AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Mass250
My introduction of a concert of piano music performed by New England Conservatory students on April 14, 2026 in Jordan Hall, Boston.
This concert is part of two large projects: Mass250 (that’s Massachusetts 250), and America250. Both of these are many-part celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The students playing tonight were chosen through a competition. Any piano piece by an American composer could be played. And we had music from the 18th century all the way to the 21st.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: The pieces you will hear are widely diverse, in musical styles, in their differing approaches to beauty and truth. It turned out that many of the chosen pieces represent the history of this school as well. Music by Chadwick, and Price, Lee Hyla, Donald Martino, Schuller, all musicians who studied here, or taught here. Even Mrs. Beach was involved with NEC.
Let’s take a moment to thank the family members who support this concert in honor of Marion Berman. We are very grateful for your long support.
We will be hearing music tonight that represents the U.S. in past decades and centuries. It might be a good omen that can offer us hope for the future. I do not know what music will be written tomorrow. I believe that artists will continue to tell an American story. That the American dream, American ideals, the American promise shall not perish from the earth. And the sounds, the music of the United.States will continue to resonate, to ring out in this room.
Jordan Hall, Boston, April 14, 2026
Donald Martino: Piano Fantasy (1959)
Amy Beach: Valse-Caprice, op. 4 (1889)
Leon Kirchner: Interlude II (2003)
George Walker: Piano Sonata No. 1 (1953)
George Whitefield Chadwick: Les Grenouilles (Humoresque) (ca. 1905)
Lee Hyla: Basic Training (1999)
Gunther Schuller: Sonata-Fantasia (1992)
Florence Price: Clouds (1940)
Samuel Barber: Sonata, op. 26 (1947-49)
- Crumbling buildings, booming balance sheets
Good Morning,
A new GAO report finds 85% of U.S. museums dealing with deferred maintenance, and 77% with at least one structural issue that could put collections at risk (ARTnews). The buildings are failing. So are the businesses around them: LA’s family-run prop houses, florists, and craft shops — the literal hub-and-spoke of Hollywood production — are closing after the post-pandemic slump (Los Angeles Times). A working TV writer puts it more bluntly: the market has structurally reduced the number of jobs, and no amount of talent compensates (New Story).
Meanwhile at the top, the view is sunnier. Warner Music posted a $1.73 billion quarter (Music Business Worldwide) and turned around to announce a multi-year Paramount deal for a pipeline of artist biopics (MBW). A24, now valued at $3.5 billion — more than ten times rival Neon — has a hit restaurant and a hip theatre in NYC to go with its film slate (Hollywood Reporter). And what looks like organic buzz online increasingly isn’t: a new piece on “trend simulation,” the practice of paying people to fake-endorse bands so algorithms inflate them (The Atlantic). The middle is where the cracks show first.
All of our stories below. See you toimorrow.
- Three Wildly Different Accounts On Selling Art
Three recently published books give us some perspective on the selling of art: a long-view history going back to the Middle Ages; a memoir by a successful contemporary maker; and a wistful biography of a relationship between two talented 20th-century artists who struggled to find their place commercially. – The New York Times
- My Year Of Obsessive Listening To Keith Jarrett
By mid-October, I finally had something close to a single aphorism about Jarrett, an inversion of a half-remembered Wordsworth definition of the vocation of a poet. – The Walrus
- LA’s Family Businesses That Built The Film Industry Are Dying
From florists to prop rentals to catering and beyond, production services and craft businesses are the hub and spoke of L.A.’s film and TV industry. But many of these businesses — some of which have been family-operated for generations — are struggling to weather a post-pandemic slump in film activity. – Los Angeles Times
ISSUES
- Three Wildly Different Accounts On Selling Art
Three recently published books give us some perspective on the selling of art: a long-view history going back to the Middle Ages; a memoir by a successful contemporary maker; and a wistful biography of a relationship between two talented 20th-century artists who struggled to find their place commercially. – The New York Times
- Report: Museums Have Major Building Issues
Roughly 85 percent of museums across the country are dealing with deferred maintenance or major repair needs. Even more concerning, about 77 percent say they have at least one structural issue that could put their collections at risk. – ARTnews
- Turning A Classic Old Bank Into A Revitalized Arts Site
“Southwest Minnesota is dotted with these emerging multi-use art spaces that utilize older buildings, … challenging a common misconception that vibrant art scenes only exist in big cities.” – Minnesota Public Radio
- Maya Lin’s New Work Is Focused On Connecting The City With Its Own Cracks
How do you bring Central Park to a $3-4 billion JPMorgan Chase skyscraper? – The New York Times
- How Long, And How, Should Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood Hacienda Be Preserved?
