Classical composer, critic Benjamin Bar-Am dead at 89
Composer and music critic Benjamin Bar-Am died yesterday at 89. Born in Wiesbaden, Bar-Am immigrated to Palestine in 1936, and studied with composer Paul Ben-Haim before attending the Ecole Normale de Paris. He composed mostly vocal music, and taught musicology at Tel Aviv University. Bar-Am served as secretary general of the Israeli Composers League in the 1960s and ‘70s; he was also an influential music critic, writing for The Jerusalem Post for nearly 40 years. In 2003, after failing to find a budget for a performance of one of his compositions, he wrote an open letter to Limor Livnat, education minister at the time, lamenting the situation of Israel’s “artistic” music. (Haggai Hitron)
State to defend IBA’s failure to meet outside production quota
The state will respond tomorrow to a petition against an amendment that allows the Israel Broadcasting Authority to reneg on its full requirement to purchase outside productions. The petition was filed in the High Court of Justice by an umbrella group representing producers, directors and other filmmakers. The IBA spent only NIS 25 million on such productions last year, whereas it should have spent NIS 180 million, or 36 percent of its income on such productions. The court said it would allow the retroactive reduction to stand, but wanted the state to say what it would do in 2012, and recommended the parties meet to bridge differences. (Emilie Grunzweig)
Joshua Sobol play to open Theater Bonn season
Joshua Sobol’s play “Sinners” has been chosen to open the new season of the prestigious Theater Bonn next September. The play, first produced in Israel last June, is also being translated to Hungarian, and is expected to premiere in Budapest next year. “Sinners” tells of a tragic romance between a married woman and her student. The affair is exposed, the woman is convicted of adultery and the student is forced to collects rocks for her stoning. “This barbaric stone-age custom continues to exist today in various countries that are U.N members,” Sobol said. Sobol himself directed the Israeli version of the play. (Zipi Shohat)
Anti-drug group takes potshot at soft drug talk on ‘Big Brother’
Contestants on “Big Brother” who have discussed the use of illegal soft drugs must be disqualified and removed from the popular TV reality show, according to a letter by Israel Anti-Drug Authority chairman Yair Geller to the director of Keshet, a Channel 2 franchisee. Geller claimed that “several contestants ... discussed using drugs and alcohol ... If you value the law, it is important that you take unequivocal steps and disqualify these contestants.” The show’s producers said they vigorously oppose talk of drug use, and try to avoid airing such discussions on the channel. (Emilie Grunzweig)
