#berlin + munich concert report

[izpira-se-zlato]

Munich, 26.03.24

Gig report! Can’t believe this tour is almost over :o In true Joler Ot fashion I am writing this while our train is losing a broken carriage so we're picking up delays. Fun.

The queue was. Insane. I just. Boggle at how we went from the chill Berlin and Hamburg and Leipzig queues to this.

The actual queueing was pretty chill regardless, thankfully

There was a whole-ass. Like. Tumblr meetup? Not like, planned, but I met (at various points) @occhi-verdi-come-il-mare, @nyx-aira, @itskrejsaitsparty, @j-restlessgeek, @lovvecherrymotion, @thisismyobsessionnow, @zadig-fate, @mogoce-nocoj and probably more because my brain is a sieve. So wild to just meet these people irl, you know?

My place in the queue was right in front of the person who sold Kris and me our EA tickets, which I thought was super funny

Kris was technically way further ahead of me but traded her place with a teenager whose only gig on this tour was this one and who was super bummed by someone cutting in line in front of them, and instead joined me further back and jfc we had so, so much fun. So glad I didn't have to be all alone. Gigs are more fun with friends, as it turns out (who woulda thunk)

I got a lot of short messages for my gig memory book 😊

I'm actually out of I 💛 Hojan and medium Hojan stickers. And I think tall Hojan stickers? So there's an end in sight 😂

super late gig start (EA doors was at 19:00)

The Munich venue is tiny and so Kris and I were… 7th or 8th row Jance side. I saw pretty well for the soundcheck, but after general doors a tall girl with two friends pushed her way in front of us (cutting in from the side) and severely limited my view… until a queue friend asked if we wanted to swap places bc she's taller and also wanted to be next to her friend (who was another tall person in front of us). So Kris and I went on Jan-side kinda in front of the speakers and it was a really great view 😊(thank you again)

We got NGVOT (no Kris version) and Vem da greš for soundcheck

Jance played each others' instruments (again). Well. I think Jan played Nace's bass while Nace either touched the dials or the tremolo. I hate them

there was also another Jance moment that got such a homophobojan from Kris I had to laugh. I think Jance were playing their instruments at each other at that moment? Kris was just "jfc guys" from his expression

Sector 5 were so, so good from our spot. Finally heard the lyrics again (I heard only the drums and maybe a bit of the guitar in Cologne). Sound-wise, our spot was excellent ngl.

I'll definitely miss them. If they have a concert in Berlin I can swing (or come by where I live), I'll definitely go. But yeah, I really grew to like them! (also they're babies. like. 21. They all studied music in Berlin, which is where they met. And the guitarist used to do parcour for several years which is why he did a backflip on stage each show)

they were definitely adopted into the family with glasses given to them (they kept falling off Mika's face so the guitarist, Johann, put them on and looked slej) and people singing along and just. The vibes were great. You could also definitely tell they'd settled into the stage compared to Berlin (which was their first gig for JO)

JC Stewart 🥰

I really grew to like his set, if he ever comes near where I live, I'll go for sure

I still don't understand the timeline of the boys meeting JC tho. It doesn't make sense. According to JC, Conor introduced them at the end of last year, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have time to be in the UK. At least not all five of them

Kris and I attempted to speak JC's jokes at the same time as him. It worked worryingly well

Actual gig was Katrina opener

Jan in only a leather jacket, worn open?? Maybe Bojan was right and they did run out of shirts xD boys have you heard of the concept of a laundry machine?

Nace in a simple white shirt, tucked into his pants. Jfc. Truly starting to be Nace girlie (gn) period

Kris wore a half collar underneath a sweater vest which was a look. What kind of look? I'm still not sure, if I'm honest

Jure in the sleeveless jeans vest and otherwise topless. I caught glimpses of him and hnnng

Bojan was also there ig

well. There was a small girl in the audience (on her mom's shoulders) of around. 7 or 8 years? So we got a whole lot of heart-eyes-Bojan

the girl sang UM and Bojan pulled her onto the stage (no Bojan in the audience bc of the speakers)

no idea how long UM lasted bc I put stuff on Instagram in the meantime

we got Barve 😭 I screamed so much and was so happy and gaaaah. I love this song so so much. And of course Bojan did the Ju-re Ma-ček! (and so did the audience)

we got Schlager 😭 Bluza my beloved where are you

tho tbf they look so fucking happy playing that song

Nace almost went to his knees in front of Jan twice (at least)

they also did that "leaning against each other"-thing again

I didn't film a lot bc I was too busy vibing, though I did take a bunch of pictures

Fairy!Bojan. Or as @itskreisjaitsparty put it on tumblr: Prinzessing Lilifee at home

People threw stuff on stage like a crown with a veil attached and sparkly glasses and so Bojan went, "Kris, you have to put on everything they've thrown at you!" and Kris did

Nace got heart-shaped glasses with rainbow studding and tried to show Jan immediately but Jan was busy 😂

The atmosphere of the gig was really, really good

The girls next to us started bawling during Barve iirc and just. Didn't stop. The cute security guard near us (who I think recognised me from the December Strom gig) shared amused glances with me bc the girls were kinda adorable. At least that's how I chose to interpret their expression

someone fainted ahead of us. Though not badly enough to be removed, just sat down for a while while the security guard stood, well, guard and had the girl drink something

It was actually so freeing not to be not in the very front but off to the side. We had space to dance and make snarky/funny comments at each other and just laugh

I got a Vita wave! She was shooting from behind the merch table, which was up two stairs from where I was, and so I kept glancing back, and just before she made her way into the crowd to shoot from there, she waved at me :D

They got food (Trolli gummi bears 😂) and Nace fed Kris two of them. I didn't catch the moment on video but it was so cute

After the gig, we talked a bunch to the Sector 5 guys. They're kinda adorable

JO left immediately without even saying goodbye to the Sector 5 guys. Guess Bojan wasn't the only one out late last night (it was a bit disappointing because Munich didn't get them last time, either)

we still stayed and talked to each other a whole bunch well after it was clear JO had left -- chatted with Mika (Sector 5 singer) a bit more, and then just the tumblr girlies

as we turned to leave for Astrid's hotel room (just like last time) well after the band had left (just like last time), I said, "well, at least this time they won't have reason to tag me on IG" (unlike last time), only to open my phone to a tag from Jan bc he restoried my pic😂 collecting yet more twinning moments from Jance ig

[a-paradise-for-hyperfixations]

Berlin fan report 16th july 2023

Yeah so maybe i am romanticizing a little bit too much but i have to share this story with you guys. On the second berlin concert i was sitting on pauls side and in this seating area you don't get any of the confetti. (I already have enough of it from munich because i was standing right in front of the cannon.) When the concert was over and people started to walk up the stairs there was a girl in front of me who suddenly started to go back and was looking at the floor. I thought maybe she dropped something. But actually she was going back a few seats to pick up a single piece of white confetti. And isn't that what everything is about?! People start to leave the venue but you go back the seat rows to grab confetti. Perhaps i am making more of it than it actually is but the black and white confetti has always been holy to me!

[sparkly-skies]

"#also everyone: look what [bandmember 1&2] did#Jess: look an otter🥰" hello @mondscheinprinzessin it was a very cute otter and I had to take a picture for my friend! But I can scream about the bands too 😂 I mean you were there but still

They were all so smiley and happy, like everytime you looked at anyone from any band, they were just the 🥺🥰😍 emojis in person, except when Olli did his creepy "place your bets if you'd survive meeting me alone" stare ajsdfkjs

So smiley!! So happy!!

Samy's little "disappearing into the crowd and re-appearing on whatever you can stand on or climb onto" magic trick, and also on the pillar right in front of us that made me worry if he'd fall down on us if he were to fall

the rowing stuff people did in Berlin ft. Joel + Niko hopping into the moshpit because why not I guess

Aleksi going smash smash smash on Tommi's drums during Alive or Only Burning is 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼

all the cuddles!! so many stage cuddles!!

Joel's... thing? when Joonas sings? it's like he's trying to reach for something inside Joonas' jacket

Samy apparently saying what's the point of a fishnet shirt, let's just start the show shirtless straight away

and saying how great it is that they get to tour with their friends

they are all too pretty to be true and I don't understand how

we stood about halfway away from the stage in Munich and I STILL couldn't look at Olli for longer than a few seconds because of his STARE. what is the man doing??

Aleksi being his little hypeman self and smiling so beautifully when people react is so nice 🥺

Joel constantly bothering any of his bandmates somehow, love that

Samy saying there's no place for homophobia at their concerts 🥰🥰🥰

also the bi flag in Munich

the Ocean's singer having minor issues with his guitar at both concerts, but enough in Munich that he had to try to entertain the crowd for a minute or two while his bandmates were watching him like "hmmmm yeah he's got this, no need for one of us to take over while he fixes his guitar"

They are just. All SO GOOD to see live! They all have such energy and enthusiasm and you can see every single minute how happy all of them are to be there! 🥺🥰💖

Santeri in his grumpy moomins shirt smiling SO brightly at a crew guy

screaming along to Don't Fix Me has to be a temporary therapy replacement somehow. If you can't go to therapy, screaming along to Don't Fix Me and Opinions is fine (for a while).

the little pause in Autopsy and then the whole crowd screaming "I need to open up" ✨

all three bands watching each other perform from the balcony thing ✨🥰

ehehehe the way they all stand next to each other in GFTG for the Wembley kisses, and at the end for the bow 🥰🥰

I don't know which song they're covering somewhere in the middle but it's fun to listen to. Also Aleksi's electronic (?) interlude slaps 👌🏼👌🏼

Ooooh the BMTH before they started while I stood there in my BMTH shirt 😌 also Backstreet Boys, and the stupid Saints Go Marching In song, and the Linkin Park x Titanic outro. Like. Somehow those song choises are all SUCH BC energy

also singing and making us sing only a few seconds of Linkin Park. Let us sing the whole thing you cowards

I still don't know why Joel ducked when he walked across the pathway.

Also still don't know why they introduce Aleksi as Alex Mattson

love how we almost didn't find the entrance in Munich at first and then almost left the wrong way afterwards too

also interesting song choice that was on in the garden-thingy when we left (Ryan Casatta's "Daughter")

yeah this has been a Berlin x Munich mix-up concert report

[thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness]

I felt the same way about Berlin compared to Dortmund and Munich.. I mean I legitimately cried my eyes out during Ranaculus /The World o Mercy... And I dunno, I felt this one more than the others.. I felt drained afterwards, a good way but still

Exactly.

