AJ Four Ways:
Text Only (by date) | headlines only
- Andrew Joslyn talks about the unique impact of relevant programming for orchestras
Andrew Joslyn, Associate Director of Popular Programming at the Seattle Symphony, shares the unique impact of relevant programming in building community.
- Name removal: approved. Budget: still pending.
Good Morning,
The Kennedy Center found time this week to order Trump’s name scrubbed from every email signature, voicemail, and letterhead (Politico) — but still hasn’t approved the National Symphony’s budget, leaving the orchestra unable to book venues, announce a season, or sell subscriptions (The Washington Post). An institution that can manage symbolism but not operations is telling you what it’s actually for. What to do with the Kennedy Center? I explore some ideas in Diacritical.
Elsewhere, the people institutions serve keep doing institutions’ job for them. Arkansas viewers raised the dues themselves to keep PBS in the state, and officials backed down from their destructive notions (Arkansas Advocate). SAG-AFTRA actors ratified a contract whose centerpiece is protection against synthetic performers. The workforce is writing its own AI policy because nobody else is doing it (AP). And the music business, per one sharp analysis, doesn’t have a streaming problem, it has plenty of superfans but no infrastructure for treating them as customers (Music Business Worldwide).
Meanwhile, the people best positioned to spot AI prose — literary editors — may be the worst equipped to do it, because they’ve read so little of it and don’t recognize the stylistic tics (London Review of Books).
Finally, the West End gets its first phone-ban production, sealed pouches and all (The Guardian). Progress like it’s 2007.
Doug
- Meet One Of The American Revolution’s Leading Composers, William Billings
The self-taught composer, who lived in Boston during the revolution years, published six books of music, with over 340 choral works. In addition to the Psalm settings and fuguing tunes he’s remembered for today, he wrote what may be America’s first protest song — in response to the Boston Massacre of 1770. – The Conversation
- YouTubers Invade This Summer’s Movie Theatre Screens
- Lucinda Childs On How She Keeps Her Working Pace After More Than 50 Years
“I just feel fortunate. I’m still running around and everybody keeps reminding me that I’m 85. I don’t think about that so much. I do work every day. I work out every day. … It’s the first thing I do and that sort of keeps me together physically.” – The Brooklyn Rail
- Good AI? Model Proposes Thousands Of Designs, Test Them, Then Adapts
The AI model proposed study designs, and robots carried them out and fed the data back to the model for the next round. Humans set the goal, and the machines did much of the work in the lab, cutting the cost of producing a desired protein by 40 percent. – Singularity Hub
- Lessons From The Enhanced Games
Trying to break world records remains a high-risk, high-reward strategy for Enhanced. The event proved that breaking records is incredibly difficult, even with PEDs and technological enhancements such as swimming supersuits, both banned in traditional sport. – The Conversation
- If You Don’t Use AI It’s Tough To Spot AI
One of the problems with AI use seeping out of business and science writing and into the ‘literary’ world is that literary editors may be the worst equipped to identify AI writing. – London Review of Books
- London’s West End To Get First-Ever Production With Audience Phone Ban
The show is the Broadway transfer of Bess Wohl’s play Liberation, which won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama (and may win a Tony this Sunday). Audience members were required to put their phones in sealed pouches so nobody would film nude scenes, and producers intend to maintain that requirement in London. – The Guardian
- Bari Weiss May Have Killed Television’s Most Successful Show Ever
“I don’t know Bari Weiss’ motivations, but it’s hard to imagine that you would create so much turmoil in such a profitable show if what you really cared about was the bottom line.” – The Wrap (MSN)
- Criticism In The Age Of AI: It’s Superfluous
The early parts of the story of how the humanities turned against “the human” are well told in two intellectual histories. – Hedgehog Review
- The Japanese Dancers Who Have Chosen To Work In Russia
“I love Russian ballet and always wanted to become a dancer, but there is no national ballet school in Japan, so I chose Russia,” says his compatriot Haruka Takemi, 20, who has lived in Russia for six years. – AFP (MSN)
- Archaeologists Are Discovering Centuries’ Worth Of Paris History Underneath Notre-Dame
