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  • University Musical Society seeks Vice President and Chief Development Officer.

    ZRG Aspen Leadership Group is proud to partner with University Musical Society in the search for a Vice President and Chief Development Officer.

    Reporting to the President, the Vice President and Chief Development Officer will be a key institutional leader and strategic partner to the UMS President, with the responsibility of designing and leading a comprehensive fundraising program that includes annual, major, planned, and endowment giving; foundation and corporate giving; and donor engagement. This leader must be fluent in the fundamentals of each area, excited to craft their own vision, strategy, and roadmap for the function, and able to align resources to deliver the plan.

    The VP/CDO will be responsible for a portfolio of key donors and prospects, and will actively direct and support the President, Board, and key staff members in fundraising efforts. Additionally, the VP/CDO will work closely with the President on the Nominating and Development Committees of the Board and in advancing the Campaign Council.

    The position requires broad and comprehensive experience, of both high-level strategic planning and management of practical day-to-day operations, strong interpersonal skills and the
    ability to build authentic relationships with key stakeholders. The VP/CDO will be responsible for helping shape, then translating UMS’s vision, strategy, and commitment to U-M, Ann Arbor, and Southeast Michigan into a clear and compelling fundraising strategy, with achievable goals and performance objectives.

    Now in its 148th season, UMS is admired across the country for its boundary-pushing roster of artists and its curious and supportive audiences, showcasing traditional performing art forms and contemporary artists in a variety of venues ranging in size from 200-3,500. Based on the campus of the University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor, UMS is one of the oldest performing arts presenters in the country, committed to its mission of connecting audiences with performing artists from around the world in uncommon and engaging experiences.

    UMS is an affiliated partner of the University of Michigan but remains an independent 501(c)3 arts presenter, enabling the organization to both complement and leverage the resources of a world-class university, while also serving as a public-facing cultural hub for the entire community. UMS is financially healthy with an endowment of more than $50M and an annual budget of approximately $11M. UMS contributes to a vibrant cultural community in Southeast Michigan by presenting approximately 60-75 music, dance, and theater performances and more than 100 free educational activities for K-12 students, educators, university students, families, adults, and cultural and ethnic communities each season.

    Currently, the University Musical Society and the University of Michigan are exploring the building of a new performing arts space on Ann Arbor’s central campus. The building will be a place where students and audience members get to immerse themselves, experience remarkable artistry, and develop their own creative process; where world-renowned artists can rehearse, perform, innovate, and teach; and where the community can gather, be enriched and entertained, and share in the power of the arts – together.

    UMS approaches its 150th season in Fall 2028 operating with vision and confidence, marked by strategic financial and philanthropic models that support its programming, personnel, and capital aspirations. Through its diverse programming and strategic investment of resources, UMS continues to be a cultural leader, both as a destination for artistic innovation and as a presenter of live performing arts activities that are increasingly available and accessible to all.

    A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience and a minimum of five years of experience in a significant role in development and fundraising for a nonprofit institution is required for this position. University Musical Society will consider candidates with a broad range of backgrounds. If you are excited about this role and feel that you can contribute to UMS, but your experience does not exactly align with every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply. All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter and résumé. Cover letters should be responsive to the mission of University Musical Society and the responsibilities and qualifications specified in the position prospectus.

    The target salary for this position is $200,000. University Musical Society and the University of Michigan offer a comprehensive package of benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a combined 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plan with employer contribution, and generous paid time off.

    UMS is committed to the inclusion of all qualified candidates. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, or participating in the selection process, please contact Marianna DiVietro at mariannadivietro@aspenleadershipgroup.com.

    To apply for this position, visit: https://apptrkr.com/7274518.

  • The Critics Hated It. You Didn’t.

    Good Morning,

    Critics savaged the Michael Jackson biopic. Audiences just made it the highest-grossing biopic ever (BBC). The gap between professional judgment and what people pay to see keeps widening — which makes the wistful essay on when being a critic was glamorous (The Ideas Letter) read less like nostalgia than an obituary. The Atlantic asks whether Duchamp wrecked modern art (The Atlantic). Critics have been debating it for decades.

    Meanwhile AI is running two experiments. The New Yorker traces a homogenized “AI design aesthetic” now swallowing the internet (The New Yorker). Yet the same technology is reviving Cajun French and other dying languages (The New York Times).

    So then a more analog question — how we relearn to read, since attention isn’t gone so much as out of practice (The Conversation).

    All of our stories are below.

