Local and Industry News

The Dillard Jazz Ensemble has taken first place in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition. Both the Dillard ensemble and an ensemble from the New World School of the Arts were able to take part in the competition against thirteen other school jazz bands in part due to $30,000 in financial help from the Marlins Community Foundation.

After $1.5 million in repairs by the city of Boca Raton and a year of being void of major events other than Festival of the Arts, Mizner Park appears to be back in business. Several concerts and events have been booked for the summer, and community events such as Cinema in the Park and pops and band concerts are being planned.

The state of Florida has set aside $2.1 million for cultural grants for this fiscal year. The amount is more than double the amount allocated last year, but a far cry from the $13.1 million allocated in 2006-2007. In 2009, Florida was second from last in state per capita arts funding.

Ticketmaster will introduce dynamic pricing at some venues this summer. Artists and sports teams will be able to raise or lower ticket prices based on current demand. Ticketmaster believes this will boost revenue and stymie scalpers.

A group of board members have agreed to personally guarantee $16 million in loans to get construction of the Dr. P. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando started. Orlando city council has approved a contact and groundbreaking is scheduled for June 23, and construction is expected to be completed by July 2014.  Construction had been delayed on the $383 million project because of the recession.

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SAG and AFTRA will try once again to merge. The sister unions believe they will have more bargaining power together when negotiating against media conglomerates. They hope to develop a merger plan by January, followed by a vote of their memberships. Previous attempts at merging, in 1998 and 2003, narrowly failed.

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Musicians have ratified a new three-year agreement with the Colorado Symphony. The agreement restores all four furlough weeks by the second season and raises base pay by 4.5 percent and raises pension in the third year.

The Cleveland Orchestra has hired Bruce Coppock as managing director of its Miami residency. Coppock was formerly the president and managing director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and has also served as deputy director of Carnegie Hall. He replaces Sandi Macdonald, who is now working for the North Carolina Symphony.

Local 802 is protesting the use of taped music in the musical "Priscilla Queen of the Desert." The musical uses recorded music instead of employing string players, and only engages nine live musicians, below the eighteen required by the agreement with the AFM.

The Master Chorale of South Florida has appointed Dr. Karen Kennedy to succeed Joshua Habermann as Artistic Director. Kennedy is currently Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at Towson (MD) University and was also hired to replace Habermann as Director of Choral Studies at the University of Miami.

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