I felt like it was an amazing concert but left me emotionally exhausted and drained. It was intense and disturbing at the same time.

I’m obviously a Toshiya fan, 99% of my reports are focused on him. Yesterday he was intense, gracefully, emotional, interacted with the crowd a lot but.... there were a few moments that I couldn’t take my eyes off from Kyo.

When he put his mic cord around his neck so tightly, when he threw himself to the floor sobbing, when ranunculus ended and he was there on his box alone sitting and with no lights and slightly sobbing, when he started hitting and pulling his box almost ripping it from the floor ... it was heartbreaking and it got me shaking and left me really broken. It was like you couldn’t ignore at all the energy and feelings he was letting out.

[hatari-translations]

“Biðröð mistaka” North Korea nuclear war interlude - transcript/translation

Something a little different again! One of my favorite unexpected parts of the May 23rd live show I attended was a little interlude preceding “Biðröð mistaka” (Line of Mistakes), which consisted of playing a satirical radio news report about North Korea declaring nuclear war likely to wipe out all life on Earth while the band posed, frozen. Eliikk’s concert videos didn’t include this, but this recording does! It starts at about 10:50 (the link should start there). I’ve transcribed and translated it below.

Icelandic transcript

Norður-Kóreustjórn hefur lýst yfir kjarnorkustríði gegn Vesturlöndum. Bandaríkin og bandamenn þeirra, þar á meðal Ísland, mega búast við viðamikilli kjarnorkuárás í kvöld. Þetta segja yfirvöld Norður-Kóreu í harðorðri yfirlýsingu. Dagar Vesturlanda séu taldir.

Yfirlýsingin var birt í ríkismiðlum Norður-Kóreu skömmu fyrir fréttir.

[Korean]

Viðskiptaþvinganir gegn norður-kóresku þjóðinni, en ekki síður gegndarlaus neyslumenning, útþenslustefna, grunnhygli, frægðardýrkun, æskudýrkun, skurðgoðadýrkun, drykkja, reykingar, sóðaskapur, græðgi, hégómi, hispur, hræsni, prjál og dramb Vesturlanda eru kornin sem fylla mælinn, lýsti ríkis?? Norður-Kóreu yfir. Meðal skotmarka sem verði fyrir langdrægri kjarnorkueldflaug í kvöld eru talin upp Washingtonborg, París, München, Sydney, Kænugarður, Tókýó, Mílanó, Houstonborg í Texas, Berlín, Toronto, Keflavík, Gautaborg, Seoul, Prag og Aþena, að því er virðist í engri sérstakri röð. Má búast við því að allt líf þurrkist út á þessum slóðum fyrir morgundaginn, segir viðmælandi breska ríkisútvarpsins BBC.

Sú atburðarás sem leiddi að þessum málalyktum er ekki hægt að lýsa öðruvísi en "biðröð mistaka", sagði talsmaður Hvíta hússins í stuttri yfirlýsingu í dag. Loftmyndir af herbúðum Norður-Kóreumanna staðfesta að vopnabúr þeirra sé mun betur í stakk búið en áður var talið, og því er tvísýnt um að líf muni áfram þrífast, bætir hann við. Ekki hefur náðst til Donalds Trump Bandaríkjaforseta í dag, en hann sendi frá sér stutta kveðju í gegnum Twitter í morgun: “Tómið bíður okkar allra. Biðröð mistaka.”

Transcription notes

There is one word here that I can’t fully make out, but it’s pretty easy to tell from the context basically what they’re getting at. If you’re an Icelander and can hear exactly what that word is, please let me know.

If you know Korean and can tell me what the Korean actually says, or if that’s even real Korean, please let me know!

There’s a grammatical error at the beginning of the last paragraph: it should be “Þeirri atburðarás...”, in the dative case, because this is actually the object of the verb lýsa later in the sentence. Hatari, I am disappoint.

English translation

The North Korean government has declared nuclear war on the West. The United States and their allies, including Iceland, can expect an extensive nuclear attack this evening, the North Korean government has announced in a harshly-worded declaration. The days of the West, they say, are numbered.

The announcement was published in North Korean state media shortly before this broadcast.

[Korean]

Economic sanctions against the North Korean nation, but also the relentless consumer culture, expansionism, shallow-mindedness, celebrity-worship, youth-worship, idol-worship, drinking, smoking, littering, greed, vanity, dishonesty, hypocrisy, gaudiness, and arrogance of the West are the straw that breaks the camel's back, announced North Korean officials. The list of targets to be hit with long-range nuclear missiles tonight includes Washington D.C., Paris, Munich, Sydney, Kiev, Tokyo, Milan, Houston in Texas, Berlin, Toronto, Keflavík, Gothenburg, Seoul, Prague, and Athens, seemingly in no particular order. All life in the vicinity can be expected to be eliminated before tomorrow morning, claims the BBC’s correspondent.

The sequence of events that led up to this can only be described as a "line of mistakes", said a White House spokesman in a brief statement today. Aerial photographs of the North Korean army confirm their arsenal is far better prepared than previously thought, and therefore it is questionable whether life will still be able to thrive, he adds. U.S. president Donald Trump could not be reached for comment today, but he sent a brief message on Twitter this morning: “The void awaits us all. A line of mistakes.”

Translation notes

"Biðröð” is specifically a word for the queue kind of line. The official translation of the song calls it a “line of mistakes”, and at least to me, a “queue of mistakes” sounds more like the mistakes have yet to happen, which is clearly not the case here, so I went with line.

The jingle preceding the news report is an actual jingle played before the news on Icelandic public radio.

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2018) - #103: The Nomi Song (2004) - dir. Andrew Horn

I can’t imagine how many people exist who have not experienced the unique artistry of New Wave singer Klaus Nomi (1944-1983), but for those who are willing to give his music a try, there is so much inspiration to be found in his unforgettable story and songs. As Star-Ledger film critic Lisa Rose wrote, The Nomi Song is akin to “’Behind the Music’ meets ‘The Twilight Zone.’ The story is as haunting as the music, and the film leaves a lingering impression."

Nomi, born Klaus Sperber, grew up in postwar Germany with dreams of becoming an opera singer, and he listened to records of Maria Callas’s arias and Elvis Presley’s rock ‘n’ roll with equal fervor. After formally training his voice in Berlin, he moved to New York City in the 1970s, where he made ends meet as a pastry chef and eventually made his into the burgeoning East Village scene, where the “Klaus Nomi” persona was born in 1978. Singing the aria “Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix“ from Camille Saint-Saëns‘ opera Samson and Delilah in a show at Irving Plaza, Nomi’s high countertenor voice stunned the punk audience and immediately earned him legions of fans. He developed his extraordinary vocal range and his love of science fiction into an androgynous, alienesque character that was unlike anybody that the New York crowd had ever seen. Wearing extreme white makeup, black lipstick and eyeliner with his distinctive receding hairline - and eventually incorporating the oversized, avant-garde tuxedo that would become his signature fashion - Klaus Nomi carved out his own space in musical culture during the late 1970s and early 80s.

Watching the documentary, I found that I hadn’t realized the extent of Nomi’s popularity. Although he was never a household name in America at large, he had a tremendous following. His concerts at Manhattan rock clubs frequently sold out and forced attendees to line up outside for several blocks; network TV news reports interviewed him and brought his face and name mainstream. Most famously, Nomi and one of his closest friends, Joey Arias, sang backup vocals for David Bowie on “Saturday Night Live” in December 1979, performing “The Man Who Sold the World” (which I consider superior to the original album version), “TVC 15″ and “Boys Keep Swinging.” (Bowie gave Nomi and Arias a few thousand dollars to buy outfits, but the Thierry Mugler originals that they bought on sale at Henri Bendel cost only about $100 each.) As director Andrew Horn points out on the DVD commentary, Nomi and Arias didn’t even have enough cash between them to pay for cab fare to get to Bowie’s downtown party after their SNL gig; they had to walk from Rockefeller Center to Washington Square on that freezing cold night, just to attend their own celebration. Furthermore, although Bowie supposedly told Nomi and his creative team that more collaborations were a possibility, no such opportunity arose again.

Still, Nomi pressed on, taking the leap from cabarets to the studio when he made his two albums, Klaus Nomi (1981) and Simple Man (1982). According to the many talking head segments in the film, Nomi’s friends and associates considered his decision to elevate his recordings and shows with “real” musicians made the results too clean and polished, like selling out. What had made his club dates so special, they claimed, was the innovative style in the staging, a magic that was lost when the futuristic sets and dancing by Joey Arias, Janus and Boy Adrian were replaced by “normal”-looking background guitarists, drummers and other instrumentalists. Nomi antagonized a number of his pals with his ambitions to be a bigger star.

Tragically, Nomi’s time in spotlight was short-lived. He was one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS, passing away in August 1983. The disease was so new and misunderstood at the time that nearly all of Nomi’s loved ones and business partners refused to visit him in the hospital, so petrified were they about potentially catching the illness. (Multiple interviewees said that they had no idea whether HIV/AIDS was airborne, so they all considered their fear far greater than the need to spend time with Nomi.) Ironically, for a man who built his career on his visual appearance, AIDS completely destroyed his face and body; respectfully, the director refrains from showing any images of Nomi in his dying days, although in a deleted scene on the DVD’s special features, we learn that one of the few people who did visit Nomi at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was photographer Michael Halsband, who was commissioned by Nomi to take one final series of photos that I don’t think have ever been published.

To quote one of Nomi’s friends, performance artist and actress Ann Magnuson, a New Wave’s artist’s show “wasn’t really a success unless you had totally outraged everybody.” On some level, the point of Klaus Nomi’s persona was to be different and stand out from the rest of his contemporaries, but at the same time there is a universality to his story. He came to the United States with no money and without even knowing any English, but still he achieved his own version of the American Dream. Nomi’s songs have appeared on the soundtracks of films by Maurice Pialat, Nick Broomfield and François Ozon; both musically and sartorially, Nomi’s influence has been noted by Lady Gaga and by fashion designers Jean-Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs. I urge you to listen to Nomi’s original tunes - “Nomi Song,” “Total Eclipse,” “After the Fall” (Nomi’s favorite among the songs he performed), “Simple Man,” “Enchanté” (from his unfinished space rock opera, Za Bakdaz) - and his covers - “Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix,” “You Don’t Own Me” (probably the best example of his vocal range within a single track), “Falling in Love Again,” “The Cold Song” (a clip of his last live performance, done with a full orchestra in Munich), “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (my personal favorite) - and perhaps, if you are lucky, you will be as excited and moved by the man’s work as I have been for many years.

