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- Robert Cole, Who Made Berkeley’s Cal Performances Into One Of America’s Leading Arts Presenters, Has Died At 95
During his tenure as director (1986-2009), Cal Performances developed longstanding partnerships with myriad performers and organizations, from Merce Cunningham to Mark Morris Dance Group, from Laurie Anderson to Robert Wilson to Robert Lepage, from Les Arts Florissants to Jordi Savall to Philip Glass to the Kronos Quartet. – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
- Banning Books Is Not Enough: One Florida County Questions Whether There Should Be School Libraries
The school board of Clay County (mostly suburbs of Jacksonville) has ordered an unusually large selection, even by Florida standards, of titles from its public school bookshelves. Now some of its members are debating “what would be a high-level function for that space” instead. (One official suggested school stores.) – WUSF (Tampa)
- Marlboro Music Festival At 75
“The most important thing about Marlboro, musicians say, is that it removes the pressure of performance. Ensembles are free to rehearse and study as long as they wish. … The outsize focus on study and exploration raises the question of whether Marlboro is, at heart, a festival or a school.” – The New York Times
- Scottish Ballet Cancels Week Of Edinburgh Performances Because Lodging There Is Too Expensive
The company, based in Glasgow, will cut short its December run of Cinders in Edinburgh, canceling Christmas-to-New Year’s week shows, because — especially with an upcoming 5% addition to the hotel tax — the cost of accommodation for up to 150 performers and crew is simply too high. – STV News (Scotland)
- Judge Approves $1.5 Billion Settlement Of Author/Publisher Lawsuit Against Anthropic
“A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot.” – AP
- The Next Director Of Britain’s Tate Galleries Will Be —
— Jessica Morgan, currently director of New York’s Dia Art Foundation. “Morgan will need to guide the organisation through a difficult financial landscape, raise poor staff morale and grapple with fluctuating visitor numbers.” – The Guardian
- Fired Trinity Wall Street Music Director Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Child Sexual Abuse Material
“Conductor and composer Julian Wachner has agreed to plead guilty to five counts of possession of child sex abuse material and to one count of possession of cocaine after he admitted to using cryptocurrency hundreds of times to buy (such imagery). … Wachner could be facing 10 years in prison.” – OperaWire
- The Dictator’s Paint Job Didn’t Hold
Good Morning,
For decades, Julio Escámez’s monumental mural in Chile was thought destroyed — Pinochet ordered it eliminated after the coup. Then conservators discovered it had only been painted over, and now it’s coming back into the light (Artnet). Worth remembering on a day when the wannabe censors are busy: both houses of Congress now have bills that would enable nationwide book bans in public schools (Publishers Weekly), and German broadcaster ZDF pulled an anti-fascist song by Igor Levit and Danger Dan — not on government orders, but out of caution (The Hollywood Reporter).
Meanwhile, follow the money and you get a snapshot of Hollywood’s values: Netflix disclosed it paid $587 million — cash — for Ben Affleck’s AI visual-effects startup (The Hollywood Reporter), while Disney is cutting several hundred creative jobs, with Pixar among the hardest hit (Deadline).
And a New York Times reporter joined ABT’s “Swan Lake” as a supernumerary, filing a dispatch from inside the sweat-and-velvet musk of the Met stage (The New York Times).
All of our stories below.
- Monumental Chilean Mural Painted Over By Pinochet Is Being Uncovered
Beginning and End, a 452-square-foot mural painted by Julio Escámez, was unveiled in 1972 by the Allende-aligned government of the city of Chillán, 250 miles south of Santiago. After Pinochet’s coup, he ordered the mural destroyed, and it was thought lost; in 2021, conservators discovered that it had been only painted over. – Artnet
- Disney Cutting Hundreds Of Creative Jobs
Disney is cutting several hundred positions, with Pixar and National Geographic among the divisions most affected by the move. – Deadline
- Many Theatregoers No Longer Know The Difference Between Previews And Post-Opening Night
“The distinction between a preview and an official opening night, once a universally understood boundary, has become increasingly blurred. In an era dominated by instant social media reaction, some no longer seem to realise there is a difference at all.” – WhatsOnStage (UK)
- Ten New Stadiums That Will Change The Form
- How $50 Million Could Make An Impact On American Literary Arts
Stabilizing a modest number of impactful, sustainable nonprofit literary organizations via large, annual gifts puts them in the best position to do what they do best—which is find great books to publish, support translations, and dream up new ways to reach readers—rather than having to spend so much time drumming up funding. – Publishing Perspectives
- Revisiting The Tortured History Of America’s Culture Wars
“One of the sad things about this story is that we did not emerge with a more active, permanent activist constituency for the arts in America. We got complacent and people were exhausted. – The Guardian
- What Leading Classics Scholars Have To Say About Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” Film
Both Emily Wilson, who published a widely acclaimed English translation of The Odyssey in 2017, and well-known professor/writer/editor Daniel Mendelsohn are glad the movie is out there and doing so well, and they praise a number of the film’s elements, but they each think Nolan missed something crucial in the original. – AP
- The Power Of Coffee Houses To Change History
It was debated whether coffeehouses were truly a place of creativity or frivolous laziness. Many resolved to leave the coffeehouse behind, as if it were a vice, and then failed to kick the habit. – Aeon
- How do We Define American Architecture?