“Among the hundreds of objects already found: a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered — like a modern Da Vinci Code.” – AP
- The Man Now Making Movie Decisions For Netflix
Dan Lin’s instructions at Netflix are to spend less money on fewer, better movies. – The New York Times
- The Music Industry’s Music Streaming Problem
The industry is not short of superfans. It never has been. It is short of the infrastructure and the will to treat them as customers. – Music Business Worldwide
- There’s A Big Need For Creative Talent In The Age Of AI
Our survey found that 79% of Americans believe that cities investing in colleges dedicated to the creative industry will be more successful economically in the future than those that do not. – Fast Company
- Literary Arts Fund Awards Its First-Ever Grants — $7.7 Million Worth
“Among 40 organizations in 19 states, (the) recipients of grants ranging from $40,000 to $500,000 include the National Book Foundation, which oversees the National Book Awards; the North Carolina Writers’ Network; Graywolf Press, Copper Canyon Press and other publishers; and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.” – AP
- Miami’s Bass Museum Of Art Creates New Artistic Director Position, Hires Philippe Vergne
“Philippe Vergne, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Dia Art Foundation in New York, has been named to the newly created position of Artistic Director and Chief Curator and will work alongside Executive Director Silvia Karman Cubiña … as her ‘thought partner’.” – The Miami Herald (MSN)
- Veteran Character Actor James Hardy Stabbed To Death
“The 81-year-old actor was found in the front yard of his home in Tarzana, California, at 9.30am on Wednesday. … He was unconscious and had multiple stab wounds to the chest. The actor’s girlfriend’s son, Michael Gledhill, 44, has been arrested and charged on suspicion of murder, with bail set at $2 million.” – The Guardian
- PBS In Arkansas Is Saved As Donations Reach Goal And Officials Back Down
“The state’s public television commission agreed Thursday to pay PBS dues and undo its effort to cut ties from the national network. Arkansas had been set to become the first state to cut off from PBS, but paused the move earlier this year following an outcry from donors and viewers.” – Arkansas Advocate
- Three Years After Crippling Strike, SAG-AFTRA Approves New Contract
“Television and movie actors on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to ratify a four-year contract with studios and streaming services, a month after their union leaders negotiated a deal they say provides protections against synthetic actors created by artificial intelligence.” – AP
- National Symphony Is Paralyzed Because Kennedy Center Still Hasn’t Approved Its Budget
The National Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming season is in jeopardy because the Kennedy Center has not approved its budget, according to officials familiar with the situation, depriving the ensemble of the money it needs to book venues and soloists, announce its season and sell subscriptions. – The Washington Post
- Kennedy Center Staff Told To Remove Trump’s Name From Everything
“(An internal) memo states staffers must immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents ‘to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center.’’ This also includes voicemails, social media accounts and press releases.” – Politico
- “What if JFK had not been assassinated? What would have been the impact on the American arts?”
- Venues In England Are Scared To Program South Asian Dance: Arts Council Report
Managers of smaller venues fear that they would lose too much money presenting unfamiliar performers in an unfamiliar genre, said the report, which also flags the lack of university- or conservatory-level training in South Asian classical dance forms in England. – Hyphen (UK)
- Gary Dunning
My introduction of Gary Dunning at New England Conservatory’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday May 17, 2026. He received an honorary degree.
Let me speak of Gary Dunning who has spent decades reminding Boston — and reminding this country, demonstrating — that the arts are not a luxury. They are a lifeline.
Gary Dunning has led one of Boston’s most admired cultural institutions for 15 years — first as president and executive director of the Celebrity Series of Boston, and most recently as the guiding force behind its transformation into Vivo Performing Arts.
By the way, this afternoon, I have something unusual… It’s annoying actually. I have — it’s rare — I have a split personality. Or, perhaps, there’s a Gary Dunning whisperer here? The guy’s aware, it seems, of all the artists that have been presented in Boston during Gary Dunning’s years here.
