Local and Industry News

The South Miami-Dade Cultural Center will be opening in Cutler Bay after 19 years of planning. The $51 million performing arts facility, funded primarily by hotel taxes, contains a 966-seat theater complete with orchestra pit, box office and concessions facilities, and administrative space.

Philanthropist Adrienne Arsht has been given the 2011 Award for Outstanding Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Arsht has given millions to the John F. Kennedy Center, the University of Miami, and Miami's Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

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Amazon.com has launched a streaming-video subscription service. The new service is a free add-on to subscribers of the Amazon Prime shipping service. The service provides content from Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, and 13 independent providers including the BBC and Magnolia Pictures, and Amazon is in talks with other content providers.

Netflix has reached a two-year agreement with CBS to provide classic TV shows, including Star Trek and Cheers, to its subscribers. Netflix already has an agreement with Walt Disney Co. to provide content from ABC and the Disney Channel to subscribers.

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The New York Philharmonic has far surpassed its fund-raising goal. The orchestra had hoped to raise $50 million over five years but instead expects to collect more than $90 million. $52 million will go into the orchestra's $190 million endowment fund.

The Columbus Symphony has ratified a new four-year agreement. The agreement will restore one week to the season and raise annual wages to $40,000 by 2014.

Arts patron Barbara Stewart, who passed away in 2010, has left $1.5 million for the Atlanta Symphony. Stewart had supported the orchestra for the past 20 years and also left a large bequest to the Atlanta Opera.

Philadelphia Orchestra members are being asked to take a 20 percent paycut and to reduce the size of the orchestra by 10 musicians, and orchestra board members are threatening bankruptcy. The orchestra has no debt and has an endowment of over $100 million, but the orchestra's managers are concerned about future pension liabilities.