[covid19worldnews]

Coronavirus live news: Germany goes into 'lockdown light'; Italy accused of wasting time as infections rise

11.27pm GMT 23:27

The Culture Secretary in England has confirmed arts venues can remain open for rehearsals during the country’s lockdown.

Oliver Dowden said while audiences will not be able to attend the venues they are “places of work” and will therefore be able to remain open.

Footage of performances taking place inside venues will also be permitted to be streamed online when tougher restrictions come into force in England, he confirmed on Twitter.

“Arts venues are places of work, so people can come into them for work, if it cannot be undertaken from home,” he wrote.

“This includes rehearsals and performance. Audiences are not permitted.”

A number of productions, including Les Miserables in the West End and a panto at the London Palladium, are due to return to the stage with socially distanced audiences over the festive period.

11.05pm GMT 23:05

Argentina is expecting 10 million doses of Russia’s main experimental COVID-19 vaccine between December and January, the government said, as infections continue to climb in the South American country.

The vaccine, known as Sputnik V, is given in two doses and could begin arriving as early as next month, the government said in a news release. The price of the Russian vaccine would be “more or less average” compared with others, President Alberto Fernandez said in the release.

“We had a proposal from the Russian foreign ministry and the Russian (Direct Investment) Fund to see if Argentina was interested in having doses of the vaccine in the month of December and of course we said yes,” Fernandez said.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is backing the development and roll-out of the Sputnik V vaccine. Fernandez said talks with RDIF had been going on “for quite some time.”

Officials including Argentina’s deputy health minister had traveled to Russia to review the vaccine’s development, the government said.

“The Sputnik V vaccine for Argentina will be produced by RDIF partners in India, Korea, China and a number of other countries that are setting up a production of the Russian vaccine,” RDIF’s CEO, Kirill Dmitriev, said in comments shared by a company spokesman.

10.46pm GMT 22:46

The Labour party in England has called for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to engage in cross-party talks to produce a six-month economic support plan to guide the country through coronavirus.

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the Treasury should “stop the last-minute scramble” and combine with opposition leaders, businesses and unions to draw up a long-term strategy.

Dodds has written to her Government counterpart after he announced on Saturday that, to coincide with the second national lockdown for England, the furlough scheme would continue in its current form, paying 80% of employees’ wages for hours not worked, up to a maximum of 2,500 per month.

In her letter to Sunak, she said the announcement “just hours before” the initial furlough scheme was due to end was “symptomatic” of what she said appeared to be a “lack of any strategic planning by the Government to support jobs and businesses”.

10.27pm GMT 22:27

Portugal considering state of emergency to tackle Covid-19

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he is pondering declaring a state of emergency as a preventive measure to fight the spread of the coronavirus at a time when infections are soaring.

Hours after Prime Minister Antonio Costa asked the president to declare the state of emergency, Rebelo de Sousa said in an interview with RTP Television he was considering the request, explaining it would include specific measures to combat the pandemic but not a “total or nearly total” lockdown.

The initial COVID-19 state of emergency, which under Portuguese law is limited to 15 days but can be extended indefinitely in 15-day periods if necessary, was declared in March and lasted six weeks.

It restricted the movement of people and led thousands of businesses to suspend activities, devastating the once-bailed-out economy.

“The economy cannot handle a (total) confinement,” Rebelo de Sousa said during the interview at his official residence. “What is being considered is a different thing.” If Rebelo de Sousa declares an emergency, lawmakers must approve it, which is considered highly likely.

On Saturday, the government introduced measures, such as the civic duty – a recommendation rather than a rule – to stay at home except for outings for work, school or shopping, across 121 municipalities including in the key regions of Lisbon and Porto.

A state of emergency would clear the way for compulsory measures such as restrictions on movement of people but only if and when needed.

10.10pm GMT 22:10

The Premier League in England has confirmed four positive coronavirus tests have been returned from the latest round of testing.

The government has allowed Premier League football and other elite sports to continue during a four-week ‘circuit break’ lockdown, which will start in England on Thursday, due to the strict testing regimes in place.

In total, 1,446 players and club staff were tested for coronavirus between Monday, October 26 and Sunday, November 1.

Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days.

9.51pm GMT 21:51

In Australia, travellers from regional NSW are now able to go to Queensland for the first time in almost four months but Sydneysiders are still not welcome in the Sunshine State.

Travel restrictions eased at 1am on Tuesday (Australia time), with the Queensland border flung open to everyone except those in greater Sydney and Victoria.

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is irate that Sydney residents are banned, arguing the bar Queensland has set for resuming free travel between the states is too high.

Meanwhile, Berejiklian has indicated a reopening of the NSW border with Victoria could happen soon.

We’re talking weeks not months in terms of when the Victorian border may come down, but that again is based on health advice,” she told reporters on Monday.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we moved more quickly against Victoria than Queensland did against us.”

When asked if an announcement would be made this week, Berejiklian said “potentially, yes”.

9.41pm GMT 21:41

French writer Sylvain Tesson poses inside the Librairie des Abbesses bookstore as he signs one of his books during the launch of “Rallumez les feux de nos librairies” (Turn back our bookstores’ lights) event on November 2, 2020 in Paris, on the fourth day of the second national general lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19. Small book traders are forced to shut up shops for a second time this year during what is usually a busy time for retailers in the run-up to the year-end holidays. Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

9.28pm GMT 21:28

Some of Germany’s top orchestras, including Berlin’s prestigious Staatskapelle and the Munich Philharmonic, staged protests on Monday, warning that coronavirus lockdowns pose an existential threat to the arts and entertainment industries.

Musicians from the internationally-renowned ensembles in Berlin and Munich, as well as the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, staged a minute’s silence at the start of their respective concerts.

And on Twitter, a wide range number of artists posted pictures of records turning without any sound.

They argue that not enough support is being made available to people in the sector as Germany shuts down its theatres, concert halls, opera houses and museums for the next four weeks as part of a wider tightening of measures to try to curb a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Freelance musicians in particular are finding it difficult to survive as they frequently do not qualify for the furlough schemes introduced for paid employees in other sectors.

Culture Minister Monika Gruetters said she was “greatly concerned” for the industry.

“Even if the new restrictions are understandable” from a health point of view, they constitute “a catastrophe” for the sector, she said.

9.00pm GMT 21:00

A summary of today’s developments

Italy’s coronavirus strategy is ‘wasting time’, says scientific advisor. Italy is working towards measures that could include a national 9pm curfew, a ban on inter-regional travel and the closure of shopping malls at weekends. But scientists have for weeks been urging the government to take tougher action, such as imposing local lockdowns, as infections escalate and hospitals come under strain.

Slovakia carries out Covid mass testing of two-thirds of population. Two-thirds of Slovakia’s population of 5.4 million people were tested for coronavirus over the weekend as part of a programme aimed at making it one of the first countries to test its entire population.

Germany begins ‘light lockdown’. Germany goes into “lockdown light” mode today, as the country’s disease control agency recorded 12,097 new confirmed Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours. Bars, cinemas, theatres, museums, fitness studios and swimming pools will remain closed from today, while cafes and restaurants are allowed to offer takeaway food only. Meetings in public are restricted to two households and no more than 10 people. Unlike during the first lockdown in the spring, schools and nurseries will stay open.

Coronavirus infections fall for third day straight in the Netherlands. The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose by nearly 8,300 over the past 24 hours, the slowest pace in roughly two weeks.

Iran reports record high Covid death toll as travel bans go into force. Iran reported a record 440 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing the country’s death toll to 35,738 as a ban on travel in and out of major cities came into force.

Donald Trump tries to stoke fears of Covid lockdown under Joe Biden. In the final hours before election day, one of Trump’s closing messages to Americans was an exaggerated threat: that a Joe Biden presidency will result in a national Covid-19 lockdown. Speaking in Iowa on Sunday, the president said the election was a “choice between a deadly Biden lockdown �� or a safe vaccine that ends the pandemic”.

The European Union (EU) has agreed to provide Mozambique with 100 million euros ($116.30 million) in coronavirus-related aid. The EU cut off direct budget support to Mozambique in 2016 after the country revealed the existence of hefty state-guaranteed loans that it had not previously disclosed.

T-cell Covid immunity ‘present in adults six months after first infection’. Cellular (T-cell) immunity against the virus that causes Covid-19 is likely to be present within most adults six months after primary infection, with levels considerably higher in patients with symptoms, a study suggests.

8.44pm GMT 20:44

Children watch a lesson next to an image of late Cuban President Fidel Castro during their first day of classes since April amid COVID-19 concerns in Havana, Cuba. Photograph: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

https://www.covid19snews.com/2020/11/03/coronavirus-live-news-germany-goes-into-lockdown-light-italy-accused-of-wasting-time-as-infections-rise/

[vsplusonline]

Venice Carnival cancelled in Italy in a bid to stop spread of COVID-19

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/venice-carnival-cancelled-in-italy-in-a-bid-to-stop-spread-of-covid-19/

Venice Carnival cancelled in Italy in a bid to stop spread of COVID-19

Italy scrambled Sunday to check the spread of Europe’s first major outbreak of the new viral disease amid rapidly rising numbers of infections and a third death, calling off the popular Venice Carnival, scrapping major league soccer matches in the stricken area and shuttering theaters, including Milan’s legendary La Scala.

Concern was also on the rise in neighboring Austria, which halted all rail traffic to and from Italy for several hours after suspicion that a train at its southern border with Italy had two passengers possibly infected with the virus on board, authorities said. Austria’s interior ministry said it had been informed by Italy’s railway company that two passengers had fever and stopped the train at the Brenner crossing before it could enter Austria.

READ MORE: COVID-19: Two dead, 79 infected in Italy as government shuts down worst hit areas

However, just before midnight Austria’s Federal Railways announced on Twitter the ban had been lifted. Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the two people suspected of being infected with the virus on the Eurocity 86 train from Venice to Munich had tested negative and the train would be allowed to continue on its way, according to the ORF broadcast network.

