Good Morning,
Two losses today compress a century of classical music into one obituary page. Michael Tilson Thomas, one of the most distinguished American conductors of his generation and San Francisco Symphony’s music director for 25 years, died at 81 (Washington Post). A few hours earlier, pianist Ruth Slenczynska — Rachmaninoff’s last surviving student — died at 101 (BBC).
AI keeps turning up where it wasn’t invited. Electronic musicians are using the tools at every level but refuse to talk about it (Music Radar). Reading platforms are embedding chatbots to tell you what to read next (Korea Joongang Daily). Sony’s robot just beat elite ping-pong players (The Guardian). And TikTok’s biggest star watched his $975 million AI-likeness deal collapse in three months (TheWrap) — the technology is moving faster than the contracts meant to contain it.
Elsewhere, Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud, who won the 2024 Goncourt, was sentenced to three years in prison for writing about his country’s civil war (AP). And in Florence, a tourist climbed the Neptune fountain on a dare to touch the sea god’s anatomy — and broke it (The Guardian). Neptune got the last word.
All of our stories below.
