We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? - Artforum
In 2019, Howard Reich, longtime jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, published The Art of Inventing Hope, based on conversations with Elie Wiesel and Reich's mother’s experiences in WWII Poland. He has now adapted that book into an opera libretto, The Dialogue of Memories, with music by Tom Cipullo. - WTTW (Chicago)
An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. - The Guardian
Daniel Weiss took over as director and CEO in December after the dismissal of former leader Sasha Suda. He has rolled back some of the decisions made during her tenure, including the brief renaming of the museum as the “Philadelphia Art Museum,” or PhAM. And now new leaders in finance and human resources. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The national government’s arts agency, Creative New Zealand, plans to have most funding decisions (excepting international projects and national companies such as the NZ Symphony and Royal NZ Ballet) made by up to 16 independent regional organizations. - The Big Idea (New Zealand)
His return became one of the most remarkable late-career success stories in American opera. As his voice matured into a true dramatic tenor, Pulliam emerged as a sought-after interpreter of Verdi and other heavyweight repertoire. - Moto Perpetuo
In 2022, Vermont Public Radio merged with Vermont Public Television to form a new entity titled simply Vermont Public. The marriage pulled together 57 employees from the radio network and 42 from the TV side and total assets valued at $90 million. It thus became the state’s largest news organization by far. - Valley News (Vermont)
Large online streaming services must contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content, the country’s federal broadcast regulator said Thursday. That figure is three times the 5% initial contribution requirement the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC, set out in 2024. - AP News
The evening was championed by baritone Christian Pursell, better known in the fandom as Chester the Geroo, who plays Escamillo in Carmen. As far as anyone can tell, this was the first official Furry Night at the opera in history, a genuinely historic moment for the fandom and the city of Seattle. - The Stranger
“Over the years with the RSC, the English Shakespeare Company” — which he co-founded — “and beyond, Pennington played most of the leading roles in the canon; … his stage career looked like ‘he drew up a list of the juiciest roles in the classical repertoire and methodically set about ticking them off’.” - The Times...
Some students only want people who hold similar views to address them at their graduation. They exercise what free speech law experts call a “heckler’s veto,” meaning when an audience’s reaction, or anticipated response, stops someone from speaking. - The Conversation
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has circulated a “Be on the Lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide, targeting a comedian whose satire of US immigration enforcement went viral. - The Guardian
The museum has committed to supporting four artists over the next several years—P. Staff, Tarik Kiswanson, Jenna Sutela and Eglė Budvytytė—in four distinct ways: acquiring their work throughout the period; financially supporting external production; providing a part-time stipend for a year to alleviate financial pressure; and covering health insurance for a year. - The Art Newspaper
“The owner of the Peanuts television and film music catalog is suing multiple entities over the alleged unlawful use of jazz artist Vince Guaraldi's famous tracks from the "Charlie Brown" franchise. Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed four federal copyright lawsuits, … (one of them against) the U.S. Department of the Interior.” - USA Today
The Tribune, owned by finance firm Alden Global Capital, landed the deal to purchase the employee-owned Herald (based in northwestern suburb Arlington Heights) after several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and (probably) a premium price. - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
Joshua Kosman: “In appointing Elim Chan as its next music director, the San Francisco Symphony has tapped the most inexperienced, unproven new artistic leader the organization has had in more than 40 years. The choice could not have been wiser or more opportune.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“The Trump administration does not plan to seek approval from Congress for President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot arch, arguing that they do not need it because lawmakers a century ago authorized a somewhat similar project that was never built.” - The Washington Post
“A decision to go ahead with a sale of ATG Entertainment, previously known as Ambassador Theatre Group, … could value the business at more than £4 billion ($5.38 billion). … ATG Entertainment owns and operates more than 70 venues across the UK, the United States, Germany and Spain.” - Reuters (MSN)
WEIU, licensed to and based at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, has halted over-the-air broadcasting and become an online-streaming-only station. Now-discontinued federal grants had made up 80% of its budget. - Jacksonville (Illinois) Journal-Courier
We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? - Artforum
Researchers discovered that when equipped with specific “persona” prompts, advanced models like GPT-4.5 were judged to be human 73% of the time, significantly outperforming actual human participants and fundamentally altering our understanding of machine intelligence. - Neuroscience News
The next time you conduct a delicate bit of office diplomacy or share a romantic or financial secret with a friend over drinks, a sensor built into someone’s glasses, necklace, or lapel pin might be watching you and listening. - The Atlantic
In 1962, a programmer at Librascope, a California-based defense contractor, announced that “a computer can be programmed to write meaningful and relevant sentences in proper English.” - The New Yorker
