UMS Arts Roundup: December 15

Many members of the UMS staff keep a watchful eye on local and national media for news about artists on our season, pressing arts issues, and more. Each week, we pull together a list of interesting stories  and share them with you.  Welcome to UMS’s Arts Round-up, a weekly collection of arts news, including national issues, artist updates, local shout-outs, and a link or two just for fun. If you come across something interesting in your own reading, please feel free to share!

Arts Issues

• Michael Phelps won’t be the only one to watch in London at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games – the Cultural Olympiad London 2012 festival will coincide with the games, bringing the world’s best artists and the world’s greatest athletes to one city.

• Creative leaders in Africa speak up about obstacles they face in acquiring federal funding and maintaining ethical standards in the arts industry on their continent.

Artist Updates

• Renée Fleming has accepted a position as the new Creative Consultant for the Lyric Opera of Chicago — but that doesn’t mean she’ll stop singing.  Quite the contrary.

UMS News

• Planning to see The Cripple of Inishmaan this March?  Check out the newest casting information for their tour, set to begin next month!

• What about Propeller’s Richard III — also in March?  In The British Theatre Guide review of the production, Sheila Connor writes, “This inventive company brings the most thrilling, and the most wayward, production you are ever likely to see – truly mesmerizing.”

Local Shout-Outs

• President Barack Obama nominated former UMS board member and friend Aaron Dworkin, President of the Sphinx Organization in Detroit, to the National Council on the Arts.

Just For Fun

• 109,901 may set the attendance record for hockey, but the record is a bit higher for live performance – 3.5 million, to be exact.  Only two performers have ever done it: Rod Stewart in Rio de Janeiro and Jean-Michel Jarre in Moscow.

• With 2010 coming to a close, NPR’s Susan Stamberg catalogues some of the Best Books of 2010…
• While Mark Juddery discusses the 10 Works of Literature that were “really hard to write.”
• Does Messiah give you the chills?  That may be a clue to your personality…