Today’s Stories
English Music? Why Do We Think Of It As Nostalgic?
Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the UK has suffered a collective breakdown over national identity and our relationship to Europe, and it should perhaps be no surprise to see the 48/52 divide reflected in our musical tastes. – The Guardian
Berlin’s Biggest Art Fair Is Canceled
Berlin’s most prominent art fair evolved out of its previous iteration, Art Berlin Contemporary, and was held for the past three years in the historic Tempelhof airport each September, showing mostly contemporary art. But the fair’s owner which also runs Art Cologne, has decided after months of discussions that the conditions in Berlin are too unpredictable for its liking. – Artnet
Is A Banana And Duct Tape Art? Maybe That’s The Wrong Question
If you don’t like something that’s presented as art, if you think it’s offensive or stupid, go ahead and say it’s offensive and stupid. I’m an art critic, I will be right there with you. But to say simply that it’s not art is, for me, a cop-out. – Washington Post
The Limits Of Truth
There is a real risk that scientific fact will eventually be reduced to just another opinion, even when those facts describe natural phenomena—the very purpose for which science was developed. – The Scientist
The Importance Of Stalin Jokes
“By the 1980s, Soviet political jokes had become so widely enjoyed that even the US president Ronald Reagan loved to collect and retell them. But, 50 years earlier, under Stalin’s paranoid and brutal reign, why would ordinary Soviet people share jokes ridiculing their leaders and the Soviet system if they ran the risk of the NKVD (state security) breaking down the door to their apartment and tearing them away from their families, perhaps never to return? … And yet, countless diaries, memoirs and even the state’s own archives reveal that people [did].” – Aeon
Founders Of Chicago Theatre Leave. Theatre Erases History Of Their Involvement
“They indicated that they didn’t want to be associated with the theater any longer after they had departed, so we did that.” When I asked if they said they wanted to be excised from its history, he said, “We interpreted it in that fashion.” – Chicago Reader
The Feedback Loop Of Notoriety: How ‘Punk Organist’ Cameron Carpenter Ran Aground
Just a few years ago, he was getting intrigued, often admiring press for his rocker persona, uninhibited commentary, and astonishing technical skills. (Video of his manically flying feet at the pedalboard made him something of a YouTube star.) And he’d spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (and gone into debt) developing his Virtual Touring Organ, the electronic instrument to end all electronic instruments. Then, in 2014, Sony Masterworks released a documentary about him that became, frankly, a disaster. – Van
San Francisco Opera’s Hiring Of Eun Sun Kim As Music Director “Historic”
Kim’s appointment doesn’t just bring a musician of obvious artistry and interpersonal gifts to the company. The hiring of an Asian woman is also a historic advance for diversity, a badly needed development in a field where white men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions. – San Francisco Chronicle
At What Point Does Memoir Become Biography And Biography Become History?
“[Biography] was once thought, as Michael Holroyd called it, ‘the shallow end of history’, unable to provide sufficient context and with a tendency to exaggerate the role of individuals in the passage of time. … Many a biographer still falls in love with his or her subject, making the hope of objectivity even dimmer than for conventional history. And arguably the whole conceit is flawed.” – History Today
How The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Balanced Its Budget
The chamber orchestra is known for its low ticket prices; half go for $15 or less. That’s partly thanks to two programs: With a Netflix-style membership, people can pay just $9 a month to attend unlimited concerts. And, since 2016, children and college students get in for free. About 19.8% of the nonprofit’s income in 2019 was “earned,” a category that includes ticket sales, down from 22.4% last year. About 62.8% of its income came from contributions from people, companies and foundations, up slightly. The other piece of the pie — $1.9 million this year — comes from the SPCO’s endowment. – The Star-Tribune (Mpls)
How Reese Witherspoon Remade Herself Into A Genuine Multimedia Mogul
“Tired of dreadful scripts and degrading magazine spreads, the Oscar-winning actress, producer, entrepreneur and activist built an empire on her own taste and work ethic. Now she plots projects all over Hollywood and responds to critics of her paychecks: ‘Does it bother people when Kobe Bryant or LeBron James make their contract?'” – The Hollywood Reporter
Should Arts Organizations Program For The Election?
Many think there’s a separation of politics and art. But simply ignoring elections seems an abdication of responsibility. There are ways to think about how to address elections if you’re an artist. – Clyde Fitch Report
At The Jacob’s Pillow Gala This Summer, One Patron Was Subjected To Humiliating Racist Treatment By Some Other Patrons. Here’s How The Director Handled It.
“After hearing about this, I couldn’t stay silent. I wrote an op-ed for our regional paper, The Berkshire Eagle, describing how Jacob’s Pillow, like many cultural institutions, is working to create a climate of inclusiveness. ‘We can diversify the artists … we celebrate onstage, the dancers we teach in our school, and the representation of people of color on our board and staff,’ I wrote. ‘What can we do to evolve our audiences so that our institution is truly inclusive?” I invited readers to share their thoughts.” Pamela Tatge writes about what has happened as a result. – Dance Magazine
Arkansas Repertory Theatre Went Dark Last Year. Now It’s Come Back From The Dead.
