Classical Headlines for May 27, 2011

A few classical headlines and some things to do this holiday weekend. Leave a comment and let us know what you're up to this weekend!

Video Game Art – Cory Arcangel’s Solo Show at the Whitney

Cory Arcangel’s “Pro Tools,â€? a much anticipated video game inspired exhibit, opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art this week. Arcangel, a Classical guitarist turned music technology geek, made a splash at the 2004 Whitney Biennial with “Super Mario Clouds v2k3â€? – yet another appropriation of video game art. We’re still collecting your comments and tweets about the questions we posed on the topic of classical music and video game art on our post about video game music from earlier this week. Leave a comment and let us know what your favorite video game scores are and if you think this music has a place in the concert hall.

Asian Festival At Franklin Park Conservatory

The annual Columbus Asian Festival featuring classical and folk music, dance and contemporary arts performances and workshops takes place this weekend (May 28 and 29) at Franklin Park Conservatory. Don’t miss: Oanh Nguyen on the đàn tranh (the Vietnamese zither), Julius Carrasco on Spanish classical guitar, the Pittsburgh Ensemble Nippon (Japan) with flutist Takeaki Miyamae and Nicole Charles and pianist Chiseko Hayakawa, and the Cleveland Chinese Music Ensemble with vocalist Xue "Snow" Yu.

Three New Ballets Premier at the Metropolitan Opera House

The New York Times has a review of a recent American Ballet Theater performance of new works by some of modern ballet’s most in-demand and edgy choreographers. Alexei Ratmansky’s Dumbarton, which is set to Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat (“Dumbarton Oaksâ€?), broke with the classic gender rules of heterosexual ballet, while Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions did the chic opposite. In Benjamin Millepied’s Troika, the cellist played selections by Johann Sebastian Bach on stage with the the three male soloists.

New York City Opera Under Fire for Unfair Labor Practices

The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the union that represents the singers, dancers, stage mangers and directors at New York City Opera, filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over the NYC Opera's refusal to negotiate a recent decision to cut staff, shrink the performance schedule and move the opera from its 45 year home at Lincoln Center.