During the exam, students were pulling out phones and taking photographs of the test to submit to LLMs before copying down machine-written responses into their blue books. - The New Critic
The national government’s arts agency, Creative New Zealand, plans to have most funding decisions (excepting international projects and national companies such as the NZ Symphony and Royal NZ Ballet) made by up to 16 independent regional organizations. - The Big Idea (New Zealand)
Some students only want people who hold similar views to address them at their graduation. They exercise what free speech law experts call a “heckler’s veto,” meaning when an audience’s reaction, or anticipated response, stops someone from speaking. - The Conversation
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has circulated a “Be on the Lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide, targeting a comedian whose satire of US immigration enforcement went viral. - The Guardian
Thursday’s vote by the Commission of Fine Arts, whose job is to vet the design of monuments and other major projects in the capital, represents a key approval as the White House seeks to begin construction. - Washington Post
Among those selected are two sites that have drawn the ire of the Trump administration, the Stonewall National Monument in New York, often considered the birthplace of the gay right’s movement, and the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, which served as the presidential home prior to the capital’s relocation to Washington. - ARTnews
“Traditionally, museum wall text has been no more controversial than signs pointing visitors to the restrooms, and the Smithsonian still has descriptions placed near objects in most of its galleries. But there have been changes at exhibitions in some museums where the subject could be potentially contentious.” - The New York Times
In 2019, Howard Reich, longtime jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, published The Art of Inventing Hope, based on conversations with Elie Wiesel and Reich's mother’s experiences in WWII Poland. He has now adapted that book into an opera libretto, The Dialogue of Memories, with music by Tom Cipullo. - WTTW (Chicago)
The evening was championed by baritone Christian Pursell, better known in the fandom as Chester the Geroo, who plays Escamillo in Carmen. As far as anyone can tell, this was the first official Furry Night at the opera in history, a genuinely historic moment for the fandom and the city of Seattle. - The Stranger
Joshua Kosman: “In appointing Elim Chan as its next music director, the San Francisco Symphony has tapped the most inexperienced, unproven new artistic leader the organization has had in more than 40 years. The choice could not have been wiser or more opportune.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
The new tool will launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users, the companies said on Thursday (May 21), creating what they described as an additional revenue stream for artists and songwriters on top of existing Spotify royalties. - MusicBusinessWorldwide
The appointment is a historic one. Chan will be the first woman to lead one of the so-called “Big 7” symphony orchestras in the United States, encompassing New York, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia. - KQED
Until the new conductors settle in, we won’t fully know how transformative their impact will be, but early signs suggest they could accelerate changes already reshaping the field since Covid—in programming, outreach, diversity, education, and institutional purpose. - Strings Magazine
Daniel Weiss took over as director and CEO in December after the dismissal of former leader Sasha Suda. He has rolled back some of the decisions made during her tenure, including the brief renaming of the museum as the “Philadelphia Art Museum,” or PhAM. And now new leaders in finance and human resources. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The museum has committed to supporting four artists over the next several years—P. Staff, Tarik Kiswanson, Jenna Sutela and Eglė Budvytytė—in four distinct ways: acquiring their work throughout the period; financially supporting external production; providing a part-time stipend for a year to alleviate financial pressure; and covering health insurance for a year. - The...
“The Trump administration does not plan to seek approval from Congress for President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot arch, arguing that they do not need it because lawmakers a century ago authorized a somewhat similar project that was never built.” - The Washington Post
The whistleblower complaint made numerous detailed allegations. Among them are claims that the museum improperly reclassified funds in its endowment to meet cash crunches. - ARTnews
“A Paris judge has rejected a request to halt the removal of six 19th-century stained-glass windows by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc from Notre-Dame Cathedral, which are to be replaced by government-commissioned contemporary works (by artist Claire Tabouret).” - ARTnews
“The planned Museum of Digital Art (MODA) … is part of Dubai’s monumental $27 billion transformation of its financial center into a tech hub, announced earlier this year, and will platform various art forms that rely on emerging technologies, including immersive and interactive experiences. No budget or completion date has yet been announced.” - Artnet
The Tribune, owned by finance firm Alden Global Capital, landed the deal to purchase the employee-owned Herald (based in northwestern suburb Arlington Heights) after several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and (probably) a premium price. - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
My fellow nonfiction writers: AI can be a helpful tool. If you rely on it for factual accuracy you are putting your reputation, your career, your very livelihood in peril. - The AI Humanist
“’The Serpent in the Grove’ was named as the winning entry for the Commonwealth Prize from the Caribbean on Saturday and published in Granta magazine. … Shortly (afterward), internet sleuths — and a few literary critics — seized upon the work and its author, Jamir Nazir, reportedly a 61-year-old from Trinidad with few publications to his name.” -...