Chicago, where the skyscraper was born, stood between the Western frontier of violence, timber, and gold and the banking capitals of the East Coast. It was at the center of a bridgeable world and the resources that flowed through it, requiring a degree of capital consolidation the likes of which had never been seen before. – The Nation
- Rethinking Dance Education
“The data shows that the majority of kids who enroll in dance will not pursue it as a career, and 90 percent will quit in their preteen years. There’s an opportunity for dance education to rethink its approach: How do we teach kids to love dance and the skin they’re in for all stages of life?” – Dance Teacher
- A New York Times Reporter Becomes A Supernumerary For ABT’s “Swan Lake”
“Being onstage, although well out of the spotlight, brought once-familiar sensations flooding back: the particular dry-mouth feel that comes from nerves and heavy lipstick, the sweat-and-velvet musk of the costumes. But nothing can quite prepare you for your first look into the Met audience — faceless and staggeringly vast.” – The New York Times
- Data: A Widening Gap In Financial Health Of Arts In American Cities
We found that as federal relief funding waned, the gap between the strongest- and weakest-performing cities widened sharply. – SMU Data Arts
- Sony Sues AI Music-Creator Udio Over Copyright Theft
Sony Music Entertainment has filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit against Udio, asserting 30,117 sound recordings it says the AI music company copied without permission to train its generative AI models. – Music Business Worldwide
- Clothing Fashion Turned Over To Algorithms
It monitors customers’ social media activity and internet searches, factors in Hailey Bieber’s latest outfits and spits out 300 styles a month made cheaply in China. After it reached $460 million in sales in 2025, one of its founders boasted to The Wall Street Journal, “We’re more like a data company than a fashion company.” – The New York Times
- German Public Broadcaster Canceled Performance Of “Anti-Fascist” Song By Igor Levit
“ZDF dropped plans to air ‘Keine Angst’ (‘No Fear’), the new song by rapper Danger Dan and classical (pianist) Igor Levit, in its weekly current affairs satire show Die Anstalt. The network said the song, which calls for Germans to take action against the far-right, could be interpreted as an ‘incitement to violence.’” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Netflix Paid Over Half A Billion Dollars — Cash — For Ben Affleck’s AI Startup
“Netflix disclosed in an SEC filing Friday that it paid $587 million for InterPositive, in cash. … InterPositive was formed in 2022 as (Affleck) began to explore the AI space, with a particular emphasis on upending visual effects without impacting the creative part of filmmaking.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Both Houses Of Congress Introduce Bill Allowing Nationwide Book Bans In Public Schools
“Senate Bill 4925, a partisan effort to control materials in public schools, … was introduced June 24 by Republican Senators. … Like its companion legislation, House Bill 7661, SB 4925 would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the use of federal funding for ‘sexually oriented material’ in public schools.” – Publishers Weekly
- UK’s Culture Secretary Will Stay On Under New Prime Minister
“Despite new Prime Minister Andy Burnham undergoing an extensive cabinet reshuffle, incumbent culture minister Lisa Nandy is set to remain in post. Nandy, who has been a member of Parliament since 2010 …, was appointed secretary of state for culture, media and sport by previous Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July 2024.” – Variety
- After Five Years In Prison And Nine Days Missing, Dissident Cuban Artist Arrives In US
“After over a week of ambiguity surrounding his whereabouts following his scheduled release from a five-year sentence for ‘contempt, defamation, and public disorder,’ Cuban dissident performance artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arrived in Miami on Saturday, July 18.” – Hyperallergic
- Lam Wing-Kee, Bookseller Who Became Hero Of Hong Kong Resistance, Has Died At 70
“Lam Wing-kee, a former Hong Kong bookseller who became a symbol of resistance to Beijing’s crackdown on speech freedom after he was seized by Chinese authorities in late 2015, has died in Taiwan. … Lam was one of five people affiliated with Causeway Bay Books who disappeared in late 2015.” – AP
- Here Are The Books All Students In Texas Schools Will Be Required To Read
“(The state) is doing something unusual, attempting to create a common canon of books that all students statewide will be required to read. The list was approved last month by the Republican-led Texas State Board of Education and is in the process of being finalized. It will take effect starting in 2030.” – The New York Times
- Chief Executive Officer, Organ Historical Society
The Organ Historical Society welcomes nominations and applications for the position of Chief Executive Officer, available in September 2026.
