Inside Scoop

I really will miss my class with Dean Undercofler...its so fun to hear such random stories about art things and Eastman...and we all get the inside scoop on what's going on around school. Like the plans for the new Rochester Performing Arts Center...basically a new theater will be built where the parking lot across from the dorm is. Plus, a new concert hall will be built in the Sagmore on East. Orginally this 2,000 square foot space was going to feature Mitch Miller's collection of original Toulouse Lautrec prints, but he decided to give Eastman his Miro and Renoir collection. I guess we will just have to live with it. Another part of the the deal is that we get back a famous painting by Maxfield Parrish...The Lute Players. This painting was comissioned by George Eastman for the opening of the Eastman Theater...and before undercofler came here, it was almost sold to a Japanese man for 1.3 million dollars...of course Undercofler ended up saving it, and turned it into a national news story, rasied over 4 million dollars, and it was even turned into a postage stamp at one point. That man really knows what he is doing. However, the painting fell on some hard times, and for some reason or other is now resting in storage at the Memorial Art Gallery. With the constrution of this new art gallery/performance space, the Parrish would be back at Eastman...kind of cool, I think. Musica Nova's first rotation is almost over, and soon we will start workign on Phlegra by Xenakis. This pieces looks really crazy, and it kind of scares me. But it will be hella fun...in the end. How can you not like that stuff? Have I also mentioned that I am dreading the recording session on Saturday...from 9-5...and yes, we will be using the whole time, I'm sure of it. A few days ago I won my bid for the complete soundtrack to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. I payed a little more than I watned to (at $30.50) but what I didn't realize is that the CD is very rare. Someone recently posted a copy on amazon.com for a whopping $50...and thats before shipping. I am looking forward to receiving it!