“All sides agree that the circumstances are unusual. Buyers generally know about a house’s historic preservation status in advance, and existing homeowners generally have a functioning house they can sell if they do not want to work with the city to preserve its historic features.” – The Guardian (UK)
MEDIA
- The Death Of The Food Review
“Amid the cultural shift away from longer-form food writing and criticism toward stylized, 30-second reaction videos on FoodTok, does carefully composed, sense-based storytelling still matter? What do we collectively lose, and maybe gain, as sound effects and hyperbole subsume rich, descriptive text?” – Slate
- At The Venice Biennale, Wondering If Everything Will Collapse In On Itself
“Perhaps the crucial thing to recall is that the basic structure of the biennale that we recognise today was conceived in the 1930s, under Mussolini, becoming, said Ricci, ‘a focus for propaganda and positioned as the peak of Italian culture.’” – The Guardian (UK)
- Is It OK For Samsung To Use A Musician’s Face To Sell TVs?
She says no: “Dua Lipa has filed a $15 million lawsuit against Samsung, alleging that the electronics manufacturer used her likeness to sell TVs without paying her and without permission.” – Variety
- Nearly Nine Thousand Institutions Of Higher Learning Had Their Grades And Assignments Held Hostage For A Ransom
This seems fine: “The message from attackers ‘urged schools included on the affected list to consult with a cyber advisory firm and contact the group privately to negotiate a settlement before the end of the day on May 12.’” – Wired
- Some Folks Really Could Not Deal With Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Show
And their reactions (or some astroturfing, perhaps) had them calling the FCC to complain. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
MUSIC
- What Happens To Humanity When We Lose A Language?
“Some communities are lucky enough to have the political or cultural autonomy to protect their languages – think of Welsh or Māori – but many aren’t so fortunate. Some rue and rally; others resign themselves to decline.” – The Guardian (UK)
- If You, A Writer, Think Most Writers Are Trash, Are You A Literary Jerk?
Uh, yes. “This feels a little bit like a you-problem. And by that, I mean you need to start treating yourself (and your writing) more carefully, and with a great deal more empathy and respect.” – LitHub
- Best First Sentence In Literature?
Well, best opening, anyway. Maybe Lauren Groff? – The Atlantic
- Now Writers Who Are Children Of Other Writers Are Being Called ‘Nepo Babies,’ And That Seems Iffy
“Does having a novelist for a parent make it likely that a child will be inspired to follow? Or is it easier for children of writers to get published? I spoke to some novelists who have kept it in the family to find out.” – The Guardian (UK)
- This Bookstore Has Wheels, And More Than One Hundred Thousand Miles
“While there are library bookmobiles and other bookstores housed in trucks, … Collins believes hers is the rare traveling bookstore. She wishes there were more, pointing out that there is little overhead and a lot of freedom to open and close at will.” – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Mass250
My introduction of a concert of piano music performed by New England Conservatory students on April 14, 2026 in Jordan Hall, Boston.
This concert is part of two large projects: Mass250 (that’s Massachusetts 250), and America250. Both of these are many-part celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The students playing tonight were chosen through a competition. Any piano piece by an American composer could be played. And we had music from the 18th century all the way to the 21st.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: The pieces you will hear are widely diverse, in musical styles, in their differing approaches to beauty and truth. It turned out that many of the chosen pieces represent the history of this school as well. Music by Chadwick, and Price, Lee Hyla, Donald Martino, Schuller, all musicians who studied here, or taught here. Even Mrs. Beach was involved with NEC.