Organ Historical Society
www.organhistoricalsociety.orgNow celebrating the 70th Anniversary of its founding, the Organ Historical Society (OHS) enriches public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the pipe organ and its place in history and culture.
OHS began in 1956 with an impromptu meeting of young organ enthusiasts who shared an interest in locating historic pipe organs in New York City. Membership has since grown to include an international roster of musicians, organ builders, historians, scholars, and music lovers. The founders of OHS aspired to visit extant American “tracker” organs, create a comprehensive list with specifications, and share information with interested organ scholars. OHS has far exceeded this aspiration in the decades since and has created an online database of pipe organs with more than 60,000 entries; an historic organ citation program that has recognized more than 400 instruments; the world’s largest collection of pipe organ-related archives, books, journals, pamphlets, and other ephemera; publications including a quarterly journal and award-winning scholarly books on the pipe organ; and an online store with organ-related books, CDs, videos, and sheet music. Members and organ enthusiasts gather annually for conventions in cities across North America where they explore, study, and listen to the community’s most interesting historic instruments. OHS nurtures the next generation of organ performers, researchers, and builders through its annual E. Power Biggs Fellowship.
In 2017, with generous support from Wyncote Foundation, OHS moved its headquarters to Stoneleigh, a historic mansion in Villanova, Pennsylvania, located on a 40-acre property managed by the Natural Lands Trust. The OHS Library and Archives, a world-renowned research collection, is housed in state-of-the-art facilities at Stoneleigh. An historic Aeolian-Skinner organ, Opus 878, the centerpiece of the OHS headquarters building, allows OHS to present public performances as well.
OHS is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors. The Chief Executive Officer oversees a staff of eight full- and part-time employees. The OHS manages endowed funds of $4 million; the FY 26 operating budget is $700,000.
The Opportunity
The next Chief Executive Officer will take the helm of a healthy organization that is well-positioned for growth both organizationally and financially. The CEO will have the opportunity to build on the strength and success of existing OHS programs and lead the organization toward demonstrable strategic growth, institutional strengthening, and renewed membership engagement. The next CEO will expand OHS’s reach, deepen its impact, and ensure its long-term sustainability.
The Position
The Chief Executive Officer ensures that OHS realizes its vision, fulfills its mission, and achieves its goals for financial, organizational, and programmatic success. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the CEO is responsible and accountable for all aspects of OHS’s operations, including: strategic planning; program development and management; fundraising; membership development; member satisfaction; financial management; communications and marketing; publications; public relations; educational programs and activities; human resource management; community and local government relations; and advocacy.
Working closely with the Board of Directors, the CEO leads OHS’s strategic planning process to clarify priorities, align programs with member values, and ensure that resources are used wisely and effectively. The CEO works with the Board to refine governance practices to ensure that OHS’s structure supports its mission, strategic goals, and future growth. The CEO ensures effective communication across all channels, especially with OHS’s membership, to maintain a strong public relations and media presence across multiple platforms. The CEO recruits, motivates, mentors, and evaluates an effective professional staff within a culture of accountability, responsiveness, and collaboration.
The CEO serves as the chief fundraiser for OHS. The CEO develops and implements multi-year fundraising strategies designed to increase annual giving, develop special project support, and achieve significant expansion of OHS’s endowment. Working with the Board of Directors, the CEO leads efforts to identify, cultivate, solicit, and provide excellent stewardship of gifts from individuals, government, and private foundations.
