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- NYC Ballet Star Takes A Big Leap: Wearing Hearing Aids Onstage
“Sara Mearns was missing her cues. She couldn’t hear what her dance partner was saying from across the studio. She was late for her entrances because the music sounded too soft. … Now, ‘I feel like it’s a whole new chapter of my life,’ Mearns, 40, said in an interview.” – AP
- A Backlash To Biennales?
But with the boom came backlash: the suspicion that biennales were above all an excuse for a tote-bag-wearing international art crowd to descend on a city for a few weeks, leaving behind a large carbon footprint but little meaningful engagement with the local population. – The Guardian
- Warner Shareholders Approve Sale To Paramount
Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery voted to sell the company to David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance for $31 a share in cash at a special virtual meeting Wednesday morning. The approval was a key hurdle in advancing the deal. – Deadline
- Director Joe Mantello On Time In “Death Of A Salesman”
“One of the questions I always have is whether Willy is having flashbacks, or if he has some kind of dementia. … Miller said very clearly that they’re not flashbacks — Willie is not revisiting his past, but the past and the present absolutely exist simultaneously. He called them concurrences.” – TheaterMania
- Musicians Are Using AI At All Levels. They Don’t Want To Talk About It
Tech companies with billion-dollar valuations are extracting value from copyrighted music on the internet and selling it as a service: making music-making easier and, they claim, more democratic. But creatives have always found ways to democratize and innovate music and art, long before tech companies tried to bite their flow. – Music Radar
- A 60s Art Experiment That Redefined How We Think About Creativity
The discovery of this “problem-finding” creative process was a seminal moment in creativity research. In the decades since, countless researchers have shown that many of the most meaningful forms of real-world creativity and invention depend less on solving well-defined problems than on figuring out what the problem is in the first place. – Psychology Today
- Hundreds Of Musicians Call For Eurovision Boycott Of Israel
This year’s list is organized by the “No Music for Genocide” initiative, which also calls on anti-Israel artists to have their music geo-blocked inside Israel. – Times of Israel
- Montreal Symphony Gives Rafael Payare Five More Years And New Title
His contract, which was to expire in summer 2027, has been extended through the 2031-32 season, and the Venezuelan-born conductor’s title is now Music and Artistic Director. (He is also music director of the San Diego Symphony.) – Gramophone
- Another Human Threshold Crossed: Robot Beats Elite Ping Pong Players
Named Ace, the robotic system developed by Sony AI, won three out of five matches against elite players, but lost the two it played against professionals, clawing back only one game in the seven contests. – The Guardian
- How AI Is Already Changing How People Read
“I believe AI can simultaneously solve the problem of not knowing what to read and the difficulty of maintaining consistent reading habits.” Subscription-based reading platform Millie’s Library is taking things a step further by integrating a conversational AI chatbot into its platform. – Korea Joongang Daily
- A Pioneering Greek Arts Institution Calls It Quits: “We’ve Done What We’ve Set Out To Do”
NEON goes out on a high note after 14 successful years of exhibitions, performances and initiatives that enriched Greece’s art scene. – Ekathimerini
- Book Publishing’s Latest Demographic Category: “New Adult”
“Young Adult” fiction, despite its name, is aimed at teenagers; the “New Adult” category covers actual young adults, 18 to 24 or so. Four of the Big Five US publishers have now launched imprints dedicated to that audience. The subject matter is mostly romance, though publishers hope to expand beyond that. – Publishers Weekly
- V&A East Museum Opens With A Very Different Lens On Art
V&A East’s boxy, beige facade, pierced by pointed shards of window, was concocted by Irish architects O’Donnell + Tuomey and has received mixed reviews. Its futuristic appeal does, however, help establish a distinct identity from that of the original V&A in west London—an ornate Victorian shrine to the history of design and the decorative arts. – Artnet
- 30-Year Copyright Case In EU Finally Settles
The initial court ruling “was subsequently appealed, overturned and referred on several occasions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), resulting in a three-decade long legal battle over the regulation of sampling in Europe.” –NME
- Layoffs At Artnet And Artsy
Days after layoffs at Artnet and Artsy shook the art world, investor and owner Andrew E. Wolff has offered his clearest explanation yet for the cuts, framing them as part of a broader consolidation strategy already underway at the two companies. – ARTnews
- Algeria’s Leading Author Says He’s Been Sentenced To Prison For His Prize-Winning Novel
Kamel Daoud, who lives in France, said that a court in Oran fined him five million Algerian dinars ($38,000) and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment because his novel Houris, which won the Prix Goncourt in 2024, makes public mention — a crime under current Algerian law — of the country’s 1992-2002 civil war. – AP
- Michael Tilson Thomas Is Dead At 81
“He was widely considered one of the most distinguished American conductors of his generation” — most notably for his 25 years as music director of the San Francisco Symphony. “In addition to making more than 100 recordings of both rare and familiar classical repertory, he created valuable instructional series for television and radio.” – The Washington Post (Yahoo)
- Pianist Ruth Slenczynska, Rachmaninoff’s Last Surviving Student, Has Died At 101
She gave her first recital at four and performed her first concerto at seven, going on to tour with the Boston Pops, play for five U.S. presidents, and record 10 LPs. She developed a new audience with Beethoven videos during the 2020 lockdowns and recorded her last disk at age 97. – BBC
- Tiktok’s Biggest Star Had A Nearly-Billion-Dollar AI Deal. How Did It Fall Apart?
