Local and Industry News
Mark Nerenhausen will leave the helm of the Broward Center of the Performing Arts in March 2009 to become the president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.
The Orlando Performing Arts Center, which is set to break ground in 2009, is falling behind in fund raising. An additional $45 million is needed due to extra costs.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced winners of grants for local arts projects. Some of the winners include:
- Miami Lyric Opera, $40,000 to provide operating support to prepare local talent for major careers
- NFAA YoungARTS, $600,000 to create a regional program to train and support local artists who are seniors in high school
- Miami Music Project, $1 million, for a year-round classical music outreach program and a two-week festival led by conductor James Judd
- Gold Coast Jazz Society, $18,000, to support First Friday Jazz Jams, where students can perform with veteran jazz musicians.
- Arsht Center, $100,000, to support the Free Gospel Sundays monthly concert series.
- Seraphic Fire, $684,750, to create a network of free choral ensembles in Miami-Dade County.
- Miami City Ballet, $250,000, to support a collaboration between the Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra.
- Classical South Florida, $250,000, to match listeners' donations in support of the classical music radio station.
- Arsht Center, $100,000, to create the Hemisphere Festival, a comprehensive, annual, international festival featuring music, theater, dance, film, comedy, and the spoken word.
The Broward County Cultural Division has also announced grant recipients. The recipients include:
- Symphony of the Americas, $18,300, to provide classes at the Bonnet House and concerts at the Broward Center
- Master Chorale, $31,900, to support three choral concerts in Broward County.
- All Florida Youth Orchestra, $71,100 to support music education programs
- ARS Flores Symphony, $32,600, to support concerts and master classes.
- Symphony of the Americas, $67,900, to support performances and educational outreach
- Chameleon Musicians, $10,000, to support concerts.
- Miami City Ballet, $35,600, to support Nutcracker performances at the Broward Center
- Miami City Ballet, $71,200, to support season programming at the Broward Center
- Symphony of the Americas, $26,800, to support Hispanic concert and Summerfest
- Gold Coast Jazz Society, $50,400, to support jazz concerts and jazz education programs
- South Florida Jazz, $47,300, to support concert series
- Broward Center, $59,100, to support collaborative marketing effort.
- Concert Association, $54,700, to support collaborative marketing effort with Broward Center
- Concert Association, $71,200, to support concerts at the Broward Center and Parker Playhouse
- Myrna Meeroff, $2000, to fund a brass quintet adaptation of Pictures at an Exhibition
- FGO, $46,300, to support collaborative marketing effort with Broward Center
- Gold Coast Opera, $38,700, to fund performances
- FGO, $301,400, to support opera previews, young artist recitals, artsong series, and education programs
Recording
Warner, SonyBMG, and EMI are in talks with colleges and universities to integrate a flat fee into tuition to cover music downloads. The fee, possibly about $5 a month, would be collected by the nonprofit organization Choruss, which would disburse the funds to record labels and copyright holders.
SonyBMG, Universal, and EMI have reached deals with Musicane to sell digital song catalogs through online widgets. Musicane would pay the labels a percentage of the proceeds, as does iTunes.
Microsoft will now allow Zune users to keep up to ten songs per month as part of the subscription fee. Previously, users lost access to songs when they canceled subscriptions.
Symphonic
From coast to coast, the economy is having a dire effect on arts organizations. The Orchestras of Pasedena (CA) have canceled concerts and laid of executives, and the Santa Clarita (CA) Symphony has canceled its season. On the east coast, the Baltimore Opera, in existence for 58 years, has canceled the remainder of its season and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Following in the footsteps of the Met, La Scala will broadcast its 2009 season opening production of Don Carlo live in HD in New York and other U.S. cities.
The Boston Symphony has launched a download service where individuals can buy new and historical recordings right from the BSO website. The downloads will be available in MP3 and HD Surround formats.
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