“The theatre, which has a current operating budget of $4.5 million, stopped producing last year to focus on tackling its [$2.6 million in] debts … As they planned to reopen, … the board focused on three elements that make the Rep ‘sacred,’ and that were a must for future sustainability: being affordable to attract audiences, producing relevant shows, and maintaining professional status [as an Equity house].” – American Theatre
How Reading Has Changed In The 2010s
“For a while we were told that books were going to be a thing of the past. A new century had dawned, our lives were being digitised and surely there was no longer any reason to lug the pressed pulp of dead trees around. And yet, over the past decade, it seems clear that the death of the book has been greatly exaggerated.” – BBC
Premium Classifieds
Boston Landmarks Orchestra Seeks Executive Director
Boston Landmarks Orchestra seeks an inspiring leader to advance the Orchestra’s mission of building community through innovative, free classical musical programming, accessibility and inclusiveness. … [Read More...]
Call for Applications: Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Florida State University (FSU)
Are you passionate about the arts? Are you in search of a career full of meaning and opportunity? If so, have you considered a career in Arts Administration? The MA program in Arts … [Read More...]
Associate Director, Getty Foundation
The Getty Foundation is looking for an internationally recognized Associate Director professional, who is a demonstrated leader in academic art history, museum practice, or conservation. … [Read More...]
Managing Director/Associate Dean
Managing Director/Associate Dean– Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre (YSD/YRT) seek a dynamic, visionary collaborator to serve as Managing Director and Associate Dean and teach courses as … [Read More...]
Seeking Principal Ballet Instructor
The Ballet Academy at Suzanne’s School of Dance, located in College Station, TX is seeking a Principal Ballet Instructor beginning August 2020. The Ballet Academy is a pre-professional Ballet … [Read More...]
What Classical And Jazz Concerts Offer That We Need So Badly These Days
Howard Reich: “Step into Orchestra Hall or the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Carnegie Hall or the Village Vanguard in Manhattan, Palais Garnier or Duc des Lombard in Paris, and you are entering sacred spaces where listeners seek something other than noise and sensation. … This means everyone in the audience must do something that increasingly is becoming a rarity: keep quiet and listen. Our individual voices, our opinions, our fervently held beliefs, our prejudices are not to be voiced here, at least not until concert’s end.” – Chicago Tribune
World’s Oldest Paintings Of Figures — 44,000 Years Old — Discovered In Indonesia
“The 4.5-metre-long panel … seems to depict wild pigs found on Sulawesi and a species of small-bodied buffalo, called an anoa. These appear alongside smaller figures that look human but also have animal traits such as tails and snouts.” – Nature
A ‘Byzantine Pompeii’, Discovered By, And Now Threatened By, Subway Construction
“At stake [in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city,] is not one building or artefact but the entire central junction of the city as it existed in late Roman times: a covered, colonnaded space where carriages once rattled past, and copper-smiths, jewellers and silk-merchants did a roaring trade.” – The Economist
David Bellamy, Naturalist, Television Host, And Environmentalist, Dead At 86
“Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the BBC’s ‘Bouncing Botanist’ was a television regular, leaping over ‘wocky pwotuberwances’, enthusing over ‘twee pherns’ or plunging his hands lovingly into evil-looking sludge to declare it a ‘bweeding gwound for amazing organisms’. … [He] did for botany and ecology what David Attenborough did for biology.” In later life, though, a series of very controversial statements brought him into serious conflict with mainstream environmentalists. – The Telegraph (UK)
Canadian Literary Juries Struggle With Balance Between Politics And Art
“(Literature) should not be reduced to politics, obviously, because human experience is more than politics. But also, human experience is never without politics.” – Toronto Star
How The New Irish National Opera Has Helped Irish Opera
More Irish singers are being heard in more varied roles than at any other stage in my professional lifetime. Irish works are being taken abroad. The company has been rewarded with international awards and award nominations. – Irish Times
Netflix Says 26 Million Watched “The Irishman” In Its First Week
“The Irishman,” released on Netflix on Nov. 27, is expected to be watched by about 40 million Netflix households in its first month, Sarandos said. That would be well below other Netflix hits, such as the science-fiction thriller “Bird Box,” that drew 80 million households during its first four weeks. – Los Angeles Times
The Wonder Of Merce Cunningham In 3D
We watch the dancers from close up and on all sides, our proximity enhanced by the magic of 3-D. The elegance of the cinematography (by Mko Malkhasyan) turns these passages into the stanzas of a visual poem. – The New Yorker
Hungarian Government Plans More Control Over Theatres
“This proposal would eliminate cultural diversity, which stems from freedom — which means artists are not kept on a political leash,” Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony said. The Hungarian Theatre Society also issued a statement saying the plan would curtail artistic freedoms in an unacceptable way. – Reuters
Theme Park Workers File Suit Against Disney Over Low Wages: “We’re Living In Cars!”
A new class action lawsuit, filed Friday in California Superior Court and announced in a press advisory Monday, argues that the Walt Disney Company, worth approximately $130 billion as of this year, failed to pay hundreds of those workers a living wage. The complaint was filed by five Disney employees on behalf of more than 400 hospitality workers. – The Daily Beast