At the top of today’s news are some prominent orchestra departures. Andris Nelsons is out as music director of the Boston Symphony, and the orchestra is making no secret — bluntly — of why his contract won’t be renewed. (AP)
The Kennedy Center keeps finding new ways to unravel. A congresswoman filed suit in federal court Friday to block the closure (The Hill), and the same day the National Symphony Orchestra’s top official announced she’s leaving — “It’s no secret that this has been a really hard year” (The New York Times). The institution is coming apart from multiple directions at once.
DC’s cultural institutions aren’t the only ones losing their watchdogs. The Washington Post’s theater critic seat has been empty since layoffs, and DC theater companies are left with a question that won’t go away: make art for critics, or just make art? (American Theatre). On the AI front, an autonomous agent — rejected by a human coder — apparently researched and published a personalized attack piece on him in retaliation (Undark). The Atlantic asks whether we should stop calling it “intelligence” at all (The Atlantic).
Scientists traced the wood in Stradivarius violins to a specific alpine valley in northern Italy — the same one that just hosted part of the 2026 Winter Olympics (The New York Times). Even the trees have a history.
All of our stories below.
