What In The World Is Going On As Of February 2, 2017?

February 1st, 2017

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.   

On January 30, 2017 we posted an update to clarify what was going on (at least as of Sunday, January 29, 2017) with regard to President Voldemort’s now infamous January 27, 2017 Executive Order and how it impacts the arts. As you may imagine, as the result of lawsuits and procedural confusion, the situation continues to develop…often hourly. As our office continues to address issues and implications on the front lines, we are relying upon the American Immigration Lawyers Association, The League of American Orchestras, the US Performing Arts Task Force, and other vital organizations who continue to monitor and report on the situation at all levels.

While there are still more questions than answers, the situation is starting to normalize somewhat…until they change. Nonetheless, as of today, here are the most accurate answers to the most frequently asked questions:

Does President Voldemort’s Executive Order and travel ban apply to Citizens of the 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) who also hold US Visas or Green Cards?

  • Yes.
  • The Department of State has indicated that it is “provisionally” (ie: temporarily) revoking all visas and green cards for nationals from the 7 countries named in the January 27 Executive Order.
  • This does not affect visa holders or green card holders who are currently in the US. They can stay.
  • If a green card holder was out of the US as of January 27, 2017 or travels out of the US after January 27, 2017 and attempts to return, then such individuals ARE subject to the travel ban. However, green card holders are eligible for national interest waivers consistent with the provisions of the Executive Order. According to the Executive Order, absent significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, green card status will be a dispositive factor in case-by-case determinations of whether or not a green card holder may re-enter.
  • So far, only two green card holders from the list of 7 countries have been denied entry: One, who was denied based on a criminal record, and another individual chose to return to Canada and withdrew his request for entry.
  • If a visa holder was out of the US as of January 27, 2017 or travels out of the country after January 27, 2017, they will not be allowed to re-enter at this time.

Does President Voldemort’s Executive Order and travel also apply to students who are citizens of the 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen)?  

  •  Yes.
  • F1/J1/M1 visas are currently temporarily suspended. Individuals who were in the US at the time of the signing of the executive order are not affected by the order.
  • Students who were out of the US as of January 27, 2017 or travel out of the US after January 27, 2017 and attempt to return will not be allowed to return at this time. The Department of State is evaluating whether those who are precluded from returning as a result of the Executive Order will be considered to have maintained their status as F1 or M1 students.

Does President Voldemort’s Executive Order and travel ban apply to individuals who are citizens of the 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) but who also are citizens of other countries (ie: dual citizens)?

  • No.
  • Travelers are being treated according to the passport they present at the time of entry into the US. For example, if they hold both Iranian and Canadian passports, then, absent significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, they WILL be allowed to enter.
  • However, if an individual holds a visa, the visa stamp MUST be in a passport that is not from one of the 7 countries. For example, if an artist with an O-1 holds both Iranian and UK passports, the O-1 visa must be in the UK passport.

Does President Voldemort’s Executive Order and travel ban apply to individuals who may have been born in one of the 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen), but who are no longer citizens?

  •  No.
  • However, individuals who were born in these and other countries considered to be “at risk”, or still have relatives in these countries, have always been subject to additional security processing and delays at US consulates and upon entry to the US. This will continue.

Does President Voldemort’s Executive Order and travel ban apply to individuals who may have been merely visited or performed in one of the 7 countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen)?

  •  No.
  • However, individuals who have visited these and other countries considered to be “at risk”, have always been subject to additional security processing and delays at US consulates and upon entry to the US. This will continue.

What is the impact of this on artists and individuals from other countries?

  • So far, none.
  • They will be subject to the same inconstant policies and tortuously interpreted regulations as always.

What is the impact of this on USCIS or the processing times at USCIS Service Centers?

  • So far, none.
  • Both USICS Service Centers continue to suffer from high staff turnover and lack of funding. This continues to result in longer processing times and an increase in Requests for Evidence (RFE).
  • While the California Service Center “tends” to process petitions more quickly than the Vermont Service Center, we continue to advice clients to anticipate standard processing to take 3 – 4 months at both service centers. Do not rely on the anecdotal information of others to the contrary!

What is going to happen next?