You bet I am. And I will just lead off with Andras Schiff (who played the piano right here on this stage), and Richard Goode (right here on this stage), and Isaak Perlman, and Renée Fleming, and…Fritz Kreisler, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Maria Callas…
OK, but wait a minute, those last three names — Rachmaninoff? — that must have been a long time before Gary Dunning arrived.
Where was I? I’m back, to tell you that before he was in Boston, Gary Dunning served as executive director of the American Ballet Theatre, the Houston Ballet, and New York’s Big Apple Circus. Decades of service to the arts. Decades of showing up for artists, for audiences — and for communities that often feel the stage isn’t for them.
Also, you know, in Boston, he presented Maurizio Pollini, and Deborah Voight, and David Sedaris, and Joshua Bell.
Ok. I believe it.
Under Gary Dunning’s leadership, the Celebrity Series launched the Debut Series, created Stave Sessions, that bring contemporary music to unexpected places. The Neighborhood Arts program was built, bringing free performances to many in this city.
And when Gary Dunning realized that his organization’s name was an obstacle to its mission — the word “celebrity” was getting in the way — he didn’t wait for someone else to fix it. He oversaw a complete rebranding, launching Vivo Performing Arts just this past January. That’s a mark of a leader: knowing when to build.
Any more from the whisperer?
Well, he presented Chick Correa, and Herbie Hancock, and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Yeah, ok. Gary Dunning’s done a lot. He led a capital campaign that tripled his organization’s net assets. He championed equity, and accessibility. He introduced more than 350 first-time featured acts — artists making debuts in Boston.
Gary Dunning said: “Whether on a stage or in a neighborhood park, live performance is what we do, and the place where creativity comes alive.”
Boston has been alive because of Gary Dunning. President Kalyn, it is my honor to present Gary Dunning for the honorary degree — Doctor of Music.
- A Frequent Book-Prize Juror Explains How These Awards Actually Work
Rebecca Makkai has judged six major awards in the past eight years (a pace she does not recommend), and she shares some things she’s learned that she thinks most people don’t realize. For instance, she explains, the process is both purer and more random than you’d guess. – SubMakk
- Pace Gallery Cuts 50 Artists, 50 Staff
“The whole art gallery art system became too big, too commercial, too impersonal and too corporate,” Marc Glimcher, the chief executive, said in an interview this week. – The New York Times
- Hollywood Is Using AI – Like It Or Not
The AI revolution in Hollywood is not just real, but taking form in tangible projects that people can now see. Whether it’s animated shorts, experimental theatrical projects or full-blown movies and shows, AI is showing that it can not only cut down on costs and production time, but push the boundaries of storytelling. – The Wrap (MSN)
- Chaos At 60 Minutes
If Bilton stays, as he presumably will, the organization will try to muddle its way forward, damaged and listing and leaking to the gossip columns. Meanwhile, no answers were forthcoming about why Weiss was so determined to burn “60 Minutes” down. – The Wrap (MSN)
- City Of Chicago Launches New Fund For Emerging Theater Companies
“The program, Next Stage Chicago, will provide a maximum of $50,000 to up to eight nonprofit theater companies that have been in business for at least three years but no more than 10.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- All 11 Edinburgh Festivals Propose A Common Ticket Platform
The festivals involved in the plan, including the main international festival, will soon invite bidders to investigate how to merge the ticketing operations and data of all 11 events, which in 2024 sold nearly 4m tickets in total. Others include the book festival and the film festival. – The Guardian
- Are The Arts Simply Incompatible With Right Wing Government?
A belief that what is good will be paid for by consumers, and that the state should stand back and play as small a part as possible. Applying this to the arts means that they are not a public good but instead a sector that should be shaped by market principles, competition, and measurable returns. – The Big Idea
- Japan Embraces ‘Zines
“I think print media is incredibly open. You can hand it to someone, you can read it together,” Obara says, calling mobile phones “very insular.” – Japan Times
- The Leading AI Music-Generation Company, Suno, Has More Than Doubled Its Market Value To $5.4 Billion
“The (latest) funding round” — a sale of stock which raised $400 million — “comes just six months after Suno previously announced a $250 million funding round that had valued the company at $2.45 billion.” – The Hollywood Reporter