    Doug

  • Sheriff Simon Leis Liked Art
    We know from our research that people love the arts. All kinds of people. Pretty much everyone—provided we talk about it in a way they recognize. I was reminded of this over the weekend when the news came of Simon Leis passing. There are a lot of creative touchpoints to his story. If you aren’t […]
  • Critics Might Have Hated The Michael Jackson Movie, But It’s Now The Highest-Grossing Biopic Of All Time

    The recently released Michael Jackson movie has overtaken Oppenheimer as the highest-grossing biopic of all time, after taking $977m (£739m) at the worldwide box office. – BBC

  • The AI Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over The Internet

    As Claude Design catches on among Anthropic users, a generic-design aesthetic is emerging that’s as noticeable as text-based A.I. tics such as overenthusiastic em-dash usage or “not X . . . but Y” constructions. – The New Yorker

  • Why You Need To Be A Better Reader

    Navigating today’s digital information landscape requires strong critical evaluation skills. Reading plays a central role in this process by serving not only as a means of acquiring information but also of distinguishing credible claims from misinformation. But only a specific kind of reading builds that capacity. The difference is between passive and active reading. – The Conversation

  • When Being A Critic Was Glamorous

    If you look at these people—literally look at photos or watch footage—you discover that they were either beautiful or charismatic, or both. They all appeared on television. Among fiction writers of that time, maybe Philip Roth had some of that swagger, quick wit, amused air, though he also had a professorial, sweater-wearing side.  – The Ideas Letter

  • Did Marcel Duchamp Wreck Modern Art?

    Duchamp left behind a legacy that people either love or loathe. He is known as the father of conceptual art, but his so-called ideas were mostly idle notions, provocations, speculations. Opinion divides on whether he snuffed out or emancipated art.  – The Atlantic

  • Restorers Discover How A Rembrandt Painting Was Altered

    Layers of overpaint have been removed from a 17th-century painting, confirming that it was painted by Rembrandt and revealing that a turban on one of the figures had been replaced with a traditional Dutch soft cap. – The Guardian

  • How Do We Learn To Read Books Again?

    I don’t necessarily believe that reading books is going to automatically fix everything in your life or anything. I do think, however, it is kind of a panacea for a lot of the ills and a lot of the struggles that we’ve brought into our life through these tech platforms. – The Atlantic

  • Why Are GenZers Flocking To Movie Theatres To Watch Reality TV?

    Where binge-watching reality TV used to happen in the secret and safety of your own home, the popularity of “Love Island USA,” and shows like it, are redefining community for millions of viewers. – Washington Post

  • Higher Ed Has Lost Public Trust. What To Do?

    The reports differ in their diagnoses of where higher education went wrong and, by extension, of what should be done now. But their mere existence proves, if nothing else, that America’s universities have finally gotten the message: People don’t like them very much. – The Atlantic

  • How AI Is Reviving Dying Languages

    Over the months, as the learning language model is trained on bits of the language — such as an old-age French nursery rhyme — it brings centuries-old dialect closer into the digital age. – The New York Times

  • American Playwrights Are Meeting The Times, But Are Audiences?

    “These writers aren’t on a sociological mission. They’re not trafficking in grievance or appealing to a particular political base. They let their plays do the talking. And they’ve been trying to have a conversation that isn’t hijacked by the most doctrinaire voices in the room.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)

  • What Bookmobiles Mean To Kids

    “My reading journey began with a story that stretched more than 5,000 miles away, from Denmark to Alabama. While my siblings searched for new books, I always checked out the same one: The Marsh Crone’s Brew.” – LitHub

  • Oh Studios, Why Must You Undermine Women-Led Superhero Movies?

    “With DC’s slate wiped clean, the studio had the chance to swing bigger with a woman-led movie than it ever has before — to make something so confident and audacious that, by the nature of its existence alone, it could be unimpeachable in a sea of superhero sameness.” – Salon

  • How Theatre Etiquette Is Changing

    One actor: “We’re used to it at this point, you know, people just munching away on popcorn, ripping open candy in very tense moments. … If something is making you want to talk to us, we’re not afraid of it. We’ve got it under control up here.” – CBC

  • An Aboriginal Artist Reclaims The Ocean

    Dharug artist Billy Bain: “You know, the beach was and still is an Aboriginal space, but in popular culture it has been represented as a very white space.” Bain has set out to change that. – The Guardian (UK)

  • Writing The Most Realistic, And Most Optimistic, Heterosexual Marriage On TV

    First, Tina Fey wrote Liz Lemon, whose character was “heteropessimistic.” But in Four Seasons, she writes (and plays) a member of “an emotionally grounded romance that captures both the rewards of a successful, decades-long marriage and the challenges of maintaining one.” – The New Yorker

  • What Should Music Festivals Do To Make The Experience Better For Neurodivergent Fans?