Let’s take a moment to thank the family members who support this concert in honor of Marion Berman. We are very grateful for your long support.
We will be hearing music tonight that represents the U.S. in past decades and centuries. It might be a good omen that can offer us hope for the future. I do not know what music will be written tomorrow. I believe that artists will continue to tell an American story. That the American dream, American ideals, the American promise shall not perish from the earth. And the sounds, the music of the United.States will continue to resonate, to ring out in this room.
Jordan Hall, Boston, April 14, 2026
Donald Martino: Piano Fantasy (1959)
Amy Beach: Valse-Caprice, op. 4 (1889)
Leon Kirchner: Interlude II (2003)
George Walker: Piano Sonata No. 1 (1953)
George Whitefield Chadwick: Les Grenouilles (Humoresque) (ca. 1905)
Lee Hyla: Basic Training (1999)
Gunther Schuller: Sonata-Fantasia (1992)
Florence Price: Clouds (1940)
Samuel Barber: Sonata, op. 26 (1947-49)
- Crumbling buildings, booming balance sheets
Good Morning,
A new GAO report finds 85% of U.S. museums dealing with deferred maintenance, and 77% with at least one structural issue that could put collections at risk (ARTnews). The buildings are failing. So are the businesses around them: LA’s family-run prop houses, florists, and craft shops — the literal hub-and-spoke of Hollywood production — are closing after the post-pandemic slump (Los Angeles Times). A working TV writer puts it more bluntly: the market has structurally reduced the number of jobs, and no amount of talent compensates (New Story).
Meanwhile at the top, the view is sunnier. Warner Music posted a $1.73 billion quarter (Music Business Worldwide) and turned around to announce a multi-year Paramount deal for a pipeline of artist biopics (MBW). A24, now valued at $3.5 billion — more than ten times rival Neon — has a hit restaurant and a hip theatre in NYC to go with its film slate (Hollywood Reporter). And what looks like organic buzz online increasingly isn’t: a new piece on “trend simulation,” the practice of paying people to fake-endorse bands so algorithms inflate them (The Atlantic). The middle is where the cracks show first.
All of our stories below. See you toimorrow.
- Three Wildly Different Accounts On Selling Art
Three recently published books give us some perspective on the selling of art: a long-view history going back to the Middle Ages; a memoir by a successful contemporary maker; and a wistful biography of a relationship between two talented 20th-century artists who struggled to find their place commercially. – The New York Times
- My Year Of Obsessive Listening To Keith Jarrett
By mid-October, I finally had something close to a single aphorism about Jarrett, an inversion of a half-remembered Wordsworth definition of the vocation of a poet. – The Walrus
- LA’s Family Businesses That Built The Film Industry Are Dying
From florists to prop rentals to catering and beyond, production services and craft businesses are the hub and spoke of L.A.’s film and TV industry. But many of these businesses — some of which have been family-operated for generations — are struggling to weather a post-pandemic slump in film activity. – Los Angeles Times
PEOPLE
- Mass250
My introduction of a concert of piano music performed by New England Conservatory students on April 14, 2026 in Jordan Hall, Boston.
This concert is part of two large projects: Mass250 (that’s Massachusetts 250), and America250. Both of these are many-part celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The students playing tonight were chosen through a competition. Any piano piece by an American composer could be played. And we had music from the 18th century all the way to the 21st.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: The pieces you will hear are widely diverse, in musical styles, in their differing approaches to beauty and truth. It turned out that many of the chosen pieces represent the history of this school as well. Music by Chadwick, and Price, Lee Hyla, Donald Martino, Schuller, all musicians who studied here, or taught here. Even Mrs. Beach was involved with NEC.
Let’s take a moment to thank the family members who support this concert in honor of Marion Berman. We are very grateful for your long support.
