Condoleezza Rice plays piano and Aretha Franklin sings at the Mann Centre in Philadelphia last night as they raised money for urban children. Photograph: Bill Mccay/Bill McCay/WireImage.com It was an unlikely pairing. Stage left, Condoleezza Rice, the former Republican darling, a classically trained pianist and academic perhaps better known as George Bush’s enforcer. Stage right, [...]

Not a concert, but a pantomime … the Doctor Who Prom. Photograph: Ian West/PA One has to feel a little sorry for the musicians at Prom 10 – the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Foster and Grant Llewellyn, and the London Philharmonic Choir, plus solo singers Mark Chambers and Yamit Mamo. For [...]

Death by cuts … the UK Film Council backed films such as Gosford Park It was nothing short of a hammer blow. This morning, word came through of John Woodward’s email to UK Film Council staff informing them that the government was planning to shut them down. Then the Department for Culture, Media and Sport [...]