  •  Who the hell knows? However, according to two “leaked” provisional/proposed Executive Orders, here’s what we anticipate:
    • Further restrictions and clarifications on the limitations of B-1/B-2 (visitor/business) visas and those eligible to enter on visa waivers (Ie: ESTA) with respect to what they can and cannot do in such status. We’ve have said this 1000 times, but we keep getting questions about this: Artists cannot perform on visitor visas and/or on ESTA status. Not for free. Not for education. Not for schools. Not for training. Not if no tickets are sold. Not no way! Not no how! If any US manager, agent, presenter, venue, or academic institutions tells you otherwise—RUN AWAY!
    • Additional restrictions and oversight of students eligible for “practical training” during or after their course of study.
    • Additional countries being added to the list of banned nationalities.

Lastly, because the situation can change at any time, it is critical that you consistently check with reliable sources for updates and developments before making any travel decisions, applying for visas, or booking foreign artists. We strongly recommend:

1) www.artistsfromabroad.org

2) The USCIS website: www.uscis.gov

3) The US Department of State website: www.travel.state.gov

4) The US Customs and Border Patrol website: www.cbp.gov

5) Licensed immigration attorneys

 ________________________________________________________________

For additional information and resources on this and other legal, project management, and business issues for the performing arts, visit ggartslaw.com

To ask your own question, write to lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.com

All questions on any topic related to legal, management, and business issues will be welcome. However, please post only general questions or hypotheticals. Questions will be answered ONLY in future blogs. GG Arts Law reserves the right to alter, edit or, amend questions to focus on specific issues or to avoid names, circumstances, or any information that could be used to identify or embarrass a specific individual or organization. All questions will be posted anonymously and/or posthumously.

__________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty email, filing a lawsuit, or doing anything rash!

 

 

 

 

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U.S. Orchestras on Travel Ban

January 31st, 2017

South view of the White House

By ANDREW POWELL
Published: January 31, 2017

MUNICH — The New York-based League of American Orchestras yesterday issued this statement in response to Executive Order 13769, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States:

“The music that orchestras play and the communities they serve are global and include people and cultures from [Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen] now subject to the travel ban issued by Executive Order on Jan. 27.

“We firmly believe that concerns related to national security can be addressed while also continuing to welcome people [from] beyond our borders. [We believe] in the power of music to communicate across differences, express and animate the issues of our time, and advance international diplomacy and our democracy.

“With each concert U.S. orchestras perform [at home] and abroad, as many as 100 musicians from diverse traditions, faiths and political perspectives play in unison in the shared pursuit of artistic expression. … In a time of [division] in our country, intentionally listening to the full spectrum of voices is key … . Democracy, like music, flourishes when we encourage … and respectfully engage with a diversity of ideas.”

Separately, the League and the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) have jointly created the website Artists from Abroad to help foreign guest artists and their managers navigate the process of obtaining non-immigrant visas and presenting artists from abroad to U.S. audiences. The website will carry guest-artist-related updates to the Jan. 27 Executive Order.

Photo © National Park Service

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WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?

January 29th, 2017
By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.

Except for those of you who may have been exploring other dimensions for the past few days, almost everyone else on the planet has been following the flurry of recent developments in the US as our country falls into the slipstream of chaos. We felt it was important to clarify exactly what is going on (at least as of Sunday, January 29, 2017) and how it impacts the arts.

On January 27, 2017, Dictator-in-Chief Trump signed an Executive Order that, among other provisions, immediately “suspends” the immigrant (“green card”) and nonimmigrant (Os, Ps, Fs, Hs, etc.) entry of citizens from the following countries for 90 days from January 27, 2017: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Artists from these countries will not be able to enter the US, including those artists who already possess an I-797 Approval Notice or even who have already been issued an actual visa. As of January 29, 2017, those holding green cards may, in theory, re-enter the U.S., but they, too, should expect additional scrutiny, delays, and possible refusals.

It should be noted that the travel ban will not automatically be lifted after the 90 days.

Also, this order not only applies to anyone who holds a passport from any of the 7 designated countries, but also to dual citizens who hold passports from a designated country, as well as a non-designated country. So, for example, if an artist were to hold BOTH an EU passport as well as an Iraqi passport, that artist would be subject to the bar. “Theoretically, dual nationals holding US citizenship remain able to re-enter the U.S., but they should expect additional scrutiny and delays as well.

It is unclear whether or not the travel ban applies to people who are former citizens of the 7 countries or who may have merely traveled to one of these countries. However, they should expect additional scrutiny and delays as well.

