World renowned tattoo artist Paul Booth has teamed up with www.MusicSkins.com to bring fans tons of new ways to personalize their cell phones, laptops, iPods, Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars and more! Select pieces of his frightening and provocative artwork which are now available as removable vinyl decals for a huge number of personal devices! Check out http://darkimages.com/merchandise/music-skins.html for Paul’s entire MusicSkins collection.

“Mother”, “The Fibonacci Worm,” “Icarus Syndrome,” and “Given A Choice,” are just some of the many pieces of Booth’s art fans can choose from.

Booth commented on the new skins: “I’m really excited to be able to deliver some of my favorite pieces of art to my fans on such a personal level as their cell phones and iPods! I really like the fact that MusicSkins has made these skins removable, so when you are tired of disturbing your friends with one image, you can swap it with another. There just isn’t enough, if any, Dark Art available out there to personalize these necessary devices, so I am that much happier to be able to provide some of my own!”

Just a couple months ago, the Plain Dealer reassigned Donald Rosenberg, who had been reviewing the Cleveland Orchestra for 16 years. It wasn't a move that went unnoticed, as a former freelance Zachary Lewis took over in coverage of the orchestra.

Rosenberg makes the accusation in his lawsuit that he was removed from the beat because of his critical coverage of the Orchestra's conductor, Franz Welser-Möst. The lawsuit also says that the orchestra lobbied to get him reassigned and that the Plain Dealer breached its commitment to independence by caving into outside pressure. Another issue of contention for Rosenberg is his age (56). He said that he was discriminated against because of his age.

Rosenburg is seeking more than $50,000 in damages in county court, but stopped short of asking for a return to covering the orchestra.

He was reassigned in September after covering the orchestra for 16 years, causing a stir in the arts community across the nation. While the Music Critics Association of North America called for the paper to reinstate him, others believe the move was long overdue, stating that Rosenberg had been blinded by his hatred of Welser-Möst which came through in his reviews.

The phenomenal Mitsuko Uchida leads The Cleveland Orchestra from the keyboard to perform two magnificent Mozart Piano Concertos—Nos. 23 and 24.

Mitsuko Uchida “is one of the rare pianists able to transport her listeners to a musical paradise." —Detroit Free Press.

LISZT The Black Gondola (“La lugubre gondola”)
(arranged for orchestra by John Adams)
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
The Cleveland Orchestra
Mitsuko Uchida, conductor and piano
Jayce Ogren, conductor

Come early for the FREE Concert Preview, “Romanticism: Seeds & Flowers,” given by Rose Breckenridge, Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups administrator-lecturer. The Concert Preview begins at 7 p.m. each evening.

DiNG announces the addition of tattoo artwork to its already extensive, and world’s largest catalog of music related art on WWW.DiNGLIFE.COM A DiNG is a custom-fit, full color, device-specific decal, that is easily applied to over 100 devices including cell phones, MP3 players, laptops, gaming systems and controllers.

DiNG’s launch today boasts an impressive roster of tattoo artists: Brother Greg, Adam Turk, Durb Morrison, Dan Smith and many others.

DiNG tattoo art ranges in style from the bold lines of Traditional Americana, to careful brush strokes of Japanese art. Mediums include; oil paintings, watercolors, colored art pencils, pen and ink, computer graphics, and more.

“This expansion allows us to offer these unique styles and designs from a talented group of artists” say’s DiNG CEO, John Oakes. “Tattoo’s are no longer exclusive to your body.”

Visit the tattoo section on DiNG’s website for a brief bio on each tattoo artist. Find contact information including links to their personal website, social networking pages, as well as their home tattoo shop.

As personal as your tattoo is, so should be your DiNG. Check out the new tattoo art lines now available on WWW.DiNGLIFE.COM

Experience the sheer beauty of sound and grandeur of design of Bruckner’s 8th Symphony this week at Severance Hall. Herbert Blomstedt leads The Cleveland Orchestra in one of the most majestic, mysteriously beautiful, angelic, and mystically profound symphonies ever composed.

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8
The Cleveland Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Come early for a FREE Concert Preview, beginning at 7 p.m. and given by Stephen Hefling, professor of music at Case Western Reserve University.

Thursday, November 20 at 8 p.m.
Friday, November 21 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 22 at 8 p.m.

Looking for a unique gift idea for a tequila lover in your family? 1800 Essential has what would be a great stocking stuffer for your family to enjoy around the Holiday Season and the bottle will be a keepsake that you can treasure the memories you made while enjoying the fine contents in the bottle.

1800 Essential Artists has commissioned the fine works of 8 hot urban artists throughout the country to design keepsake bottles. The renderings are magnificent that are colorful and really standout. Only 1800 of each bottle has been made in the collection so you better hurry if you see one you desire.

We tested the product recently and here is what the users said about the premium alcoholic beverage. For more information on ordering the product, you can visit 1800 Tequila's website.

Tim George, an Ohio native and a famous Etch-A-Sketch artist, unveiled the highly anticipated sketch of President-Elect Barack Obama on election night. George's latest rendering will join 43 other presidential Etch-A-Sketch renderings at a special exhibit that will be displayed at the Ohio Statehouse.

Ahead of the election results, George prepared two renderings - one of Barack Obama and another of John McCain. Since Obama won the election and McCain conceded, the Obama sketch will be added to the historical collection, which includes the 43 other US Presidents, as well as drawings of the White House, US Capitol Building, Lady Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Jefferson Memorial, Independence Hall, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Ohio Statehouse.

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Although finally admitting publicly to her romance with Samantha Ronson must have been a weight off her shoulders, Lindsay Lohan now has much bigger things to worry about - namely the fact that she's been subjected to a number of abusive threats which have been delivered to three of her Californian addresses.

The messages are bad enough to have necessitated a police guard around the actress at all times, and have been described as "Biblical", although to be honest we're not sure what that exactly means. Perhaps it has something to do with her father, Michael Lohan, former addict turned media whore Bible thumper who publicly lambasts his daughter over her homosexual relationship with Ronson. Who knows.

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in a program featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at Severance Hall on Sunday, October 12, at 3:00 p.m.

The program begins with Jacques Ibert’s Escales (“Ports of Call”). Next on the program are four of Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances from Opus 46. After intermission, the program concludes with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67.

The San Fransisco Chronicle published a scathing rebuke on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's demotion of Donald Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who had covered the Cleveland Orchestra for the paper for 16 years, has been a harsh critic of Franz Welser-Möst since his installment as music director at the esteemed organization in 2002. Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg demoted him in place of Zachary Lewis for the 2008-2009 season.

Joshua Kosman of the Chronicle wrote yesterday:

In September, he was summoned into the office of editor Susan Goldberg and told that he would no longer be covering orchestra concerts for the Plain Dealer. Rosenberg wasn't fired, mind you - they're keeping him around to cover other musical events - but responsibility for reviewing the city's main cultural institution has been transferred to a former freelancer, Zachary Lewis.

There are a number of ways you could describe a development like that. The most concise would be "disgraceful."

In a single step, Goldberg - who until last year was executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News - has announced to the world that honest discussion of Cleveland's musical life is no longer welcome in her pages. From here on out, the Plain Dealer is best understood not as a newspaper but as a fanzine.