The CEO develops and implements a plan to increase and diversify OHS’s membership to include opportunities for organ professionals and enthusiasts of all ages from their student days, throughout their careers, and on through retirement. The CEO leads the development of a revitalized educational program at Stoneleigh and in partnership with schools, universities, and cultural institutions throughout North America. The CEO develops professional convenings and national conferences that engage members and provide valuable professional growth opportunities for all participants.
The CEO of OHS is an active participant in the Villanova and greater Philadelphia arts, culture, and conservation community, representing OHS and encouraging interest and support from local residents.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will be a proven leader with the ability to embrace and articulate the vision, mission, and goals of the Organ Historical Society with clarity and conviction. The successful candidate will have a good working knowledge of music and musical instruments, and enthusiasm for learning about the history and development of the pipe organ. Experience as an organ builder or an organist, while not required, will be seen as an asset, as will successful experience leading a nonprofit membership organization.
The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with the vision to chart future directions, recognize opportunities, forge consensus, and harness the energies of diverse constituencies to accomplish common goals. The candidate will be a good listener with excellent interpersonal skills. The candidate will have a track record for encouraging participation of various constituents in planning and decision-making in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic fundraiser with the proven ability to achieve and exceed goals for philanthropic support and the willingness to devote substantial time and effort to fundraising. The candidate will have experience in all aspects of fundraising, including annual giving, special events, planned giving, capital and endowment campaigns, and grant writing. The successful candidate will have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
The successful candidate will be an experienced manager with the demonstrated ability to set expectations and assure both financial and operational accountability throughout the organization. The successful candidate will be experienced in working with an active and engaged volunteer Board of Directors. The candidate will be skilled in promoting effective governance and utilizing the talents of Board members to the maximum benefit of OHS. The candidate will lead staff in an environment that fosters creativity, transparency, a commitment to excellence, and teamwork. The candidate will be able to innovate, manage change, move an agenda forward, and resolve conflict.
The successful candidate will have an engaging public personality and presence, high energy, and excellent public speaking and listening skills. The candidate will have the ability to relate and interact effectively with stakeholders who represent a broad diversity in age, education, gender, and socio-economic status. The successful candidate will be kind, creative, curious, and flexible. The candidate will bring at least ten years’ senior executive leadership experience and will possess common sense, sound judgment, and good humor in abundance.
Compensation
OHS offers a competitive compensation and benefits package. The annual salary range for this position is $100,000 to $120,000; the benefits package includes paid vacation and sick leave and funding for health insurance and a retirement program.
Applications
OHS welcomes recommendations, nominations, and applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, religion, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, or marital status, or any other basis protected by law. Candidates must be authorized to work legally in the United States.
Please submit a resumé along with a cover letter that describes your specific interest in the mission and work of OHS and your qualifications for the position as described in the candidate profile. On a separate sheet, provide the names and contact information for several professional references. All applications will be treated as confidential and references will not be contacted without the applicant’s knowledge and agreement.
Electronic submissions are requested. Please send to:
President and CEO – Organ Historical Society
c/o Catherine French Group
applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com(Adobe Acrobat PDF attachments only, please)
- Judge Pauses Paramount/Warner Deal
“This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day,” California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, a Democrat who is leading the states’ lawsuit, said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – The New York Times
- Large Protests In France Over Arts Funding Cuts
In Avignon, where artists, programmers and theatergoers rub shoulders for a month every summer, the announcement has ignited fierce debates and protests. Last week, an estimated 1,800 people demonstrated in front of the Papal Palace. – The New York Times
- Auction House Sales Reports Show A Fundamental Change In The Art Business
This year, the houses devoted nearly as much space to private sales, lending, financial services, luxury goods, hospitality, and advisory work as they did to paintings and sculptures. Read together, they suggest that the biggest transformation in the auction business isn’t the recovery itself. It’s the transformation of the auction houses’ businesses. – ARTnews
- A Bill In Congress To Protect Art Owned by The Federal Government
The PRESERVE Act (“Protecting Resources and Ensuring Stewardship of Enduring Records of Visual Expression Act”) would require the General Services Administration, which manages federal agencies, to identify any artworks contained within government buildings deemed “surplus property” and form a committee to oversee the future of said artworks. – ARTnews
- A Lifetime With My Teacher
Her name was Lore Segal, but often, when I spoke of her to friends or to my own students, I referred to her as “my teacher,” though nearly 50 years had passed since I’d sat in a classroom with her. – The American Scholar