Additional changes to the visa rules, regulations, and restrictions have been threatened in the upcoming weeks. However, the expectation is that most of these will apply to H-1B visas (employees with specialized skills and academic degrees), which rarely, if ever, apply to artists and F visas (students), which will apply to artists attending school and training programs in the US. We would also not be surprised if Dictator Trump eventually slams the door again on Cubans, as well.

For now, aside from those artists impacted directly and immediately, everyone else should take a breath and keep the following in mind:

1) Do not panic!

We’re all doing that for you!

 2) Stop relying on ESTA

There is going to be even more scrutiny and less forgiveness that ever before with regard to artists attempting to enter the US on visitor visas (B-1/B-2) and/or ESTA status. We’ve have said this 1000 times, but we keep getting questions about this: Artists cannot perform on visitor visas and/or on ESTA status. Not for free. Not for education. Not for schools. Not for training. Not if no tickets are sold. Not no way! Not no how! If any US manager, agent, presenter, venue, or academic institutions tells you otherwise—RUN AWAY!

 3) Plan ahead. This has always been important, but now it has become critical. In other words, don’t schedule any quick connecting flights or wait until the last minute to file visa petitions and schedule consulate interviews.

Lastly, because the situation can change at any time, it is critical that you consistently check with reliable sources for updates and developments before making any travel decisions, applying for visas, or booking foreign artists. We strongly recommend:

1) www.artistsfromabroad.org

2) The USCIS website: www.uscis.gov

3) The US Department of State website: www.travel.state.gov

4) Licensed immigration attorneys

_________________________________________________________________

For additional information and resources on this and other legal, project management, and business issues for the performing arts, visit ggartslaw.com

To ask your own question, write to lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.com

All questions on any topic related to legal, management, and business issues will be welcome. However, please post only general questions or hypotheticals. Questions will be answered ONLY in future blogs. GG Arts Law reserves the right to alter, edit or, amend questions to focus on specific issues or to avoid names, circumstances, or any information that could be used to identify or embarrass a specific individual or organization. All questions will be posted anonymously and/or posthumously.

__________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty email, filing a lawsuit, or doing anything rash!

 

 

 

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Posted in Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Touring, Visas | Comments Closed

Tonhalle Lights Up the Beyond

January 27th, 2017

View from the Balkon inside the Tonhalle in Zurich

By ANDREW POWELL
Published: January 27, 2017

ZURICH — It was not the most natural of programs. Beethoven’s familiar C-Major Piano Concerto (1795) prepared nobody for Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà … , or Lightning Over the Beyond … , the 65-minute theological ornithological astronomical would-be symphony Messiaen finished in 1991. Wary of the exotic fare ahead, many in the Tonhalle-Orchester’s subscription audience here Jan. 7 left at intermission. Others returned to their seats only to grow restless as Éclairs unfolded, and they then feet-shuffled and door-slammed between its movements. Maestro and program architect Kent Nagano maintained his serenity nonetheless, all the way through.

Daniil Trifonov turned in a leaden, joylessly intense reading of the concerto, nowhere near Beethoven’s world. He reduced the solo part to a stilted struggle of his own devising, albeit a sincere one masterfully played. He overstated dynamic contrasts within phrases, creating alien shapes. The first movement, played slowly, essentially lacked a pulse; Nagano began it in that manner, evidently at his soloist’s behest. As Trifonov’s sweaty bangs swished near Steinway’s S&S logo and his chin hovered just above the backs of his hands, he telegraphed a crazily forced disquiet. The second movement sounded numb. Life emerged, somewhat, in the crowd-pleasing Rondo.

Messiaen’s opus summum in its Zurich premiere wound up defying the defectors and sent most listeners home with the spiritual boost its writer must have intended — at least if their spirited applause was any sign. The performance confirmed Messiaen’s wisdom in scoring, sequencing, and above all timing his material so as to build a coherent and moving structure, even as he sought the most divergent attributes for his eleven movements.

There is no climax. Instead, the eighth movement, employing 128 musicians, anchors Éclairs by recognizing every strand of thought it possesses, and the plush string harmonies of the last movement bring the composer to his point (and his title): a glimpse of the Celestial City, the Au-Delà, made possible by shafts of lightning, the Éclairs. It is a “journey,” one decorated in seven of the movements with birdsong from 48 species — a trait that separates it from its closest cousin in Messiaen’s canon, the Turangalîla-Symphonie, which is somewhat longer with one movement less.

