2016年12月9日 星期五

It’s Official: Many Orchestras Are Now Charities別懷疑!許多美國管弦樂團 已成「慈善事業」


【Money錢電子報】貼近生活,全方位的實用理財指南;公正客觀,深入淺出,提供您正確的理財資訊! 全台唯一的密技電子報-【電腦人PCuSER 網路e週報】以電腦密技為主軸,協助您排除各類疑難雜症!
無法正常瀏覽圖片,請按這裡看說明   無法正常瀏覽內容,請按這裡線上閱讀
新聞  健康  財經  追星  NBA台灣  udn部落格  udnTV  讀書吧  
讀紐時學英文
2016/12/09 第151期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 It's Official: Many Orchestras Are Now Charities別懷疑!許多美國管弦樂團 已成「慈善事業」
Your ATM Is Covered in Microbes, but Mostly HarmlessATM提款機布滿微生物 不過大多無害
紐時周報精選
 
It's Official: Many Orchestras Are Now Charities別懷疑!許多美國管弦樂團 已成「慈善事業」
文/Michael Cooper 
譯/王麗娟

There is a stark reality increasingly facing American orchestras: They are now charities, relying more, on average, on philanthropy than on the ticket sales that used to buttress them.

While orchestras have always required subsidies — whether from monarchs, the church, governments or patrons — the balance has shifted to the point where they generally get more revenue from donations than from selling tickets, according to a report released Tuesday by the League of American Orchestras, an industry association. The report also found that orchestras had reached a tipping point in how they sell tickets: In 2013, for the first time, ensembles no longer earned a majority of their ticket revenue from the subscription packages they have depended on for decades.

美國管弦樂團正日益面臨一項嚴峻的現實:它們現在已變成慈善樂團,因為平均來說,它們對慈善捐助的依賴程度已高過售票所得,而後者一向是樂團的主要收入來源。

雖然管弦樂團一直都需要補貼,無論它來自君主、教會、政府或金主,根據同業協會「美國管弦樂團聯盟」周二公布的報告,兩者的消長已轉變至通常慈善捐款多於售票收入的地步。報告還發現,管弦樂團在售票上已來到拐點:2013年,樂團首次無法再從套票訂購上賺取大部分的售票收入,數十年來他們一直十分仰賴這項收入。

These changes have forced orchestras to change everything from how they organize their staffs to how they define their missions. The new report and interviews with players, administrators and union officials paint a picture of a field in transition, with some ensembles struggling, some doing well, and nearly all trying to adapt as classical music's footprint in the broader culture shrinks. This season has already had a long strike by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas; a 48-hour strike by the storied Philadelphia Orchestra; and a bitter, continuing strike by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a top-notch ensemble that raised this city's profile even during the most painful days of its deindustrialization.

這些變化迫使管弦樂團做了徹底的改變,從如何組織員工,到如何界定任務。透過前述報告以及對樂手、樂團管理人員、工會官員的訪談,可以勾勒出一個領域正在轉型的景象,有的樂團在苦撐,有的經營良好,但隨著古典音樂的足跡在更廣泛的文化中逐漸縮小,幾乎所有樂團都在努力適應變化。本季已經出現的狀況計有:德州福和市交響樂團的長期罷工;知名的費城管弦樂團發動了48小時罷工;而匹茲堡交響樂團也仍在進行慘烈的罷工,而即使在匹茲堡經歷去工業化的最痛苦年頭時,這個頂級樂團仍然發揮了提升該市形象的作用。

Orchestras (and their growing marketing departments), for example, must now spend more to sell single and group tickets — at a time when it is harder to fill seats. (Attendance declined by 10.5 percent between 2010 and 2014, the study found.) And as ensembles and their development departments work to appeal to philanthropists, many are now going beyond merely making music, offering more educational programs and community engagement initiatives. Finally, there is increasing pressure from many boards and administrators to try to curb growing costs, which can lead to labor disputes like the strike in Pittsburgh.

The question of how effectively orchestras can attract philanthropic support is increasingly the key to their survival. The report found that in 2014, an average of 43 cents of every dollar orchestras received came from contributions, while 40 cents came from ticket sales, touring, hall rentals, parking and other sources of earned income; and the remainder from investments.

舉例來說,管弦樂團(及其不斷擴大的行銷部門)如今必須撒出更多銀兩,在音樂會很難滿座的此刻,全力推銷個人票和團體票。(前述研究發現,2010年到2014年,觀眾人數下降了10.5%之多。)而在樂團和發展部門努力向慈善家招手之際,許多樂團現在不僅不再只製作音樂,也提供更多的教育課程和社區參與計畫。最後,許多董事會和管理者越來越迫切想抑制成本的增長,而這可能會導致像匹茲堡罷工那樣的勞資糾紛。

管弦樂團如何有效吸引慈善機構的支持,已日益成為它們生存的關鍵。前述報告發現,2014年,管弦樂團收到的每1美元當中,平均有43美分來自捐款,40美分來自售票、巡迴演出、音樂廳出租、停車場以及其他收入來源;其他剩餘部分來自投資。

說文解字看新聞

文/張佑生

美國管弦樂團(orchestra)面臨惡劣的處境(stark reality)。現代管弦樂團編制從50到100人,40人以下的一般稱作室內樂團(chamber orchestra),通常沒有指揮(conductor),營運成本都很高。源自日文的卡拉OK中的OK是英文管弦樂團的諧音。舞台、劇場正前排的貴賓席,美語稱為the orchestra,英語是the stalls,用複數。

Stark有好幾個意思,像是完全的(stark naked, stark mad)、荒涼的、以及本文所指「嚴峻艱難的」。菲律賓總統杜特蒂嚴厲警告指控他剷除毒梟違反法律程序的人:Duterte gave a stark warning to those who accuse him of extrajudicial killings.