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The decision to call off Venice Carnival was announced by Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia as the number of confirmed virus cases soared to 152, the largest number outside Asia.

“The ordinance is immediately operative and will go into effect at midnight,″ said Zaia, whose area includes Venice, where thousands packed St. Mark’s Square. Carnival would have run through Tuesday.

1:17 Trump says U.S. has coronavirus under control, has confidence in China’s president to solve problem

Trump says U.S. has coronavirus under control, has confidence in China’s president to solve problem

Road blocks were set up in at least some of 10 towns in Lombardy at the epicenter of the outbreak, including in Casalpusterlengo, to keep people from leaving or arriving. Even trains transiting the area weren’t allowed to stop.

Buses, trains and other forms of public transport — including boats in Venice — were being disinfected, Zaia told reporters. Museums were also ordered to shut down after Sunday in Venice, a top tourist draw anytime of the year, as well as in neighboring Lombardy, which, with at least 110 confirmed cases, is the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

Authorities said three people in Venice have tested positive for the viral disease known as COVID-19, all of them in their late 80s and who were hospitalized in critical condition.

Other northern regions with smaller numbers of cases are Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont.

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READ MORE: COVID-19: South Korea placed on highest alert while China sees death toll hit 2,442

Italy’s first two cases were a Chinese tourist couple, diagnosed earlier this month and reported recovering in a Rome hospital.

The death on Sunday of an elderly woman, who was already suffering from cancer when she contracted the virus, raised the nation’s death toll to three, said Lombardy regional official Giulio Gallera.

Authorities expressed frustration that they haven’t been able to track down the source of the virus that is spreading in the north and which surfaced last week when an Italian man in his late 30s in Codogno became critically ill.

“The health officials haven’t been yet able to pinpoint ‘patient zero,’” Angelo Borrelli, head of the national Civil Protection agency, told reporters in Rome.

0:33 Coronavirus outbreak: South Korean PM says he feels ‘responsibility’ as cases soar to over 400

Coronavirus outbreak: South Korean PM says he feels ‘responsibility’ as cases soar to over 400

At first, it was widely presumed that the man was infected by an Italian friend he dined with and who had recently returned from his job, based in Shanghai. But when the friend tested negative for the virus attention turned to several Chinese residents who frequent the same cafe visited by the stricken man. But Lombardy Gov. Attilio Fontana told reporters they all tested negative too.

So for now, Borrelli indicated the strategy is to concentrate on closures and other restrictions to try to stem the spread in the country, which already had taken measures early on in the global virus alarm that included banning direct flights from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Italy has also tested millions of airport passengers arriving from other places for any signs of fever.

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“Worry is understandable, panic, no,″ Premier Giuseppe Conte told a state TV talk show host, who informed him that four bottles of disinfectant hand gel, which normally sell for a few euros a piece, were being hawked for 200 euros on the internet. The interview was conducted by phone in a studio without an audience after authorities requested that the public not be allowed in for health concerns.

READ MORE: All confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ontario cleared

Gallera told reporters in Milan that schools, museums, discos, pubs and theaters would stay closed for at least seven days. But restaurants in Milan and other Lombardy cities outside the main cluster area can still operate since, unlike at concerts and other entertainment venues, in eateries “people are not congregated in one place and there is space between tables,” Gallera said.

Lombardy’s ban on public events also extended to Masses in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Venice also was forbidding public Masses, while in Milan, the city’s iconic Gothic cathedral was closed to visitors. School trips inside Italy and overseas were banned.

But in the south, thousands turned out for a visit by Pope Francis in the port city of Bari. The pontiff shook hands with many of the faithful.

In Lombardy, a populous region which includes the country’s financial capital, Milan, nearly all the cases of COVID-19 were in the countryside, mainly in Codogno and nine neighboring towns. In those towns, only grocery stores and pharmacies were permitted to open, and people weren’t supposed to enter or leave the towns.

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0:57 Coronavirus outbreak: Tokyo governor criticizes suggestion London could host 2020 Olympics

Coronavirus outbreak: Tokyo governor criticizes suggestion London could host 2020 Olympics

Melissa Catanacci, who lives on one of Codogno’s main roads, said in the morning, she ventured outside for a stroll along with her husband and two children, ages 10 and 13.

“Every quarter-hour or so a car goes by” on the main road, Catanacci said, speaking by telephone. With businesses closed, the usual Sunday “passeggiata″ — a leisurely stroll through local streets — didn’t last very long, she said.

With school to stay shut through the week, her children were visiting their friends’ houses or inviting them over to hers to break the boredom, she said.

Sporting events were canceled, from children’s team practices to Serie A soccer matches which were to be played in northern stadiums. Those measures were ordered Saturday night by the Italian government.

Dispensers of hand disinfectant were being installed in trains run by the state railways, which also said it was supplying its crews with masks and disposable gloves.

READ MORE: COVID-19 hasn’t affected Canada’s drug supply yet, but experts are watching

Britain’s number of confirmed cases rose to 13, with the positive test results of four Britons who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had been moored for days at a Japanese port when the ship was quarantined.

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In Austria, security official Franz Lang said the country was considering activating border controls to Italy. Both nations are part of the European Union’s visa- and passport-free zone, but under certain circumstances individual countries can reactivate controls. Lang said the situation would be discussed in meetings Monday, local Austrian media reported.

In Switzerland, which like Austria borders Italy, there was a call for calm.

1:39 Richard Branson says his new cruise ship will overcome coronavirus fears

Richard Branson says his new cruise ship will overcome coronavirus fears

“The news from Italy is worrisome … but it is too early to think that a wave is rolling our way,” Daniel Koch, the head of the department for contagious diseases at the heath office, told the SRF public broadcaster

The German health ministry said it had initiated a phone conference for all European Union public health authorities about the outbreak in northern Italy on Monday.

READ MORE: Containing the novel coronavirus — Is COVID-19 here to stay?

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that authorities were getting ready for a possible outbreak in France of the new virus. In an interview published Sunday in French newspaper Le Parisien he said he was monitoring closely the “very serious” situation, including in neighboring Italy.

Earlier this month, France reported the first death outside Asia of a person infected with the virus, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist.

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Among those in quarantine in Italy were 274 migrants, rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by a charity ship from boats launched by Libya-based traffickers and allowed to disembark in Pozzallo, Sicily.

1:41 Elizabeth May calls for China to ‘focus on the extreme peril’ of Uyghur concentration camps amid coronavirus outbreak

Elizabeth May calls for China to ‘focus on the extreme peril’ of Uyghur concentration camps amid coronavirus outbreak

D’Emilio reported from Rome. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Jill Lawless in London, contributed to this report.

© 2020 The Canadian Press

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Artistic Director – New York City Gay Men’s Chorus

The AD will devise and implement an innovative, transformational, and relevant artistic strategy. The strategy will be in line with the mission, vision, and values as a leading organization within the field of LGBTQ performing arts in New York as well as nationally and internationally.

Organization Big Apple Performing Arts (BAPA) is an LGBTQ-identified organization that serves as the nonprofit umbrella management company for New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC), Youth Pride Chorus, the pop a cappella band Tonewall, and various subgroups. BAPA’s mission is to create and manage ensembles that achieve choral and performance artistic excellence, provide a safe and supportive space, and use the performing arts to bring people together, change lives, combat fear and hatred, and challenge perceptions of the LGBTQ community.

Founded in 1979, NYCGMC is a world-class, world-renowned New York institution and a pioneering voice for the LGBTQ community. It is comprised of approximately 300 talented volunteer singers of various ages, backgrounds, and experiences, across a spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientations. It produces a vibrant sound and energy that audiences can feel and with which they can connect. Through the power of its sound and spectacular performances, NYCGMC and its members are fearless champions for love, equality, and acceptance. NYCGMC has formed a strong bond with devoted followers and continues to make lasting connections with new and diverse audiences. It sings in every style—from classical to pop, Broadway to gospel—from cultures all over the world. As a collective group of artists, NYCGMC listens to the changing world and transforms what it hears into music. NYCGMC sings to challenge perceptions of the LGBTQ community, combat fear and hatred, encourage compassion and human connection, and thrill its audiences with the superb quality of its sound. Through its music, audiences mourn losses, cheer victories, find unconditional acceptance, and celebrate life.

NYCGMC performs at a variety of settings, including concerts, festivals, conferences, weddings, parties, fundraisers, and community, special, private, and corporate events. It has also made several appearances in Broadway/theater productions and on television programs, such as Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, and Last Week Tonight, providing a national platform for its mission. It annually performs three mainstage shows per year—a holiday concert in December, a fun and upbeat pop show in March (currently billed as Big Gay Sing, now in its 11th year), and a pride-themed show in May/June. NYCGMC conducts more than 40 outreach activities across all five boroughs and beyond. Its school programs reach more than 2,000 New York City public middle school students. Other outreach activities include performances and events at corporate and public pride celebrations, LGBTQ teen homeless shelters, and SAGE, the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ elders. Through technical assistance and joint concerts, NYCGMC supports the development of LGBTQ choruses in the United States and internationally. Every four years, NYCGMC attends the GALA Festival, hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, and is regularly called upon to lend its voices in moments of need for the community.

NYCGMC is also a pioneer of choral music, commissioning more than 75 new works from more than 50 composers, including Leonard Bernstein, Ann Hampton Callaway, Joseph Jennings, Stephen Sondheim, James Adler, David Hurd, and Conrad Susa. Performances have included appearances in more than a dozen states, throughout the Caribbean, and internationally in London, Dublin, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Barcelona, Montreal, and Paris. NYCGMC has appeared in all of the iconic New York City performance sites, including Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, and the Apollo Theater.

NYCGMC commemorates its 40th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising with a new choral music suite co-commissioned by NYCGMC and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall50 marks the occasion of the first ever WorldPride NYC and celebrates the vast legacy and worldwide change that started from events in June 1969—the effects of which are still as vital today as they were 50 years ago. The largest collaboration in LGBTQ chorus history, this piece will have performances by choruses throughout the United States in 2019. More than 400 singers from across the country will be seen on stage at the Carnegie Hall performance, which will feature the voices of diverse LGBTQ composers, including Julian Hornik (Dear Evan Hansen), Our Lady J (Pose and Transparent), Michael Shaieb (Through a Glass Darkly), Ann Hampton Callaway (singer/song-writer), Michael McElroy (Broadway Inspirational Voices, Rent), and Jane Ramseyer Miller (One Voice Chorus).