The Tonhalle-Orchester balanced an astonishing range of sonorities, neatly intoning the unison passages, diligently tracing the glissandos and melismas, and somehow preventing the textural lurches between movements — and between ideas within them — from undermining Messiaen’s last, vast statement on mortality. Nagano favored a brisk pace overall and cued the vital bird entrances with fanatical clarity.

Tempo can be conjectural in Messaien, properties varying, and Éclairs has been no exception over the years. Nagano on this occasion came close to Simon Rattle’s workaday 61 minutes, as recorded in Berlin in 2004. But Sylvain Cambreling’s diligent 2002 Freiburg recording spreads to 75 minutes. Myung-Whun Chung, who worked with Messiaen on a benchmark 1990 recording of Turangalîla, taking 78 minutes for that work, completes Éclairs in a middling 65 minutes on his 1993 Paris disc, yet his view is not especially compelling.

There is one great recording of Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà … . In fact it is an essential disc for any Messiaen collection: a live 2008 performance complete with coughs and moments of shaky brass intonation on the Kairos label. Listening, one cannot imagine that anyone walked out in the middle, such is the joy and focus in the Vienna Philharmonic’s music-making. Ingo Metzmacher adopts moderate tempos (running to 67 minutes) and allows the intervals of silence to tell, but he presses on between movements, creating a palpable sense of urgency and spontaneity. His third movement, devoted to birdsong, is exhilarating. In the fifth, the Vienna strings flatter Messiaen’s long and soaring lines. Metzmacher seems to channel Mussorgsky in the fully scored eighth, and in the ninth he secures the most vivid demonstration — possibly ever recorded — of Messiaen birdsong. From his abode in the Celestial City, the composer will have been pleased.

Photo © Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

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Two Concerts in Paris

January 15th, 2017

By:  Frank Cadenhead

Two concerts, Thursday and Friday, January 12 and 13, 2017, give a view to the future of the Paris music scene. The Thursday concert, with the first appearance of the new music director of the Orchestre National de France in his new role, gives a positive impression.

Emmanuel Krivine, 69, is not among the handful of world-famed conductors. His predecessor, Daniele Gatti, is moving on to lead the Concertgebouw Orchestra. His appointment as Gatti’s successor was a bit of a surprise to some given his lack of top status and his history of leaving behind unhappy orchestras, one of which was the sister radio orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, which he lead from 1976 to 1983. Although French (born of a Polish mother and Russian father), he does not often appear on the scene in France; his other job is principal guest conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He seems to have found a rapport with his new colleagues and their playing was involved, focused and on a high level. One hopes that can continue.

The way he approaches the classics was indicated in the first piece, the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with the towering Russian pianist, Denis Matsuev, at the keyboard. The approach of most conductors is to race through the orchestral noodling to sail with the grand melodies. Krivine’s style is more analytical and you suddenly discover the noodling is actual complex music and reminds you that this concerto is indeed a 20th Century work (1909). The clarity of Krivine’s vision has you hearing this warhorse with new ears and this focus added important intensity to the concerto’s finale. Matsuev is breathtaking in his easy mastery of this fiendishly difficult concerto and his sense of style and elegance never lags. He is easily classed as one of today’s great interpreters of Rachmaninoff and any appearance near you should not be missed.

The second part of the concert, the Dvorak Seventh Symphony, also was a musical triumph. The orchestra was excellent form and the driven intensity brought cheers from those in the Radio France Auditorium. This concert can be seen on concert.arte.tv and is recommended.

Quite a difference experience Friday night in the Salle Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris. The Chicago Symphony was on their first stop of a European tour with their music director Riccardo Muti. This is a great orchestra with masterful musicians and their maestro has them in brilliant form. The two works in the first half, Paul Hindemith’s Koncertmusik, Op.50, and Edward Elgar’s In the South (Alassio), also an Opus 50, were both unfamiliar to me but were found to be engaging, splendid music. We sometimes need to be reminded that composers have a lifetime of compositions worthy of attention and the dull focus on a few of the popular ones leaves most others on the shelf.