Ensemble指一組人,可能是舞者、樂手、演員,或整套家具、服裝,為可數名詞,通常用單數,也指整體效果。堪稱是珍奧斯汀最不浪漫且最務實的小說《曼斯菲爾德莊園》(Mansfield Park)中,亨利突然發現主角Fanny Price整個人都不一樣了:And then, her air, her manner, her tout ensemble, is so indescribably improved!

 
Your ATM Is Covered in Microbes, but Mostly HarmlessATM提款機布滿微生物 不過大多無害
文/Nicholas St. Fleur
譯/李京倫

Whenever you withdraw money from an ATM, it deposits microbes onto you.

That shouldn't be surprising because germs and bacteria are everywhere: on doorknobs, subway seats, staircases, your cat, your dog, your face. You can't avoid them, especially when you're punching in your PIN.

每當你從自動櫃員機提款,它就把微生物留在你身上。

這應該不足為奇,因為病菌和細菌無所不在:門把、地鐵座位、樓梯、你的貓狗和你的臉上。你避不開,尤其在你按鍵輸入密碼時。

Researchers in New York City swabbed the keypads of 66 ATMs at banks, bodegas and other places across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. They found that ATMs are mostly covered in microbes from human skin, similar to the ones found in bathrooms, on pillowcases and on televisions.

They also found that in addition to leaving bits of ourselves behind whenever we touch the keypads, we also litter the machines with leftovers. Traces of chicken, fish and other seafood were among the most commonly found microbes. In Manhattan they found a mold called Xeromyces bisporus, which is associated with spoiled cakes and other baked goods.

紐約市的研究人員使用棉花棒,在曼哈坦、布魯克林與皇后區的銀行、酒店等地方的66個櫃員機鍵盤上取樣。他們發現,覆蓋櫃員機的主要是來自人類皮膚的微生物,與在浴室、枕套和電視上發現的類似。

他們還發現,我們除了在觸碰鍵盤時留下少許自己的微生物,還用食物碎屑弄髒櫃員機。微量的雞肉、魚肉和其他海鮮都有最常見的微生物。在曼哈坦,他們發現一種叫作「雙孢旱黴」的黴菌,與變質的蛋糕等烘焙食品有關。

"New Yorkers love their food, it's not that surprising," said Jane Carlton, an urban microbiology ecologist from New York University and an author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal mSphere. She added that the microbes they found were pretty consistent across boroughs and stressed that the majority of the microbes they found were harmless. Gross, perhaps, but mostly harmless.

To researchers like Carlton, ATMs act like miniature laboratories where they can study the DNA of the city. The machines house a unique microcosm on their keypads that reflects the people who use them every day. The team did not look at touch screen ATMs.

紐約大學都市微生物生態學家珍.卡爾頓說:「紐約人愛吃,這不令人訝異。」卡爾頓也是這份研究報告的作者之一,報告周三發表在mSphere期刊。她說,他們在各個行政區發現的微生物相當一致,並強調他們發現的微生物大多數無害。也許令人不快,但大多無害。

對卡爾頓等研究人員來說,櫃員機就像微型實驗室,可供探究紐約市的去氧核糖核酸。櫃員機的鍵盤上有個獨特的小宇宙,反映出每天使用的是什麼樣的人。研究團隊並未探討觸控式櫃員機。

The study is part of a larger research project to investigate New York City's urban microbiome. Researchers have looked at microbes on the subway system, which provide insight into people from all around the city. The ATM findings, Carlton said, were "just another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of microbes in New York City."

To complete their portrait they plan to next look at the city's pets and pests. That means swabbing cats, dogs, squirrels, pigeons, rats and cockroaches.

這份研究是更大規模研究計畫的一部分,研究計畫旨在調查紐約市的都市微生物群。研究人員已詳查地鐵系統的微生物,藉以了解紐約市各地的人。卡爾頓說,研究櫃員機的成果「只是紐約市微生物拼圖中的另外一片」。

為了完成這個拼圖,他們接下來打算研究紐約市的寵物與有害動物。這意謂要用棉花棒從貓、狗、松鼠、鴿子、老鼠和蟑螂身上採樣。

 
訊息公告
 
我在台北喝咖啡!來看這座城市有哪些咖啡好店
你什麼時候會想要來一杯咖啡?在這座美麗的城市裡,處處都可以聞到咖啡香氣,不論是以一杯咖啡來振奮一日精神,或是純粹喝好心情、喝浪漫的。論早晚,穿過街頭,就循著香氣走,找一家咖啡店,感覺對了就進去坐坐吧!

音樂家容易有精神病?
研究顯示音樂家比常人更容易有精神疾病。 一項英國研究顯示,約有百分之六十五的音樂人都受憂鬱症所困擾,而百分之七十一的音樂人有焦慮和恐慌的情況。比較起來,音樂人罹患精神疾病的機率比一般人高出三倍。
 
本電子報著作權均屬「聯合線上公司」或授權「聯合線上公司」使用之合法權利人所有,
禁止未經授權轉載或節錄。若對電子報內容有任何疑問或要求轉載授權,請【
聯絡我們】。
  免費電子報 | 著作權聲明 | 隱私權聲明 | 聯絡我們
udnfamily : news | video | money | stars | health | reading | mobile | data | NBA TAIWAN | blog | shopping

沒有留言:

張貼留言