Operated jointly by BAPA and the Center Youth program of the LGBT Community Center of New York, Youth Pride Chorus (YPC) is one of only a few youth choruses of its kind in the world. YPC harnesses the power of the performing arts to engage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight young people ages 13 to 22 as agents of change. It is comprised of up to 40 LGBTQ youth from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. Many come from low-income families and neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City, have experienced intense prejudice from their peers, schools, and families, and no longer even live at home. Many YPC members have also never sung in public and truly find their voice by being welcomed into the YPC family. YPC members benefit from learning the discipline required for music training and performing, all within the safe space of a strong community where they feel accepted and proud. YPC fights homophobia, bullying, and all forms of hate through music by boldly asserting the joy, diversity, strength, and pride of today’s youth. YPC singers discover their own strength by empowering others in schools, online, and in the broader community through electrifying, high caliber singing and performances. YPC has performed at the White House’s annual Pride event, on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth, and at Radio City Music Hall with Cyndi Lauper.

BAPA has a 15-member board of directors and an annual operating budget of slightly more than $1 million. BAPA’s administrative staff includes the Executive Director (ED) and its artistic team includes the Artistic Director, Assistant Conductor, and Accompanist, along with tremendous volunteer support from a Production Manager, Dance Team Choreographer, and numerous committees that support BAPA and its operating choruses.

Position Summary The Artistic Director will devise and implement an innovative, transformational, and relevant artistic strategy for BAPA. The strategy will be in line with BAPA’s mission, vision, and values as a leading organization within the field of LGBTQ performing arts in New York as well as nationally and internationally. The Artistic Director will be a visible leader and ambassador who oversees all artistic activities of BAPA’s performing groups, educational programs, and social action efforts. This individual will also serve as NYCGMC’s principal conductor for rehearsals, artistic retreats, and a variety of performances. Working in partnership with the ED and Membership and Social Team Chair (MAST Chair), each of whom reports to the board of directors as BAPA’s Managing Body, the Artistic Director will guide the planning and execution of an artistic vision that advances LGBTQ initiatives, develops strategic alliances, cultivates commissioning concepts, engages exemplary guest artists, and mentors and builds morale among singers who have varying levels of experience and education in music. This individual will represent NYCGMC at various GALA events and participate in donor cultivation activities, press and community relations events, and board meetings. The Artistic Director will promote a shared understanding with audiences and among singers whose multi-generational life experiences range from disenfranchisement to empowerment, building a sense of community where music and camaraderie communicate love, equality, and acceptance.

Roles and Responsibilities

Artistic Vision and Strategic Planning

Energize the artistic team, board, staff, volunteers, and audiences with an artistic vision that maintains high standards of professionalism, respect, inclusiveness, and artistry.

Ensure positive, productive, and appropriately challenging relationships and artistic experiences across all performing groups.

Serve as the principal conductor of NYCGMC rehearsals and performances, develop repertoire for each concert, and engage the music advisory committee and outreach committee in research and planning for all concerts and outside events.

Identify and secure guest artists to complement NYCGMC’s visibility, social activism, and artistic impacts.

Create, communicate, and implement the artistic vision for BAPA, including NYCGMC, YPC, Tonewall, and subgroups, in collaboration with the ED and board of directors.

Advise YPC, Tonewall, and other subgroup leaders to achieve a unified BAPA artistic vision and social action message.

Initiate the commissioning of new works and arrangements and otherwise secure agreements from composers, arrangers, and orchestrators, in coordination with ED and other GALA artistic leaders as appropriate.

Lead, appoint, manage, and support the artistic staff and volunteers, with a focus on developing and achieving operational goals for each BAPA performing group and subgroup as necessary.

Identify, plan, and implement touring and recording opportunities, as appropriate, for NYCGMC with the ED.

Embrace BAPA’s dynamic artistic and social life as a visible part of performances, special events, meetings, strategic and operational planning, and GALA activities.

Member Relations and Social Activism

Develop and manage a range of strong relationships and strategic alliances with partner organizations within the local, national, and international LGBTQ and performing arts communities.

Communicate the connection between the power of music and impact of intersectionality in social justice movements.

Lead NYCGMC members in rehearsals and performances, devising appropriate attendance requirements and behavior policies and addressing other membership issues with the MAST Chair, ED, and artistic team.

Respect membership through advance music preparation and rehearsal/performance schedules and conduct thoughtful, organized, and productive rehearsal experiences.

Value and showcase the full tapestry of BAPA’s age, culture, gender-identification, and orientation.

Improve musicianship, technical proficiency, and performance capability of NYCGMC and its individual members by balancing appropriate vocal pedagogy with artistic inspiration.

Support personal growth through artistic and educational leadership in BAPA’s overarching social action identity.

Serve as a representative to GALA and other appropriate professional and/or community groups and attend meetings, workshops, and conferences.

Embrace other member relations and social activism responsibilities as needed.

Production and Operational Implementation

Plan season programs in advance, coordinate and rehearse all performance and production elements, prepare descriptive copy for promotional campaigns, and implement performances and community outreach activities.

Lead the artistic and production team in setting high artistic standards and a fresh aesthetic in a fun, nurturing, and respectful manner.

Devise and implement a process to recruit, audition, select, supervise, and mentor artistic personnel, both paid and volunteer.

Supervise or conduct auditions for vocal soloists, dancers, actors, and other artistic roles related to NYCGMC performances.

Coordinate the hiring of instrumentalists as required, maintain effective relationships with Local 802 orchestral contractor and others, and adhere to American Federation of Musicians (AFM) union rules.

Partner with volunteer and paid production managers and other production staff to ensure quality performance and outreach activities.

Participate in planning discussions with performance venues in collaboration with the ED, artistic team, and technical staff.

Oversee the purchase, rental, or otherwise secure all music and licenses required and submit program notes and song list for each concert program.

Advise the board and ED in negotiation of collective bargaining agreements with Local 802 of AFM and any other performing arts unions with which BAPA enters into agreements.

Evaluate and recommend improvements for each season, major performances, and strategic alliances.

Embrace other production and operational implementation responsibilities as needed.

Public Visibility and Donor Cultivation

Serve as a public voice for BAPA with the ED as local, national, and international ambassadors.

Develop fundraising messages with the ED, prioritized as is an essential element of a successful organization.

Participate in fundraising and marketing activities, press events, and community relations opportunities as appropriate.

Assist in the preparation of articles for newsletters, annual reports, and other publications as needed.

Cultivate major individual, corporate, and foundation gifts as appropriate.

Embrace other public visibility and donor cultivation responsibilities as needed.

Budgeting, Administration, and Human Resources

Participate in the creation of annual operating budget and expense forecasting with the ED, reporting both to the BAPA Board.

Operate within the financial limitations established by the annual operating budget and resources, adjusting if the situation requires.

Participate in biannual employee performance review and advisory services of the BAPA Board.

Establish goals for paid, full-, and part-time NYCGMC artistic personnel and conduct at least one annual review.

Prepare monthly written reports for BAPA Board meetings.

Strengthen the voluntary culture of BAPA by working with board members, NYCGMC Membership Team, and member volunteers.

Embrace other budgeting, administration, and human resources responsibilities as needed.

Traits and Characteristics Courageous and willing to affect change to maximize artistic and organizational impact, the Artistic Director will support and expand a culture of artistic success, community investment, social activism, camaraderie, humor, and sense of purpose. The Artistic Director will be a decisive and engaging leader, clearly established as a primary decision maker who also seeks input and collaboration. Receptive to new ideas and actively building consensus, the Artistic Director will successfully navigate both competing and complementary priorities. With an effective communication style to passionately speak on behalf of LGBTQ causes and actively listen among members and in public forums, the Artistic Director will recognize and appreciate diverse perspectives as a tool to encourage continuity of membership. Simultaneously, this individual will make room for new voices to join in the public conversation and balance the needs of diverse stakeholder groups. The Artistic Director will appreciate and honor the NYCGMC’s history, inspiring stakeholders with a vision for the organization’s future.

Other key competencies, communications, and motivations of the individual holding the role include:

Leadership, Teamwork, and Accountability – The dexterity to prioritize strategic initiatives while creating a sense of direction embedded in the active participation of a variety of internal and external stakeholders.

Planning, Organizing, and Priority Management – The acuity to establish relevant, realistic, and attainable goals and objectives while anticipating the effects, outcomes, and amount of time needed to deliver extraordinary results.

Diplomacy and Collaborative Focus – The capacity to build rapport and effectively communicate and listen to a wide array of engaged stakeholders who sometimes have differing opinions and priorities.

Interpersonal Skills and Flexibility – The agility to understand and respect others, treat them fairly regardless of personal biases or beliefs, and maintain positive and productive relationships to reach mutually beneficial outcomes.

Qualifications and Experience A bachelor’s degree (master’s degree preferred) or equivalent experience in choral conducting, vocal pedagogy, musical theater, or related fields in an array of musical styles and genres are required. Qualified applicants will be experienced programmers who understand the balance of diverse musical styles and production elements that are embedded in storytelling and social action. A background in music arrangement or composition is welcomed but not required. Superior interpersonal skills as a public advocate and community leader are essential.

Compensation and Benefits BAPA offers competitive compensation and benefits, including full health, dental, and vision insurance and a matching retirement plan. These benefits are enhanced by the ability to make a major difference in a vibrant organization, on a resilient LGBTQ community, and throughout the GALA movement where members’ core values are as catalysts, harmonizers, listeners, and leaders. Opportunities to participate in occasional outside freelance opportunities that enhance BAPA’s reputation, such as guest conducting, performances, clinics, and conference presentations, are possible with advance board approval.