The second half had no such mission with Modest Mussorgsky’s two orchestral hits, Night on Bald Mountain (with the Rimsky-Korsakov transcription) and Pictures at an Exhibition (in Ravel’s orchestration). This allows many in the audience to compare (unfavorably) the recording they have at home with the spectacular brilliance of the Chicago Symphony’s reading under Muti. Cheering and long applause ended the evening and the extra money you paid for the tickets was certainly, by the last note, forgotten. As an encore, the rambunctious overture to Verdi’s The Sicilian Vespers was enthusiastically welcomed. You can see that its ranking among the top world orchestras is no exaggeration. It is virtuosic and profound at the same time with a consistency reminding you of the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonics.

The new Philharmonie, which opened only on the 14th of January of 2015, was the first stop of the Chicago forces but the next two nights are the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg which had its opening night only last Wednesday. Muti and Chicago have, of course, no previous experience with the new Parisian hall which has received much praise. Acoustically alive, the hall sounded a bit overwhelmed by Muti’s forceful music making. I kept wanting a but less volume.

The Paris hall, on its opening, was the subject of much criticism. The original cost had ballooned three-fold and the delay was years. The Berlin hall, however, has been the mother of all cost-overruns and delays and, thankfully, that story has been occupying space in the press for some time while the diatribes about Paris’ Philharmonie are only a memory. While the architects were different, the “vineyard” layout and closeness of the audience to the podium are similar. Another similarity was the acoustical consultants, Nagata Acoustics and their renowned acoustician, Yasuhisa Toyota.

Reading the early critical reaction an item sticks out. While the sound is very “present” critics have noted that individual instruments can be heard clearly even in tutti passages and thus the full orchestra sound seems fragmented. The same thing was noted by me and others in Paris and the Philharmonie management decided, after the January opening, to close the hall in July and August and tinker with the acoustics some more. With the new season that followed, an orchestra full-bore sounded like an orchestra full-bore and the sigh was audible. Visiting orchestra and soloists are full of praise and love the visceral impact of the Philharmonie’s musical experience. The reputation of the hall is at the top of world rankings and it may be that Hamburg might need a short pause to put into effect the acoustical polish of Paris.

This is a high-profile event in the life of Hamburg, who has always competed with Munich as to who is the “second city” in Germany. Hamburg has always come up short in the classical music arena but the new hall will certainly go a long way to revitalize Hamburg’s musical life. The Paris Philharmonie has certainly done so for Paris.

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Antonini Works Alcina’s Magic

January 11th, 2017

Alcina at Opernhaus Zürich in January 2017

By ANDREW POWELL
Published: January 11, 2017

ZURICH — Christof Loy’s staging of Alcina here, new in 2014 and just revived, imagines a blurred line between a theater troupe’s onstage roles and its members’ backstage passions and asks what it means to break free of illusion — this last substituting for Ariosto’s island magic, happily without demeaning the source. States of mind hinge on costume changes. Multiple stage spaces allow contexts to shift. Neither stylized nor abstract, the scheme advances judiciously on its own logic with nobody the center of attention, until Loy draws together his loose ends to reveal one trouper entrapped: Alcina herself.

At Friday’s performance (Jan. 6), Julie Fuchs sang a girlish and game Morgana with gleaming top notes but no real trill. As her sister the sorceress “queen,” Cecilia Bartoli commanded slenderer tones; extended arias Ah! mio cor! schernito sei! and Mi restano le lagrime, lacking resonance, aurally diluted rather than crowned an earnest, witty portrayal. Varduhi Abrahamyan offered the counterforce of a vocally plush, heroic Bradamante able to trace coloratura flights while sliding half-dressed between genders.

In his Opernhaus Zürich debut, Philippe Jaroussky ornamented Ruggiero’s music more sparingly than he had at Aix-en-Provence eighteen months earlier, for the good. He placed his notes in the service of complete phrases and longer ideas, largely through impeccable dynamic control. His sound: consistently sweet. His Verdi prati seemed frozen in time, floated as it was while he descended steps from the stage in an escape from Loy’s illusion. The contreténor from Maisons-Laffitte later kick-turn danced with the ensemble, sealing a triumph.

But the highest tributes to Händel’s score came from the pit, and not with showiness. Right from the overture, conductor Giovanni Antonini set his priorities: breathing musical lines, gentle accents, unexaggerated dynamics, sharp attacks. Orchestra La Scintilla, devoted to period-performance practice at this ornate 1,100-seat lakeside theater, responded flexibly, with fine internal balances. The strings sounded lush and mellow. There were wonderful wind solos, including from Antonini, who had no trouble leading with his recorder; this partnership began years ago.