“While piracy has long been an issue for the book business, the rapid rise of unauthorized audiobooks” — typically with vocally flat narration and unrelated visuals — “on YouTube, which publishers and authors believe are eroding sales for their books, poses a new challenge for the industry.” - The New York Times
The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence on truth acknowledged on Monday that he had included numerous made-up or misattributed quotes concocted by A.I. - The New York Times
Taiwan Travelogue, written by Yáng Shuāng-zi and translated by Lin King, takes the form of a travel memoir by a (fictional) Japanese novelist on a culinary tour of occupied Taiwan in the 1930s, charting her complex relationship with her local interpreter. The novel won a U.S. National Book Award in 2024. - AP
In 2022, Vermont Public Radio merged with Vermont Public Television to form a new entity titled simply Vermont Public. The marriage pulled together 57 employees from the radio network and 42 from the TV side and total assets valued at $90 million. It thus became the state’s largest news organization by far. - Valley...
Large online streaming services must contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content, the country’s federal broadcast regulator said Thursday. That figure is three times the 5% initial contribution requirement the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC, set out in 2024. - AP News
“The owner of the Peanuts television and film music catalog is suing multiple entities over the alleged unlawful use of jazz artist Vince Guaraldi's famous tracks from the "Charlie Brown" franchise. Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed four federal copyright lawsuits, … (one of them against) the U.S. Department of the Interior.” - USA Today
WEIU, licensed to and based at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, has halted over-the-air broadcasting and become an online-streaming-only station. Now-discontinued federal grants had made up 80% of its budget. - Jacksonville (Illinois) Journal-Courier
Currently S&P Global has a “BB+” issuer credit rating on Paramount. On Wednesday, the firm said it will “lower the issuer credit rating on PSKY to ‘BB’ when its acquisition of WBD closes, assuming no material changes to the structure or terms of the transaction. - Variety
“Data from the first quarter of 2026 shows signs that the United States is halting the exodus of film and television productions to other countries. But it is doing so as greenlights on high-budget productions continue to decrease worldwide, leaving dozens of production hubs fighting for slices of a smaller pie.” - TheWrap (Yahoo!)
“I choreograph because it is the only language in which I feel completely uninhibited. … Words remain fragile. They can be misinterpreted or fail to capture the depth of what we truly mean. Movement, however, transcends the invisible barriers that divide us — culture, borders, language, religion — and speaks directly to something instinctive.”...
“After 18 years as artistic director and two years in dual roles as chief executive and artistic director, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, daughter of DCDC founder Jeraldyne Blunden, has passed the artistic director baton to Qarrianne Blayr, … (who) has served as associate artistic director for five years.” - Dayton Daily News
Adam Sklute, who came to Salt Lake City in 2007, will depart at the end of next season. His tenure, the longest in Ballet West history, saw the company stabilize its finances, increase its subscriber base, triple its budget, and sextuple its school's enrollment. - KSL (Salt Lake City)
“Ballet can be a pretty conservative artform, with many companies trundling out Swan Lakes, Nutcrackers, and Cinderellas year after year. Every now and again, though, someone like Rojo comes along and truly shakes things up – even if that has meant ruffling tutus in the process.” - NPR
“For nearly three decades Cuba’s Danza Voluminosa regularly filled prestigious venues like the 2,000-seat National Theater. Directed by Juan Miguel Mas, the troupe pioneered a new movement by working exclusively with larger-bodied dancers. ... (Now) Mas’s daily life has been upended by persistent blackouts, water outages, soaring costs and a lack of transportation.” -...
An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. - The Guardian
“A decision to go ahead with a sale of ATG Entertainment, previously known as Ambassador Theatre Group, … could value the business at more than £4 billion ($5.38 billion). … ATG Entertainment owns and operates more than 70 venues across the UK, the United States, Germany and Spain.” - Reuters (MSN)
American Players Theatre, located in Spring Green, Wisconsin — a town 40 miles west of Madison, home to roughly 1,500 people and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin — presents nine productions each year in its 1,075-seat amphitheater and 200-seat indoor space. APT’s repertory focuses on “timeless, challenging, poetic texts," particularly Shakespeare. - Wisconsin Public Radio
“In the West End, average ticket prices rose by a nominal 0.92 per cent over the last year. When measured against the annual UK inflation rate of 3.4 per cent, this represents a real-terms price drop of 2.5% for consumers. Compared to 2019, this real-term drop extends to 8.9%.” - WhatsOnStage (UK)
That’s the allegation in a lawsuit filed by the production company (called Iceberg Ahead LLC) in Virginia against former general manager Carl Flanigan. In March the company won a $4.3 million default judgment against Flanigan, who never responded to the suit. - Broadway Journal
Death of a Salesman, which received nine Tony nominations, hit $1.7 million, its highest gross yet, last week playing to 100 percent capacity at the Winter Garden Theatre. Ragtime has similarly been drawing increased interest since the Tony nominations, bringing in $1.2 million last week. - The Hollywood Reporter
His return became one of the most remarkable late-career success stories in American opera. As his voice matured into a true dramatic tenor, Pulliam emerged as a sought-after interpreter of Verdi and other heavyweight repertoire. - Moto Perpetuo
“Over the years with the RSC, the English Shakespeare Company” — which he co-founded — “and beyond, Pennington played most of the leading roles in the canon; … his stage career looked like ‘he drew up a list of the juiciest roles in the classical repertoire and methodically set about ticking them off’.” -...