Applications and Inquiries Please submit a 1) cover letter that balances artistic vision with accomplishments, 2) resume that highlights a commitment to the performing arts and the communities they serve, and 3) production-oriented curriculum vitae that demonstrates how one’s past performing arts productions have made a meaningful contribution to artistic and/or LGBTQ endeavors. Direct all inquiries and applications (electronic submissions preferred) to:

Dr. Bruce D. Thibodeau President Arts Consulting Group 292 Newbury Street, Suite 315 Boston, MA 02115-2801 Tel (888) 234.4236 Ext. 201 Email NYCGMC@ArtsConsulting.com

BAPA provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, BAPA complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

New York City Gay Men’s Chorus

Article source here:Arts Journal

[todaynewsstories]

Far-right surge in Bavaria vote could reshape Germany’s national politics

NUREMBERG, Germany (Reuters) – The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) is poised to humiliate Chancellor Angela Merkel’s allies in an Oct. 14 vote for Germany’s most influential regional government, an election that could have far-reaching implications for national politics.

FILE PHOTO: Participants vote during the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party congress in Augsburg, Germany, June 30, 2018. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo

With blunt anti-Islamic rhetoric and attacks on Merkel’s migrant policy, the AfD is expected to muscle into the regional parliament in Bavaria for the first time.

That could help end one of the iron laws of post-war Germany: the near total domination of one of the richest and most populous states by a regional conservative party that has used its clout there to wield outsized national power for decades.

Polls point to the Christian Social Union (CSU) losing its absolute majority and securing only about 35 percent of the vote. The biggest winners would be the Greens and AfD on about 16 percent and 12-13 percent respectively.

“We will inflict pain on the big parties. That’s what motivates us. The chancellor has nothing more to give,” Wolfgang Doerner, a 57 year-old businessman and AfD candidate for the Bavarian assembly told a cheering crowd of supporters in medieval Nuremberg, Bavaria’s second biggest city.

“This vote will be felt in Berlin as well as Munich,” Doerner told mostly male delegates in a modern concert hall.

The CSU has fallen short of an absolute majority in Bavaria’s state assembly only once since 1954, when it missed by two seats in 2008. Its vote share, usually close to 50 percent, has not fallen below 43 percent in 64 years.

That regional power has assured Bavarian CSU leaders a solid grip on senior cabinet positions in the conservative national governments that have dominated post-war Germany.

If the polls are right, the vote will be a heavy blow to CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who props up Merkel’s coalition government in Berlin and serves as interior minister.

GATEWAY

The AfD already entered Germany’s national parliament last year and has seats in all but one of its other state assemblies. But the Bavaria surge is particularly important because of the pressure that puts on Seehofer, and by extension Merkel.

Bavaria has been the gateway by which most of the 1.5 million asylum seekers who reached Germany in the past three years entered the country. The CSU under Seehofer has positioned itself well to the right of Merkel’s own national CDU party on immigration in an effort to beat back an AfD threat.

Regional AfD leader Martin Sichert thinks his party will still exceed opinion poll forecasts.

“I am cautious about trusting polls because people try to demonize and stigmatize the AfD. We are the baddies and in telephone polls, people don’t admit to voting for us,” Sichert told Reuters in an interview in Berlin.

“We’re not a right wing party, we represent views shared by the majority of people on border controls and Islam not belonging to Germany,” said Sichert, a 38-year old businessman who has a seat in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

Such language resonated with backers in Nuremberg.

“We just speak the truth. I don’t want my country to go to the dogs, I don’t want it to go Islamic,” said 71-year Gregor, previously a CSU voter, who did not want to give his surname.

Since August, when the eastern city of Chemnitz was hit by Germany’s most violent far-right protests in decades, the AfD has faced extra scrutiny over accusations that it harbors extremists.

Joerg Meuthen, co-leader of the federal party, told the conference that a few “idiots” who did “stupid things” in Chemnitz — like make the outlawed Hitler salute — had stigmatized the rest.

Outside the conference hall, 3,000 “Alliance against the AfD” protesters described the AfD as a potent threat, especially after a senior conservative in eastern Saxony for the first time left open the option of sharing power with it, which Merkel and the CSU have ruled out.

“I fear the CSU and AfD will be the biggest parties in the election and then they will work together,” said protestor Bettina Heck, 39. “They make themselves sound reasonable in public, but underneath, they are radical and dangerous.”

Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Peter Graff

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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METALLICA Announces Summer 2019 European Tour With GHOST

RARE BLACK METAL COLLECTIBLES

METALLICA will embark on a European tour in May. The three-month trek will cover 25 cities and 20 countries and include "black tickets, enhanced experiences, free albums and downloads, and more," according to a press release. Grammy-winning, Swedish rock band GHOST will be special guest on all four European legs of METALLICA's 2019 "WorldWired" stadium tour that begins on May 1 at the Estadio do Restelo in Lisbon, Portugal. GHOST has shared festival stages with METALLICA before, but this is the band's first invitation to join METALLICA on tour. With Norway's BOKASSA opening all dates, the three-band bill will play 25 stadiums from May through August. Fan-club presales begin tomorrow (Tuesday, September 25) at 10 a.m. CEST for Legacy Members and 11 a.m. CEST for Fifth Members. Tickets will go on sale to the general public starting at 10 a.m. local time on Friday, September 28. Tour dates: May 01 - Lisbon, Portugal - Estádio do Restelo May 03 - Madrid, Spain - Valdebebas May 05 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys May 08 - Milan, Italy - SNAI San Siro Hippodrome May 10 - Zürich, Switzerland - Letzigrund May 12 - Paris, France - Stade de France Jun. 08 - Dublin, Ireland - Slane Castle Jun. 11 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Johan Cruijff Arena Jun. 13 - Köln, Germany - RheinEnergieStadion Jun. 16 - Brussels, Belgium - Koning Boudewijnstadion Jun. 18 - Manchester, England - Etihad Stadium Jun. 20 - London, England - Twickenham Stadium Jul. 06 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion Jul. 09 - Göteborg, Sweden - Ullevi Jul. 11 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Telia Parken Jul. 13 - Trondheim, Norway - Granåsen Jul. 16 - Hämeenlinna, Finland - Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto Jul. 18 - Tartu, Estonia - Raadi Airfield Jul. 21 - Moscow, Russia - Luzhniki Stadium Aug. 14 - Bucharest, Romania - Arena Națională Aug. 16 - Vienna, Austria - Ernst-Happel-Stadion Aug. 18 - Prague, Czech Republic - Airport Letnany Aug. 21 - Warsaw, Poland - PGE Narodowy Aug. 23 - Munich, Germany - Olympiastadion Aug. 25 - Mannheim, Germany - Palastzelt Maimarktgelände METALLICA kicked off the 2018/2019 U.S. leg of the "WorldWired" arena tour on September 2 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. METALLICA recently landed on Pollstar's Global Concert Pulse chart with concert grosses of more than $2 million per market appearance on the band's last European tour. The San Francisco-based metal giants averaged 20,451 tickets per market, at an average ticket price of $104. The 19 market reports included a two-night stand at Stuttgart, Germany's Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle, which grossed $3.3 million. Both shows were sold out, with an attendance of 14,695 per concert. Touring in support of its latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", that arrived in November 2016, METALLICA launched the world tour in Latin America a month before the disc's release. In early 2017, prior to the North American stadium tour, the band made festival appearances and headlined concerts at venues in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Although METALLICA played U.S. stadiums in the summer of 2017, the band was mostly indoors for the first leg of its European tour last fall. METALLICA's European tour included the first drone swarm for a major touring act. It consisted of 120 autonomous micro drones that emerge from the main-stage prop lifts during the song "Moth Into Flames" and swarm into several formations over the band's heads, according to Pollstar. The 2017 dates on the "WorldWired" tour, which included stadium shows across the U.S., grossed $110.3 million in North America and $152.8 million worldwide. [Read More ...]

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Breakthrough In The Search For Cosmic Particle Accelerators

Using an internationally organised astronomical dragnet, scientist have for the first time located a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, ghostly elementary particles that travel billions of light years through the universe, flying unaffected through stars, planets and entire galaxies. The joint observation campaign was triggered by a single neutrino that had been recorded by the IceCube neutrino telescope at the South Pole, on 22 September 2017. Telescopes on earth and in space were able to determine that the exotic particle had originated in a galaxy over three billion light years away, in the constellation of Orion, where a gigantic black hole serves as a natural particle accelerator. Scientists from the 18 different observatories involved are presenting their findings in the journal Science. Furthermore, a second analysis, also published in Science, shows that other neutrinos previously recorded by IceCube came from the same source.

