Arts Talk

By JOHN FLEMING, STEVE PERSALL and MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001

Judd stepping down

James Judd, music director of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, announced this month he is leaving the Fort Lauderdale-based ensemble he has led for 14 years. Judd, an Englishman, will remain in the position through the 2002-03 season, while the search for a successor is under way. Then he will assume the title of music director laureate for 10 years.

This season has been the most contentious of Judd's tenure, with the musicians going on strike for a month and delaying the opening of the season. The conductor seemed personally stung when his gesture of giving up his salary of $250,000 to make it available for the musicians' new contract seemed to alienate the players.

Orchestra positions announced

Two members of the Florida Orchestra violin section have won auditions for titled positions they will assume in the fall. Qiong Hulsey won the audition for principal second violin. Lei Liu won for second assistant concertmaster. The orchestra's season wound up with a pops program this weekend.

Performances added

There have been some significant additions to previously announced 2001-02 seasons in the bay area. Opera Tampa will present a concert by tenor Jose Carreras in January. Boris Brott, a possible candidate for music director of the Florida Orchestra, will conduct the orchestra in Messiah Dec. 28-29. The orchestra will perform with Moscow's Grigorovich Ballet in a production of Swan Lake Feb. 26-27.

Student Academy Award finalists

Two students of Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota are finalists in the 28th annual Student Academy Awards competition, from the same folks who bring you the Oscars. Tonya Noerr and Amber Rudolph were chosen in the animation category for Silhouette, one of eight nominees. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters will decide the winners, to be announced June 10 in Los Angeles. Prizes include trophies and cash awards ranging from $2,000 to $5,000.

Florida Studio Theatre season

Pump Boys and Dinettes, the country-fried musical revue, opens the Florida Studio Theatre summer season June 5 and continues through June 24. Also on the agenda at the Sarasota theater are Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton, July 3-22, and God's Man in Texas by David Rambo, July 31-Aug. 19. Subscriptions cost $27 to $39. Call (941) 366-9000.

Beyond Tampa Bay

"Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence,'' the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., today through Aug. 19. The artist's most complete retrospective to date traces his style, technique and methods. Other venues: Whitney Museum of American Art, Nov. 8-Feb. 3; Detroit Institute of Arts, Feb. 23-May 19, 2002; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 16-Sept. 8, 2002; and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Oct. 6, 2002-Jan. 5, 2003. Toll-free 1-800-551-7328 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

- Compiled by performing arts critic John Fleming, film critic Steve Persall and art critic Mary Ann Marger

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