
Instrumentalists began auditioning for the new YouTube Collaborative Online Orchestra last November, says the orchestra’s website. Auditioners learned a new piece that noted Chinese classical composer Tan Dun wrote for the occasion. They practiced the piece and turned in videos of their performances.
Players are being judged by an auspicious panel as well as by rank and file YouTube viewers. Winners will be flown to New York City from wherever in the world they live, so that all can perform together in Carnegie Hall. Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Summit performance on April 15, said the site.
www.youtube.com/symphony
www.youtube.com/blog?entry=qwTiF0HMrog
Vilar Found Guilty
A New York court has convicted well-known opera lover and patron of the arts Alberto Vilar of fraud and money laundering, according to a Reuters report. Vilar and Gary Tanaka, his partner in Amerindo Investment Advisors, were accused of taking money from investors who wanted to buy conservative investments and putting the money into risky technology stocks. One client, Lily Cates, mother of actress Phoebe Cates, lost $5 million when the dot-com bubble burst.
At the height of the dot-com boom, Amerindo Investment was managing some $10 billion, said reports. The court found Vilar, aged 68, guilty of all 12 charges listed in his indictment. He could spend up to 20 years in prison.
coloradoindependent.com/15596/report-vilar-jury-close-to-reaching-verdict
www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/arts/music/20vila.html?emc=rss&partner=rs
Have Your Own Personal Prompter
When tenor Peter Seiffert sang the rehearsals of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Met last fall, he used an electronic piece in his right ear that could relay prompts to him from a coach backstage, reported the New York Times. He had already used the device for the same role earlier in Berlin.
This new piece of technology may eventually do away with the presence of a prompter in a box on the stage.
www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/arts/music/01tris.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/M/Metropolitan%20Opera-wtop.com/?nid=114&sid=1528486
Tenor Phones for Tickets and Makes History
Adriano Graziani, a student at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, called the Welsh National Opera for tickets to a gala performance, according to the singer’s website. The man who answered the phone knew that the caller was a singer, and after taking care of the tickets mentioned his name to an administrator who was dealing with the illness of that evening’s star tenor.
As a result, Graziani never sat in his seat. The company called him back a few hours before the show so that he could rehearse “E lucevan le stelle,” “Core n’grato” (a Welsh song), and the Brindisi from La traviata. His performance elicited a standing ovation and the company rewarded him with a contract, says the site.
www.adrianograziani.com/home.htm
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article5183582.ece
New York City Opera Hopes to Reinvent Itself
Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., is a well-known turnaround specialist. His book, The Art of the Turnaround, details his work with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, and London’s Royal Opera House.
Kaiser is currently volunteering his services with the New York City Opera, reports the New York Times. He believes that NYCO needs a general director who can play on its strengths, using them to create interesting, important programming.
www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/arts/music/20oper.html
www.amazon.com/Art-Turnaround-Creating-Maintaining-Organizations/dp/1584657359
www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2008/11/nyc_opera_engages_turnaround_a.html
The Show Must Go On
Some of the members of the Riverside Philharmonic Orchestra were driving to a concert on California’s Route 91 during the autumn forest fires. As their car came barreling down the freeway, the fire crossed the road. The musicians literally drove through fire for a few moments. They also managed to make a video of their experience, according to www.laist.com. When they put the video on the Web, they accompanied it with music from the second movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, featured on the program of the concert they were driving through fire to present.
www.instantriverside.com/riverside-ca-news/musicians-record-drive- through-fire-on-91/2008/11/18/
www.laist.com/2008/11/18/classical_musicians_drive_through_w.php
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfEL0QMvGjE
www.thephilharmonic.org/