The observation campaign, in which research scientists from Germany played a key role, is a decisive step towards solving a riddle that has been puzzling scientists for over 100 years, namely that of the precise origins of so-called cosmic rays, high-energy subatomic particles that are constantly bombarding Earth's atmosphere. "This is a milestone for the budding field of neutrino astronomy. We are opening a new window into the high-energy universe," says Marek Kowalski, the head of Neutrino Astronomy at DESY, a research centre of the Helmholtz Association, and a researcher at the Humboldt University in Berlin. "The concerted observational campaign using instruments located all over the globe is also a significant achievement for the field of multi-messenger astronomy, that is the investigation of cosmic objects using different messengers, such as electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves and neutrinos." Messengers from the high-energy universe One way in which scientists expect energetic neutrinos to be created is as a sort of by-product of cosmic rays, that are expected to be produced in cosmic particle accelerators, such as the vortex of matter created by supermassive black holes or exploding stars. However, unlike the electrically charged particles of cosmic rays, neutrinos are electrically neutral and therefore not deflected by cosmic magnetic fields as they travel through space, meaning that the direction from which they arrive points straight back at their actual source. Also, neutrinos are scarcely absorbed. "Observing cosmic neutrinos gives us a glimpse of processes that are opaque to electromagnetic radiation," says Klaus Helbing from the Bergische University of Wuppertal, spokesperson for the German IceCube network.""Cosmic neutrinos are messengers from the high-energy universe." Demonstrating the presence of neutrinos is extremely complicated, however, because most of the ghostly particles travel right through the entire Earth without leaving a trace. Only on very rare occasions does a neutrino interact with its surroundings. It therefore takes huge detectors in order to capture at least a few of these rare reactions. For the IceCube detector, an international consortium of scientists headed by the University of Wisconsin in Madison (USA) drilled 86 holes into the Antarctic ice, each 2500 metres deep. Into these holes they lowered 5160 light sensors, spread out over a total volume of one cubic kilometre. The sensors register the tiny flashes of light that are produced during the rare neutrino interactions in the transparent ice. Five years ago, IceCube furnished the first evidence of high-energy neutrinos from the depths of outer space. However, these neutrinos appeared to be arriving from random directions across the sky. "Up to this day, we didn't know where they originated," says Elisa Resconi from the Technical University of Munich, whose group contributed crucially to the findings. "Through the neutrino recorded on 22 September, we have now managed to identify a first source." From radio waves to gamma radiation The energy of the neutrino in question was around 300 tera-electronvolts, more than 40 times that of the protons produced in the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at the European accelerator facility CERN outside Geneva. Within minutes of recording the neutrino, the IceCube detector automatically alerted numerous other astronomical observatories. A large number of these then scrutinised the region in which the high-energy neutrino had originated, scanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum: from high-energy gamma- and X-rays, through visible light, to radio waves. Sure enough, they were able for the first time to assign a celestial object to the direction from which a high-energy cosmic neutrino had arrived. "In our case, we saw an active galaxy, which is a large galaxy containing a gigantic black hole at its centre," explains Kowalski. Huge "jets" shoot out into space at right angles to the massive vortex that sucks matter into the black hole. Astrophysicists have long suspected that these jets generate a substantial proportion of cosmic particle radiation. "Now we have found key evidence supporting this assumption," Resconi emphasises. The active galaxy that has now been identified is a so-called blazar, an active galaxy whose jet points precisely in our direction. Using software developed by DESY researchers, the gamma-ray satellite Fermi, operated by the US space agency NASA, had already registered a dramatic increase in the activity of this blazar, whose catalogue number is TXS 0506+056, around 22 September. Now, an earthbound gamma-ray telescope also recorded a signal from it. "In the follow-up observation of the neutrino, we were able to observe the blazar in the range of very high-energy gamma radiation too, using the MAGIC telescope system on the Canary Island La Palma," says DESY's Elisa Bernardini, who coordinates the MAGIC observations. "The gamma-rays are closest in energy to neutrinos and therefore play a crucial role in determining the mechanism by which the neutrinos are created." The programme for the efficient follow-up observation of neutrinos using gamma-ray telescopes was developed by Bernardini's group. The NASA X-ray satellites Swift and NuSTAR also registered the eruption of the blazar, and the gamma-ray telescopes H.E.S.S., HAWC and VERITAS as well as the gamma-ray and X-ray satellites AGILE, belonging to the Italian Space Agency ASI, and Integral, belonging to the European Space Agency ESA, all took part in the follow-up observations. All in all, seven optical observatories (the ASAS-SN, Liverpool, Kanata, Kiso Schmidt, SALT and Subaru telescopes, as well as the Very Large Telescope VLT of the European Southern Observatory, ESO) observed the active galaxy, and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) studied its activity in the radio spectrum. This led to a comprehensive picture of the radiation emitted by this blazar, all the way from radio waves to gamma-rays carrying up to 100 billion times as much energy. Search in archives reveals further neutrinos A worldwide team of scientists from all the groups involved worked flat out, conducting a complicated statistical analysis to determine whether the correlation between the neutrino and the gamma-ray observations was perhaps just a coincidence. "We calculated that the probability of it being a mere coincidence was around 1 in 1000," explains DESY's Anna Franckowiak, who was in charge of the statistical analysis of the various different data sets. This may not sound very large, but it is not small enough to quell the professional scepticism of physicists. A second line of investigation rectified this. The IceCube researchers searched through their data from the past years for possible previous measurements of neutrinos coming from the direction of the blazar that had now been identified. And they did indeed find a distinct surplus of more than a dozen of the ghost particles arriving from the direction of TXS 0506+056 during the time between September 2014 and March 2015, as they are reporting in a second paper published in the same edition of Science. The likelihood of this excess being a mere statistical outlier is estimated at 1 in 5000, "a number that makes you prick up your ears," says Christopher Wiebusch from RWTH Aachen, whose group had already noted the hint of excess neutrinos from the direction of TXS 0506+056 in an earlier analysis. "The data also allows us to make a first estimate of the neutrino flux from this source." Together with the single event of September 2017, the IceCube data now provides the best experimental evidence to date that active galaxies are in fact sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. "We now have a better understanding of what we should be looking for. This means that we can in future track down such sources more specifically," says Elisa Resconi. And Marek Kowalski adds, "Since neutrinos are a sort of by-product of the charged particles in cosmic rays, our observation implies that active galaxies are also accelerators of cosmic ray particles. More than a century after the discovery of cosmic rays by Victor Hess in 1912, the IceCube findings have therefore for the first time located a concrete extragalactic source of these high-energy particles." Read the full article

[alamio]

German Oktoberfest celebrations around the world

The largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany is in the twin cities of Kitchener & Waterloo in Ontario/Canada (1,000,000 visitors), Blumenau/Brazil (700,000+), Cincinnati, Ohio/USA (500,000+ visitors), and Denver, Colorado/USA (450,000+ visitors). In addition to North America, many other countries have their own Oktoberfest events:

Argentina The National Beer Festival (Fiesta Nacional de la Cerveza) is Argentina’s version of the German Oktoberfest. It has taken place every October since 1963 in Villa General Belgrano, Córdoba. The party emerged by the hand of the first German immigrants. This festival attracts thousands of tourists for 2 consecutive weekends.

Australia In Australia, the universities are notorious in their celebrations of Oktoberfest, and as students graduate and move on, this has rolled over into pubs and restaurants in the university areas. The Harmonie German Club, Canberra, holds an Oktoberfest over a 3-day period every year. The festival is currently in its 45th year, and attracts a large number of visitors.

Brazil In Brazil, several southern cities, populated by Germans in the 19th and 20th centuries, have their own Oktoberfest, with the biggest one in Blumenau, celebrated annually since 1984. There are 18 days of music, dance and food, commemorating ancestors that came from Germany. In 10 days in 1984, 102,000 people (more than 30% of Blumenau’s population) attended, now it’s more than 700,000. Festivals are also being held in Santa Cruz do Sul and Igrejinha, Rio Grande do Sul, and Rolândia, Paraná.

Canada In Canada there is an annual 9-day celebration spread over 18 Festhallen in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. It attracts over 1,000,000 visitors annually. While its best-known draws are the beer-based celebrations, other cultural and entertainment attractions also fill the week. The most well-known is the parade held on Thanksgiving Day; as the only major parade on Canadian Thanksgiving, it’s televised nationally. (Coincidentally, the closing day of the Bavarian Oktoberfest also lands on the German equivalent of Thanksgiving, Erntedankfest.) The twin cities and surrounding area have a long history of German roots; Kitchener was formerly named Berlin. A large portion of the population identify as being of German heritage, many still speak German. A common phrase at the celebrations is Gemütlichkeit. The word is even programmed into bus route displays, so during Oktoberfest it will show the route and Gemütlichkeit, or Willkommen. Another celebration is held in Sherbrooke, Quebec at the beginning of October. The 1-night event is held by Sherbrooke’s University engineering students’ association and gathers around 5,000 people.

Chile In Chile beer fests are celebrated in Valdivia, Puerto Octay, Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Llanquihue, and Malloco.

Colombia In Colombia it is sponsored by Bavaria Brewery. A series of concerts and events are held along different cities, with special emphasis in those with German background like Bucaramanga.

Germany The Oktoberfest Hannover is a fair which takes place every year at the end of September/beginning of October. It usually lasts 16 days and features 160 rides and inns, 2 large beer tents seating more than a 1000 people each, and numerous stands offering refreshments. With more than 1 million visitors each year, it is the 2nd-largest Oktoberfest in the world.

Hong Kong The Oktoberfest was started here in 1991. It is celebrated in late Oct and early Nov (local dry season) and is hosted by the Marco Polo Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, just next to the Star Ferry pier. The hotel sets up a traditional tent with long wooden tables and benches with capacity for 1,500 to create an Oktoberfest atmosphere. The German Band Die Notenhobler from Ulm entertains the approx. 85% Chinese audience. Their program starts at 19:30 every night and comprises 3 parts: traditional German music, games and competitions, party music. The hotel caters traditional Southern German foods, such as pork knuckle, sausages with sauerkraut, and apple strudel or milk-cream strudel together with beer (past sponsors were Löwenbräu, Veltins, Jever, Löwenbräu). It’s a popular destination for private functions and staff parties of large corporations as well.

India In Bangalore, Kingfisher beer established The Great Indian October Fest in 2005.

Ireland In Cork, the Francisan Well Brewery has an Oktoberfest festival whose dates parallel those of the festival in Munich. Downes Pub in Waterford have been celebrating annually since 2002 and their celebration culminates in an evening in October that features German beer-drinking music from the City of Waterford Brass as well as a wide selection of imported German beer. Oktoberfest is celebrated in University College Dublin each year with a Bavarian-themed festival taking place in the Pit next to the Forum bar on campus.

Mexico In Mexico, there are several cities celebrating this event, which has grown in popularity over the 19th and 20th centuries. The best known Oktoberfest takes place in the southern part of Mexico City, at the Club Alemán in the borough of Xochimilco. The German and German-Mexican community is a regular, but the event is attended by residents of many backgrounds. The celebration is in most traditional German fashion, with the Mexican fiesta kick. Typical German food and keg beer are available. A hand craft market and amusement rides are also set up.

Palestinian Territories An Oktoberfest celebration is held in the West Bank town of Taybeh, home to the only Palestinian brewery (Taybeh Brewery). The first Taybeh Oktoberfest was held in 2005.

Romania In Romania, the Oktoberfest has been organized in Brasov (Kronstadt in German), Transylvania since 2009, in early Sept by the Deutsche Wirtschaftsklub, in association with local authorities. Traditional German and Romanian beers, foods, and music can be found in each edition.

United States German-Americans are the country’s largest self-reported ancestral group. Correspondingly, there are hundreds of large and small Oktoberfest celebrations held annually throughout the country, the largest being in Cincinnati, Ohio. Known for its large German immigrant population, Pennsylvania and its historic Pennsylvania Dutch (actually Pennsylvania Deutsch but Americans say Dutch and hence, mix us up with Dutch people from the Netherlands…) population are well known to have Oktoberfest celebrations during the months of Sept and Oct. These celebrations became increasingly popular among the general population in the later half of the 20th century with the rise of microbreweries, and with the opening of authentic German brew houses such as Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh, PA and Las Vegas, NV.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: Art Movements

Opening of “Monument,” a temporary art installation by Manaf Halbouni on the historical Neumarkt in Dresden, in front of the Church of Our Lady, Tuesday 7th of February (photo by David Brandt, courtesy Kunsthaus Dresden)

Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.