We will be hearing music tonight that represents the U.S. in past decades and centuries. It might be a good omen that can offer us hope for the future. I do not know what music will be written tomorrow. I believe that artists will continue to tell an American story. That the American dream, American ideals, the American promise shall not perish from the earth. And the sounds, the music of the United.States will continue to resonate, to ring out in this room.
Jordan Hall, Boston, April 14, 2026
Donald Martino: Piano Fantasy (1959)
Amy Beach: Valse-Caprice, op. 4 (1889)
Leon Kirchner: Interlude II (2003)
George Walker: Piano Sonata No. 1 (1953)
George Whitefield Chadwick: Les Grenouilles (Humoresque) (ca. 1905)
Lee Hyla: Basic Training (1999)
Gunther Schuller: Sonata-Fantasia (1992)
Florence Price: Clouds (1940)
Samuel Barber: Sonata, op. 26 (1947-49)
- Crumbling buildings, booming balance sheets
Good Morning,
A new GAO report finds 85% of U.S. museums dealing with deferred maintenance, and 77% with at least one structural issue that could put collections at risk (ARTnews). The buildings are failing. So are the businesses around them: LA’s family-run prop houses, florists, and craft shops — the literal hub-and-spoke of Hollywood production — are closing after the post-pandemic slump (Los Angeles Times). A working TV writer puts it more bluntly: the market has structurally reduced the number of jobs, and no amount of talent compensates (New Story).
Meanwhile at the top, the view is sunnier. Warner Music posted a $1.73 billion quarter (Music Business Worldwide) and turned around to announce a multi-year Paramount deal for a pipeline of artist biopics (MBW). A24, now valued at $3.5 billion — more than ten times rival Neon — has a hit restaurant and a hip theatre in NYC to go with its film slate (Hollywood Reporter). And what looks like organic buzz online increasingly isn’t: a new piece on “trend simulation,” the practice of paying people to fake-endorse bands so algorithms inflate them (The Atlantic). The middle is where the cracks show first.
All of our stories below. See you toimorrow.
- Three Wildly Different Accounts On Selling Art
Three recently published books give us some perspective on the selling of art: a long-view history going back to the Middle Ages; a memoir by a successful contemporary maker; and a wistful biography of a relationship between two talented 20th-century artists who struggled to find their place commercially. – The New York Times
- My Year Of Obsessive Listening To Keith Jarrett
By mid-October, I finally had something close to a single aphorism about Jarrett, an inversion of a half-remembered Wordsworth definition of the vocation of a poet. – The Walrus
- LA’s Family Businesses That Built The Film Industry Are Dying
From florists to prop rentals to catering and beyond, production services and craft businesses are the hub and spoke of L.A.’s film and TV industry. But many of these businesses — some of which have been family-operated for generations — are struggling to weather a post-pandemic slump in film activity. – Los Angeles Times
THEATRE
VISUAL
- We Can Look For Ourselves In Fiction, Sure, But We Have To Look Beyond As Well
“I keep having conversations with grown, discerning adults whose chief metric for their enjoyment of a book, show or movie is how relevant it is, how directly it speaks, to the granular particulars of their lived experience.” – NPR
- Why The Lost Boys Epitomize The 1980s So Alarmingly Well
And maybe, just maybe, why the movie is back as a Broadway show now. – The New York Times
- Claim: Figuring Out Consciousness Isn’t Difficult
Amid the current cultural backlash against progressive ideas, today’s debate on consciousness reflects our human fears of belonging to the same family as inanimate matter and losing our dear, transcendent souls. – Noema
- How Our Machines Are Getting In The Way Of Art
From the original, nineteenth-century form popularized by Balzac, Zola, and Stendhal to the “lyrical” variant of today, the verisimilitude that realism pursues—not just lifelikeness, but worldlikeness—is meant to convince us the novel is, for want of a better term, natural. – Boston Review
- Study: Using AI Could Make You Lazy And Dumber
Some participants were given access to an AI assistant capable of solving the problem autonomously. When the AI helper was suddenly taken away, these people were significantly more likely to give up on the problem or flub their answers. – Wired
