BACKMusicians Union pens open letter to Culture Secretary
The Musicians Union have written an open letter to Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
The letter, co-signed by Association of British Orchestras, BPI, Ivors Academy, Music Publishers Association and PRS for Music, highlights the importance of the UK’s classical music sector and to seek support for its future.
‘Each year, UK orchestras play to over 4 million people in over 3500 concerts and performances in the UK and give over 400 concerts in 40 countries across the world’, the letter reads.
It continues: ‘They also play an important role in music education and in communities, reaching 700,000 children and adults in education and community settings each year, and are increasing their work in health and social care particularly for people with dementia. This work is under immediate threat as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. With venues closed both in the UK and abroad, income from concerts, tours, recordings and commercial activity has evaporated.
Silbermann-Archiv digital zugänglich
Die Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (SLUB) Dresden hat das “Silbermann-Archiv” erworben. Die zwischen den 1720er und 1780er Jahren verfassten Handschriften dokumentieren in sechs Bänden das Wissen der Orgelbauerdynastie und seien eine Fundgrube für Kunst und Wissenschaft, teilte die Bibliothek am Montag mit. Die 2.000 Seiten stehen ab sofort digital im Internet zur Verfügung.
Die in Mitteldeutschland und dem Elsass ansässige Familie prägte den Orgelbau des 18. Jahrhunderts. Johann Andreas Silbermann legte eigenhändige Beschreibungen zu 35 Orgeln seines Vaters Andreas Silbermann an, beschrieb 31 Instrumente, die er selbst gebaut hatte, und trug Details zu knapp 250 Instrumenten aus ganz Europa zusammen. In einem der Bände vereinte er biographische Notizen zu gut 180 Kollegen.
Silbermann archive digitally accessible
The Saxon State Library – State and University Library (SLUB) Dresden has acquired the “Silbermann Archive”. The manuscripts written between the 1720s and 1780s document in six volumes the knowledge of the organ building dynasty and are a treasure trove of art and science, the library announced on Monday. The 2,000 pages are now available digitally on the Internet.
The family, which is based in Central Germany and Alsace, shaped organ building in the 18th century. Johann Andreas Silbermann wrote his own descriptions of 35 organs built by his father Andreas Silbermann, described 31 instruments that he had built himself, and collected details of nearly 250 instruments from all over Europe. In one of the volumes he combined biographical notes on a good 180 colleagues.
Le Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2020 sera numérique
En raison des restrictions sanitaires mises en place cet été, le Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, a été réorganisé en version numérique. 10 récitals de grands noms du lyrique seront filmés à huis clos puis proposés en streaming gratuitement.
Après l’annulation du format original (30 juin – 18 juillet) pour cause de coronavirus, cette « scène numérique », qui aura lieu du 6 au 15 juillet, sera émaillée également de débats sur l’avenir du monde de l’opéra, mis à mal par la pandémie en raison de la fermeture inédite et prolongé des théâtres à travers le monde. Parmi les invités de marque figure le très populaire baryton allemand Christian Gerhaher, les sopranos françaises Sabine Devieilhe et Véronique Gens, le ténor français Stanislas de Barbeyrac, le contre-ténor polonais Jakub Jozef Orlinski ou encore le grand chef d’orchestre britannique Sir Simon Rattle.
The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2020 will be digital
Due to health restrictions this summer, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, has been reorganized in a digital version. 10 recitals by great names in the lyric world will be filmed behind closed doors and then streamed free of charge.
After the cancellation of the original format (30 June – 18 July) due to coronavirus, this “digital stage”, which will take place from 6 to 15 July, will also be marked by debates on the future of the opera world, which has been undermined by the pandemic due to the unprecedented and prolonged closure of theatres around the world. Among the distinguished guests will be the very popular German baritone Christian Gerhaher, the French sopranos Sabine Devieilhe and Véronique Gens, the French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac, the Polish countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski and the great British conductor Sir Simon Rattle.
Kimmel Center, seeing no earned revenue, cuts most of its staff
Facing an increasingly long and painful shutdown, the Kimmel Center is furloughing 80% of its staff, and cutting pay and hours on a sliding scale for its remaining workers. By December, the city’s largest performing arts presenter will have missed out on revenue from about 800 shows, events, and rentals since mid-March, when it closed the doors to its halls because of the coronavirus pandemic. These events would have been attended by about 700,000 visitors, said Kimmel president and CEO Anne C. Ewers.
Now, the Kimmel foresees no touring Broadway shows, its big cash cow, through the end of 2020. The arts center also anticipates holding no other “Kimmel Center Presents” shows — including performers and speakers like David Sedaris — through the end of the year. The Kimmel in recent years has shifted to become less reliant on philanthropy and more on earned revenue, and currently earns 93% of its income. Now, said Ewers, “those earned lines of revenue are gone, between selling of tickets and rentals and catering. It’s all gone.”
