According to The Chronicle, donations to charities were down eleven percent in 2009. The decline is nearly four times the previous largest decline of 2.8 percent in 2001.
I. Stanley Levine, 81, has passed away. Levine, a lawyer by trade, raised millions of dollars for the Concert Association of Florida, the New World Symphony, the Miami City Ballet, and the Arsht Center, and helped establish the ArtSouth complex in Homestead. He also spent twelve years as the chairman of the board for the Concert Association.
The AFM is picketing the NETworks Presentations production of The Beauty and the Beast. NETworks has engaged non-AFM members at substandard wages and working conditions, and will be using a pit orchestra of only eleven musicians to cover the 26 parts the show was originally scored for. The production will be in Miami at the Arsht Center from December 28 through January 2, and in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center from January 4 through 9.
Broward County saw a 45 percent increase since last year in film permits for the April though September period. In addition to the first season of the A&E series "The Glades," segments of the feature film "Jack and Jill" were filmed in Broward. The increase has brought nearly $24 million in economic impact to the county, with $18 million of the total coming from the filming of "The Glades."
The Florida Orchestra in Tampa has agreed to wage cuts. Annual wages of $28,800 for a 31-week season will be reduced to $24,500 for a 24-week season for the next two seasons.
The Houston Symphony has ratified a new 4-year agreement that runs through the orchestra's 100th anniversary season. The first year of the agreement freezes wages but restores one of two furlough weeks the orchestra took last season. The remaining years of the agreement eliminate the furloughs and increase wages an average of 2.5 percent per year.
The Washington Ballet will dance to tape rather than a live orchestra this season. The Ballet, which performs at the Kennedy Center, cites financial constraints on its $8 million budget.
The Dutch government is proposing a 24 percent cut in its arts budget and disbanding the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Centre, including the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The Netherlands has been a beacon of cultural excellence, and artists are protesting, warning of disastrous consequences.
"Music Makes A City," a documentary about how Louisville, Kentucky became a focal point for contemporary music in the mid-20th century, has opened in New York City. The documentary charts the roles of conductor Robert Whitney and mayor Charles Farnsley, who, with the help of a Rockefeller Foundation grant, brought nearly 50 original works a year from the likes of Ned Rorem and Elliott Carter to the Louisville Orchestra.