Around 150 anti-immigration protesters gathered in Dresden to disrupt the unveiling of Manaf Halbouni‘s “Monument,” a public sculpture dedicated to the people of Aleppo. The sculpture, which consists of three upturned buses fastened together with wire, refers to a photograph of a barricade built on the streets of Aleppo in 2015. According to Christiane Mennicke-Schwarz, the artistic director of the Dresden Kunsthaus, the opening was disrupted by chants of “traitors” and “get lost.”

Sotheby’s filed a second lawsuit over the sale of a group of Old Master paintings that it believes to be forgeries. The auction house filed a lawsuit against art dealer Mark Weiss and collector David Kowitz in order to recover the profits of the 2011 private sale of “Portrait of a Man,” which Sotheby’s attributed to Frans Hals at the time. In a statement, Weiss said that he “intends to contest the claim vigorously.”

The Louvre Museum was reopened less than 24-hours after a man attacked a French soldier with a machete. An Egyptian Interior Ministry official identified the attacker as 28-year-old Abdullah Reda Refaie al-Hamahmy.

German prosecutors announced that a 36-year-old Tunisian man arrested on terrorism charges is also being held for his suspected involvement in the 2015 attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis.

The Bombay High Court rejected Chintan Upadhyay‘s bail application. The artist stands accused of murdering his wife Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani.

Pontormo, “Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap” (1530) (courtesy DCMS)

American hedge fund manager Tom Hill rejected a £30.7 million ($38.4 million) matching offer from London’s National Gallery for the purchase of Pontormo’s “Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap” (1530), a decision he attributes to the fall in the pound’s value. The UK government is likely to refuse a permanent export licence as a result. An export bar was placed on the work in 2015.

Hundreds of artists, dealers, critics, and curators signed an open letter opposing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning non-US citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A report by Bloomberg identified Oprah Winfrey as the former owner of Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” (1912). The work was privately sold to an Asian buyer last year for a reported $150 million. An unnamed source told Bloomberg that it was Winfrey who purchased the work at Christie’s for $87.9 million in 2006.

The New Art Dealers Alliance announced that it will donate half the ticket proceeds from its upcoming New York fair to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Tracey Emin and gallerist Xavier Hufkens are two of five benefactors funding a four-year scholarship for three Syrian refugees at Bard College Berlin. The scholarships are part of the Program for International Education and Social Change.

A book of Tahitian photographs taken by Jules Agostini is thought to contain images of Paul Gauguin and his mistress Pahura. Two albums of Agostini’s photographs — a friend of the artist — were sold at auction in July 2015, one of which was acquired by art dealer Daniel Blau.

A group photograph by Jules Agostini allegedly showing Gauguin in Tahiti (© Daniel Blau, Munich)

Archaeologists discovered a cave in the Judean desert that is thought to have housed a collection of Dead Sea scrolls.

The FBI repatriated Franse Verzijl’s “Young Man as Bacchus” to the Max and Iris Stern Foundation.

A search of the State Hermitage Museum’s Staraya Derevnya restoration and repository center by the Federal Security Service (FSB) was part of an investigation into “operational procedures” according to the museum’s director, Mikhail Piotrovsky. As noted by the Art Newspaper, the FSB’s search coincided with Piotrovsky’s criticism of the Russian government’s decision to transfer control of St Isaac’s Cathedral from museum officials to the Russian Orthodox Church.

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by photographer David Bailey was reissued to mark the monarch’s sapphire jubilee.

Attendance to the UK’s major museums and galleries fell by almost 1.4 million last year according to a report by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport — the first decline in almost a decade.

A collection of water-damaged recordings of Bob Marley‘s concerts were restored following a $31,200 project. The 13 tapes — two of which were blank and one ruined — were discovered in the basement of a run-down hotel in Kensal Rise, London.

Transactions

Jacob Lawrence, “Builders #1” (1968), gouache and tempera on paper, 29 x 21 1/2 in, Colby College Museum of Art, the Lunder Collection (photo by Peter Siegel, Pillar Digital Imaging LLC. © 2017 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society, ARS, New York)

Peter and Paula Lunder donated over 1,100 artworks to the Colby Colby College Museum of Art.

The Canadian government allocated $5.1 million from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund to the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada.

Jeanne and Michael L. Klein donated 28 video works to the Blanton Museum of Art. The gift includes works by Tania Bruguera, Isaac Julien, Pipilotti Rist, and Javier Téllez.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation donated $400,000 toward the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver‘s “Animating Museums” program.

MCH group acquired a 25.1% stake in art.fair International, the organizer of Art Düsseldorf. The Swiss conglomerate acquired 60.3% of the shares in Seventh Plane Pvt. Ltd in New Delhi, the organizer of the India Art Fair, last September.

The Columbia Museum of Art acquired works by Bing Davis, Renée Cox, Michaela Pilar Brown, and Colin Quashie — all of whom took part in the museum’s 2016 exhibition REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art.

Renée Cox, “Liberation of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben” (1998), dye destruction print, Diasec mounted, 8 1/2 x 61 1/2 in, museum purchase (courtesy Columbia Museum of Art)

Transitions

Peter Keller was appointed director general of the International Council of Museums.

Manuel de Santaren was appointed president of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation.

Jock Reynolds will stand down as the director of the Yale Art Gallery next year.

The New York Times reported that Michelle D. Gavin stepped down as the director of The Africa Center over three months ago.

Karen Hindsbo was appointed director of Norway’s National Museum.

Laurel Ptak was appointed executive director of Art in General.

Silvia Filippini Fantoni was appointed director of programs and audience engagement at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Dirk Boll was appointed president, Christie’s Europe, Middle East, Russia and India. Bertold Müeller was appointed managing director, Christie‘s Continental Europe, Middle East, Russia and India.

Sotheby’s appointed Adam Chinn as its chief operating officer.

Harry Dalmeny was appointed UK chairman of Sotheby’s.

Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro was appointed curator of the 2018 São Paulo Biennial.

Jen Graves resigned as art critic for The Stranger.

The 2017 Spring/Break Art Show will take place over two floors at 4 Times Square.

Tim Youd is now represented by the Cristin Tierney Gallery.

Washburn Gallery will vacate its space at 20 West 57th Street amid speculation that the building will be demolished for redevelopment.

Christie’s announced that it will open a new, 5,400-square-foot space in Beverly Hills, California.

Accolades

Hans Haacke, “Gift Horse” (2014), horse: bronze with black patina and wax finish stainless steel fasteners and supports, bow: 5mm flexible LED display stainless steel armature polycarbonate face, 15 ft 3 in x 14 ft 1 in x 5 ft 5 in (© Hans Haacke / Artists Rights Society, ARS, New York, photo by Hans Haacke, courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York)

Hans Haacke was awarded the 2017 Roswitha Haftmann Prize.

Günter Herzog was awarded the 2017 Art Cologne Prize.

Opportunities

The Lower East Side Printshop is accepting applications for its one-year, Keyholder Residency program. Emerging artists have until March 1 to apply.

Obituaries

Marta Becket (1924–2017), dancer. Founder of the Amargosa Opera House.

Annette Cravens (unconfirmed–2017), artist and arts patron.

Henry-Louis de la Grange (1924–2017), musicologist and critic. Biographer of Gustav Mahler.

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017), writer.

Gwendolyn Gillen (1941–2017), sculptor.

Walter Hautzig (1921–2017), pianist.

Dame Jennifer Jenkins (1921–2017), former chair of the National Trust.

William Melvin Kelley (1937–2017), novelist.

Harry Matthews (1930–2017), writer.

Howard Frank Mosher (1942–2017), novelist.

David Shepard (1940–2017), film preservationist.

Rob Stewart (1979–2017), filmmaker. Best known for Sharkwater (2006).

Tzvetan Todorov (1939–2017), literary theorist and historian.

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Source: Josiah Kamau / Getty

Nicki Minaj Postpones European Tour Dates Over Technical Issues

Nicki Minaj’s European tour is barely underway, and already, things aren’t going exactly as planned. Only one day after the Nicki WRLD Tour kicked off, the rapper was reportedly forced to cancel her Bratislava, Slovakia show due to electrical issues with the venue.

According to reports from TMZ, the venue of the concert experienced several outages on Friday night and simply could not support the “technical aspects” of the tour’s set design. Eventually, Nicki ended up stepping onto the stage to personally break the news to her Barbz.

“First of all, I f**kin’ love you,” she said to her crowd of adoring fans. “We’ve been trying for hours to get the show to work, and the building says they don’t have the power in this building to make this show work. I feel horrible because you guys have been here for hours, and they’ve been trying everything they possibly can.”

Minaj went on to thank her fans for showing up and promised that she would return to give them the show they all paid for. TMZ also reports that Nicki spent hours walking around the venue to greet her attendees.

The Queen rapper posted on Instagram about the incident, saying, “I’m so disappointed. Slovakia, I love you so much & I’ll do everything in my power to get back to you as soon as I can.”

View this post on Instagram

Gutted. Heart broken. I can’t believe my fans sometimes. After waiting for hours & hours, they still tried to be understanding. Production was told the building does not have the power to facilitate my lifts (which don’t only move me below & very VERY high above the stage, but also move all our props, furniture, dancers, band, etc.), our lighting rig, fog, cryo, confetti, movies/visuals. They’d get the show powered up then the breaker would basically trip after a few mins. Juice WRLD & I waited while they did this over & over for 3 hours. Some of my fans came from Austria, Nigeria, etc. I met w/a lot of them & they had the best, sweetest energy. I’m so disappointed. Slovakia, I love you so much & I’ll do everything in my power to get back to you as soon as I can. I think the venue/promo team probably didn’t expect a rap show to have such over the top production. We run the risk of someone getting hurt if we start the show & smthng malfunctions mid-show. Sorry we couldn’t have a great night together. We’ll be in Poland on Sunday @ a building that can facilitate our show.

A post shared by Barbie® (@nickiminaj) on Feb 22, 2019 at 4:49pm PST

The Nicki WRLD Tour is co-headlined by Juice WRLD and just began on Thursday night in Munich. The two rappers are expected to make stops in Berlin, Oslo, Paris, and London, before wrapping up the European leg late next month on March 28 in Geneva.

  more

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