“The founding artistic director of the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in southwest suburban (Chicagoland), (he was) widely regarded as the founder of dinner theater in America.” - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
Bruel, 67, who has had a string of top-selling albums and appeared in more than 40 films, is under investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office for at least four complaints of sexual assault in France and by Belgian authorities for an additional alleged attack in Brussels. - The Guardian
This was the third time the disgraced producer was prosecuted in Manhattan for his alleged assault of Jessica Mann in 2013. (The initial verdict, a conviction, was overturned on appeal.) This time, the jury deadlocked, with 9 of the 12 jurors reportedly leaning toward acquittal. - AP
The much-loved singer, admired equally for opera and concerts, passed away two days after she publicly revealed her terminal cancer diagnosis. - The Guardian
Seattle Children’s Theatre, one of the nation’s premiere organizations for theatre-for-young audiences, invites applications from dedicated and collaborative leaders for its Director of Production position.
As President, lead a world-renowned orchestra into an exciting new era. Shape the future of the Buffalo Philharmonic and make a lasting cultural impact.
The University of Texas Permian Basin's College of Arts and Humanities welcomes applications for an Associate Professor/Professor and Department Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Saint Louis Art Museum seeks Chief Exhibitions and Collections Officer. Salary range is between $210,000 and $240,000. Please visit the link for full job description.
Joshua Kosman: “In appointing Elim Chan as its next music director, the San Francisco Symphony has tapped the most inexperienced, unproven new artistic leader the organization has had in more than 40 years. The choice could not have been wiser or more opportune.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. - San Antonio Express-News
“Across TikTok and Instagram, videos centred on Rothko’s work are accumulating hundreds of thousands of views. One creator has begun styling outfits inspired by individual Rothko canvases; another assigns Rothko works to personality archetypes.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Gelb, who is paid $1.2 million annually, oversees a $326 million budget. … Beyond the often caustic scrutiny of opera critics and patrons, Gelb must reckon with the demands of 3,000 full- and part-time employees, 15 labor unions and a 144-member board of directors.” - The New York Times
“The open letter, published earlier this week to coincide with the opening of the Cannes film festival, was signed by more than 600 figures, including ... Juliette Binoche.” Now the head of Canal+ says the organization will no longer work with any of the signers. - The Guardian (UK)
“Musicians, artists and writers generally possess something AI does not, which is the lived human experience out of which they create. That experience includes the accidents, serendipities and epiphanies that shape our arts.” - KC Studio
At least, according to The New York Times’s Helen Shaw. For instance: “When I think about the sheer old-fashioned ebullience of Cinco Paul’s Schmigadoon! — its compositional invention and depth of talent — I find myself hoping the voters will give it the laurel.” - The New York Times
The massive whale mural is “'gone forever,’ Wyland told me, ... sounding at turns shattered and furious.” But why? Could be for some sports marketing, of course, since the men’s World Cup is coming soon. - Dallas Morning News
The head of one viral marketing firm says 90 percent of what we see online is advertising. And of course, “the point of this kind of marketing is that nobody is supposed to notice it. But lately, the machinery has started to show.” - Vulture
“Prior to the discovery of the Rome manuscript, the earliest one was from the early 12th century. So this is three centuries earlier than that. And so it attests to the importance that was already being attached to the English in the early 9th century.” - Seattle Times (AP)
“Ballet can be a pretty conservative artform, with many companies trundling out Swan Lakes, Nutcrackers, and Cinderellas year after year. Every now and again, though, someone like Rojo comes along and truly shakes things up – even if that has meant ruffling tutus in the process.” - NPR
Julie Andrews has reinvented herself almost completely, but after she lost her voice, she "fell into a deep depression. She said that she felt like she had lost her identity. Other vocalists have compared this feeling to the experience of an athlete who loses a limb.” - El Pais English
