I was looking over the job listings in Current the other day and a few caught my eye as Scanning the Dial-worthy. Here’s one from All Classical FM in Portland, Ore.:
NEA Funding Reinstated in the Stimulus Bill
Virginians for the Arts reports today that the wording prohibiting funding for arts and community was deleted from the final stimulus bill, or if that’s too many negatives in one sentence, we got it back!
More Classical in CA, Republican Irony, and Sirius XM Filing Bankruptcy?
Where shall I start? There’s so much news!
Let’s start with the Republican hypocrisy irony, since the Stimulus Bill is on everyone’s mind. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but the final bill apparently really does cut the hoped-for $50 million in NEA funding.
UPDATE 2-12-09: A press release just sent out by the RNCC claims:
Democrats said they would fight for fiscal responsibility in Washington, but went back on their promise by voting for $335 million in STD prevention, $75 million for smoking cessation and even $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts.
Does this mean the NEA funding is back in? Stay tuned.
The author of that cut in the Senate was Tom Coburn (R – Oklahoma), whose daughter Sarah, ironically, is a top-notch opera singer. The LA Times just ran this story about her. He considers museums, theaters and arts centers “wasteful and non-stimulative projects.”
Music director among casualties at WMFE
A few miscellaneous notes this morning. First off, a blogger for OrlandoSentinel.com reports that Dave Glerum, a classical host at WMFE in Orlando, Fla., was among the employees laid off last week when the station cut a quarter of its staff.
“Glerum was the station’s music director — which makes me wonder how a classical-music radio station can go on without someone programming its classical music,” writes the blogger. Good question. Classical 24, perhaps?