Simon Fuller - Fuller Named Most Successful British Manager & other: June 2008

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Kevin Spacey to teach at Oxford

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has accepted a year-long position as a theater professor at Oxford University, the institution said in a posting on its Web site on Friday.

Spacey, 48, who won Academy Awards for supporting actor in "The Usual Suspects" and lead actor in "American Beauty, is following in the footsteps of fellow performers such as Patrick Stewart, star of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Others who have occupied the post of Oxford's Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theater at St. Catherine's College include composer Stephen Sondheim, playwright Alan Ayckbourn, actress Diana Rigg and lyricist Sir Tim Rice.

"It really is an honor for me to have been invited to follow such illustrious names and take up this role at Oxford," Spacey said in a statement. "The university is steeped in tradition and has a great heritage in the arts, and I look forward to working with the students and staff."

The college's master, Professor Roger Ainsworth, called Spacey "a truly international star" who "will bring an enormous wealth of talent and experience in both film and theater to bear on the role."

Spacey has been the artistic director of The Old Vic Theater Company in London since 2003.

He recently was seen in the HBO television movie "Recount," about the race for the U.S. presidency in 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. He also recently starred in movie thriller "21," playing an MIT professor with a team of card-counting poker players who make millions in Las Vegas casinos.

Reuters/Nielsen

Thursday 12 June 2008

Cleveland Orchestra extends contract of music director Welser-Moest

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Orchestra has extended the contract of music director Franz Welser-Moest through the 2017-2018 season.

Board chairman Richard Bogomolny announced the extension Friday.

Welser-Moest, 47, was named the orchestra's seventh music director in 2002. In 2003 his initial five-year contract was extended to 2012.

"Cleveland is my symphonic home and I look forward to at least another decade of working with this wonderful orchestra and serving this extraordinary community," the Austrian conductor said in a statement.

"It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank the trustees and supporters of this institution for your commitment to excellence and devotion to the art of orchestral music."

In September 2010, Welser-Moest will become general music director of the Vienna State Opera with an initial five-year term.

The orchestra also said it received a $5 million anonymous gift to expand its education programs, including a plan by the city's school district to bring every fifth grader to Severance Hall.