    In the UK, “The Culture, Media and Sport Committee released guidelines earlier this year setting out ways for disabled people to feel more included at live music events.” – BBC

  • Some People Hate Horror Movies While The Rest Of Us Can’t Get Enough

    “A horror film builds a safe enclosure where we can rehearse terror, chaos and helplessness with no adverse consequences. … But the body can’t always tell the rehearsal from the real thing.” – The Guardian (UK)

  • A Montreal Chemical Lab Is Planning To Close, Leaving Analog Film In Limbo

    The MELS post-production studio “is closing a Quebec facility that houses one of North America’s only laboratories capable of developing film for professional productions.” – CBC

  • We’re Almost Halfway Through 2026, And Here Are The Five Top Onscreen Moments So Far

    To be fair, a lot of good movies and shows come out in the latter, awards-chasing half of the year, but still, here are “subtle, surreal moments that highlight a character’s fears and insecurities.” – The New York Times

  • How Domestic Novels Became So Epic

    “What can a novel about contemporary domestic life possibly add to our knowledge? If familiarity breeds contempt, what could be more familiar than the home, with its sisyphean routines and demands?” Just ask Ducks, Newburyport. – The Guardian (UK)

  • Jerry Moriarty, Painter Of Comics, Has Died At 88

    “‘It’s as if Edward Hopper had taken up songwriting,’ the comic artist Chris Ware wrote in The Believer magazine in 2009. ‘For lack of a better word, it’s poetry.’” – The New York Times

  • Turning Hugh Jackman Into Grizzled Old Robin Hood Required A Coat That Weighed 200 Pounds

    “Because the cape and costumes were so rough, and the weather, the hair would start to get tangled a lot. … I was in every single take behind Hugh, brushing [the hair] out, re-braiding to hold it in place to keep some of the texture – Variety

  • Trading Manhattan Art Meet-Ups For A Farm, And A Huge Studio As Well

    Uman: “I love working on the floor. I start with a mood, a color, and I determine the size of the canvas or linen. … I always wanted the color to go straight onto the canvas, and that will probably be a problem for restorers in the future.” – The New York Times

  • Ad-Free Streaming Has Become A Luxury Good

    Remember the halcyon days of watching shows without ads? How great that streaming moment was? Well … it’s over. Mostly over. Apple is one holdout … for now. – The Verge

  • One Hundred Reasons To Love Mel Brooks On His 100th Birthday

    “At 9 he saw his first Broadway show, Anything Goes, with the Broadway belter Ethel Merman, which explains everything.” – The New York Times

  • Despite Challenges And Bans, It’s A Golden Age For Queer Literature

    A bookstore owner writes, “Queer literature has become one of the growth engines of the publishing industry. L.G.B.T.Q. fiction has never been more visible, more varied or better promoted.” Happy Pride! – The New York Times

  • The Artists Who Painted Early Hollywood Into Existence

    “‘In general, at the studios, they systematized the production design, so that it was fast,’ Kanjo said, describing the rigid process as militaristic. ‘Five artists at a time work day after day to get these things done.’” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)

  • Dave Eggers Says If We Use AI The Wrong Way Humanity Is Cooked

    “You’re one of one. … You’re unprecedented in the entire line of human history. Only you have your brain. Only you can think of what you can think of. Only you can tell a story in a particular way. Why would you cede that to a machine?” – The Guardian (UK)

  • The Collapse Of The Limited Series

    “Why do these shows feel so minor this year? Are we in a limited-series slump, or are viewers looking for a different storytelling vehicle in 2026?” – Vulture

  • Universal Decides Skip The Influencers And Take The Odyssey Directly To Remaining Professional Movie Critics

    “While it should be noted that any number of TikTok and YouTube content creators will still get to see the film ahead of its release along with the press, the decision to not directly court their buzz has proved widely popular—not least with the film critics themselves.” – Wired

  • If You’re A George Washington Reenactor, This Is A Very Busy Year

    One man “retired a year ago from his ‘regular job’ at an alternative energy company and is reenacting full time these days, while the heightened interest lasts. He and his horse recently set a personal best with three separate events in one weekend.” – NPR