Photos © Monika Rittershaus (performance), Philippe Jaroussky (backstage), Opernhaus Zürich (curtain call)

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Changes at the Opéra-Comique and Lyon’s Orchestra.

January 10th, 2017

facade-ocBest Laid Plans Department: for the Opéra-Comique, closed for two years, the post-restoration opening remains a story to be continued. Nine performances of Offenbach’s Fantasio in February, with a starry cast, was originally the celebratory opening event of the newly refurbished hall, the iconic Salle Favart. Delays in the promised completion date pushed the Offenbach over to the Châtelet Theater, which had the dates free just before they are undergoing the restoration knife for more than two years.

When the 2017 season was announced (unusual in the business, a calendar year). the world premier of an opera for young people, La Princesse légère by Violeta Cruz, was to be the new opening night at Favart. A co-production with ICRAM and the operas in Lille and Compiegne, eight performances were scheduled from 16 to 22 March. Last week, when it was clear that work on Favart would not be finished, this premiere was pushed off to sometime in the next year. At present, Alcione by Marin Marais will open the season on the 26th of April with maestro Jordi Savall and the chorus and orchestra Le Concert des Nations and staged by Louise Moaty and Raphaëlle Boitel.

Several lectures, recitals, and cinema nights scheduled before April had to also be cancelled. There is no evidence that we are talking about years of delay as with Berlin or Cologne, but fingers are crossed that the new schedule will be definitive.

Women Power Department: the appointment of Ruth Mackenzie to head the Châtelet Theater when it returns from its facelift in September of 2019 was a rare example of a woman given a major management job in the arts in France. The MA story is here:
http://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?storyid=37520&categoryid=2&archived=0

Mackenzie, a noted feminist, has now been joined by another. On December 30, Aline Sam-Giao was announced as the new general manager of the Orchestre national de Lyon, currently with the popular Leonard Slatkin as music director. With that job is another responsibility, the managing of the Auditorium Maurice Ravel which the orchestra calls home. It is a 2120 seat auditorium from 1975 and the principal classical venue in Lyon, France’s second largest city. On days when the orchestra is not playing it is the venue for major recitals, chamber music, jazz, etc.

Slatkin, who is leaving his post in September, has certainly revitalized the orchestra and will have the new title Directeur musical honoraire. With that title, he will continue appearing with six weeks in the 2017-18 season and four weeks in the following season. Sam-Giao and the board of directors of the orchestra are certainly searching for his replacement.

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CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FROM USCIS

January 3rd, 2017

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.   

When we woke up Christmas morning, we discovered that the Grinch at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had left two surprises in our stockings:

1) NEW FILING FEES

Effective as of December 24, 2016, the filing fee for all O and P petitions is now $460. All petitions postmarked or received by USCIS on December 23, 2016 or later must include the new fee or the petitions will be rejected.

2) NEW FORMS

Effective as of December 24, 2016, USCIS updated many forms, including Form I-129—the form used for O and P petitions. The new edition of Form I-129 is marked “12/31/16”. USCIS will continue to accept old forms until February 21, 2017, but all petitions postmarked or received by USCIS on February 21, 2017 or later must have the 12/23/16 edition of Form I-129 the petitions will be rejected.

  • Read the new Form I-129 carefully. When USCIS updates forms, it rarely asks for new information, but often re-numbers and moves around the old blanks and questions for no apparent reason.
  • Because USCIS can amend forms without notice, ALWAYS download a fresh form directly from the USCIS website. www.uscis.gov/forms. NEVER use an old form, a form you used the “last time”, or a form you obtain from any other source.

The first one we knew was coming, but the second was a complete surprise to everyone!

_________________________________________________________________

For additional information and resources on this and other legal, project management, and business issues for the performing arts, visit ggartslaw.com

To ask your own question, write to lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.com

All questions on any topic related to legal, management, and business issues will be welcome. However, please post only general questions or hypotheticals. Questions will be answered in future blogs. GG Arts Law reserves the right to alter, edit or, amend questions to focus on specific issues or to avoid names, circumstances, or any information that could be used to identify or embarrass a specific individual or organization. All questions will be posted anonymously and/or posthumously.

__________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty email, filing a lawsuit, or doing anything rash!

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Visas | Comments Closed

Rozhdestvensky in Large Letters, Please.

December 8th, 2016

By:  Frank Cadenhead

Odd behavior marked the scheduled appearance of Gennady Rozhdestvensky at the helm of the Russian National Orchestra in Paris on Monday, November 28. The orchestra was at the Philharmonie for a short, two stop, tour. Two days before, at a concert in Baden-Baden, he conducted a program of Prokoviev’s Classical Symphony, the Scriabin Piano Concerto and the Shostakovich Ninth Symphony, the program to be repeated at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Apparently, the day of the performance, Rozhdestvensky saw that the printed entry ticket for the Philharmonie had only the name of the orchestra and not his and decided not to perform that evening. No notice appeared in the major French press but information on social media made the reason for the cancellation clear. Declaired “ill” by an announcement from the stage, it was announced that the pianist of that evening, Mikhail Pletnev, would conduct. Pletnev happens to have been the founder of the orchestra in 1990 and is the current artistic director and frequent conductor. It is an orchestra that is routinely considered one of Europe’s best. The program was maintained and, while Pletnev played the Scriabin concerto, concertmaster Alexie Bruni took up the baton.

Since he cancelled for the same reason in Boston in 2008, this would not be his first temper tantrum for the subject. His name was clearly emphasized on publicity, posters, and the program. In the Philharmonie’s announcement, it was noted that, “À 85 ans, Guennadi Rozhdestvensky est sans doute le dernier grand chef historique russe…” (At 85 years, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, is without doubt the last of the historic great Russian conductors…”) The tour of Germany, Belgium and Holland later this month will be, as scheduled, all conducted by Pletnev. Management at future venues featuring maestro Rozhdestvensky should make note of his particular needs.

 

 

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A Healthy Paris Opera

December 6th, 2016

By: Frank Cadenhead

The numbers for the Opéra national de Paris’ 2015-2016 season, recently released, gives a positive impression despite the effects of the murderous series of terrorist attacks on the 13th of November of last year. Attendance has remained steady and private donations are up. The attack on the Bataclan Theater, which lasted over three hours and killed 97 of the total 130 that evening, would have a major effect on the performing arts in most cities but Parisians continued to buy tickets. All venues were closed for a bit less than a week but, when they resumed, the public was there. The Bataclan opened again on the anniversary of the attack with a concert by Sting.

The government made an effort to compensate for the loss of sales for the week performances where shut down but it was only for the major venues and strictly related to lost revenue from the closure. It was not intended to cover the effect of the tourism slide. Tourism in Paris fell in the area of 15 to 20 percent and tourist often buy tickets to the opera. This was evident in the drop in income the Opéra collects from tours to the iconic Palais Garnier. Some 730,000 tickets were sold in the previous period compared with 556,000 for the 2015-2016 season.

Support from public sources, the national government and regional and city governments, has been steadily slipping noted Stéphane Lissner, the opera director. In 2010, for example, public support was 105.5 million Euros and is now 95.7 million. It still represents 47% of the budget, but makes increased private support all the more important. There is some hope that the announced 5.5% increase in the government budget for the arts for 2017 might begin to reverse this trend. Despite these problems, however, the ONP was in the red only 200,000 Euros for the 2015-2016 season compared with a 3.7 million Euro surplus the previous period.

Fortunately, Lissner’s effort to increase private sponsorship was successful and contributed income from corporations alone increased by 40%. Major names like Dior, Rolex, Total and BNP are among corporations on the donor list. As a total part of the budget receipts for the reporting period, 30% represents individual and corporate donations, a figure what was in the single digits only a few years ago.

While the opera managed a 92.65% occupancy for the past season, it was a slightly lower that the previous season and would also have been affected by the dip in tourism in France. Ticket income was down from 68.5 million euros to 64.1 million. The Opéra also had four performances cancelled because of strikes by opera unions in sympathy with national unions opposed to a government effort to contain social expenditures. The departure of Benjamin Millepied from the ONP’s ballet in early 2016 did not seem to hurt seat sales or private donations and, in general, two thirds of private donors increased their support level.

Some figures in the 2015-2016 report include a total budget of 200.2 million Euros, a payroll of 114 million (a 2.25% drop), 802,921 spectators for 362 performances (opera, ballet, concerts), tickets sold on the internet, 56.8% and the average audience age is an agreeably fresh 46 with the under 28s comprising 17.1% of that audience.

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