This past January, Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian who has 160 million followers for his Chaplin-esque silent TikTok shorts, signed a $975 billion deal with Hong Kong-based firm Rich Sparkle Holdings for use of his likeness in AI-generated videos. Three months later, Lame largely disavows Rich Sparkle, whose share price is plummeting. – TheWrap (MSN)
- What The Kennedy Center’s Chief Showed Journalists To Prove The Building Really Does Need Renovation
“A theme emerged at virtually every stop: The water damage was real, apparent in some places through discoloration and pooling. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and need replacement. And the building is so massive … that repairs will require time to finish.” – AP
- San Francisco’s Broken-Down Brutalist Fountain Will Be Hauled Away Starting Next Week
“The first phase — removing grout from the massive concrete sculpture and cataloging the pieces for future reassembly — will take at least a week, officials said. Starting in May, cranes will begin removing the (Vaillancourt Fountain’s) 10-ton cantilevered arms and hauling them away (from Embarcadero Plaza).” – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
- Yet Another Tourist Climbs On The Statuary In Florence And Breaks It
A 28-year-old visitor caused thousands of euros in damage when she climbed the fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria because her friends dared her to touch the sea-god’s genitals. – The Guardian
- The Bard Died 410 Years Ago Today. His Poems Live On
Sometimes he rewrote them. See an example and decide which you prefer: the early or the later version. - In Honour of Shakespeare’s Birthday, A Six-Minute, Five-Act PlayTo think that music hath the charms to heal! This arts nonprofit surely needs support.
- Private Money, Public Retreat
Good Morning:
A $116 million gift from a single billionaire will now indefinitely fund the National Gallery’s program for loaning art to museums across the country (Washington Post). Same week, Cape Cod’s 42-year-old Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is suspending operations, citing an “increasingly challenging philanthropic environment” (TheaterMania). The top of the pyramid is getting reinforced; the middle is cracking.
The pattern repeats. Brazilian cinema development exists because one philanthropist, Olga Rabinovich, personally funds it (Variety). San Diego, meanwhile, is cutting its arts budget and calling it fiscal discipline (San Diego Magazine). The arts economy is reorganizing around a thinner spine of individual benefactors — and Nashville is about to break ground on a $1B+ Bjarke Ingels-designed performing arts complex that underlines the point (WPLN).
The political weather keeps tightening. Lee Bollinger is proposing a NATO-style defense pact for universities under federal pressure (InsideHigherEd), and the FCC has opened a new probe into gender identity content in children’s TV (Deadline).
LACMA’s new Geffen Galleries open, and the LA Times calls the result a “revisionist fever dream.” In a good way? (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Chief Philanthropy Officer
Reporting to the General Director & President, the Chief Philanthropy Officer (CDO) serves as a visionary partner, actively shaping and carrying out philanthropic strategies and programs of the Development department.
Goal oriented and revenue-focused, the CPO will actively build budgets informed by data for all areas of the department, set annual and long-term projections, and create strategies for sustainable fundraising growth of the Annual Fund and the organization’s comprehensive campaign, a $33 million effort designed to support innovation, community-focused programming, and financial resilience. A mature and sophisticated communicator, the CPO will engage with board members, donors, and external partners, building relationships that inspire transformative giving. As a key collaborator, the CPO will work closely with the Finance and Marketing teams to build cross-functional strategies and develop comprehensive plans that align operations with fundraising goals.
The position requires a combination of high-level strategy and hands-on leadership in frontline fundraising, with the ability to maintain a robust portfolio of major donors and prospects. A strong leader, the CPO will be an inspiring manager who shares a vision for what opera can and should be.
- He Wrote The Hit Torch Songs of The Elizabethan Age
“(John) Dowland was well regarded; (he) was also well-connected, cosmopolitan and at times unusually well-remunerated for his work. Yet his musical expression was dominated by melancholy. With that imbalance comes the sense that Dowland had an acute understanding of his place in the musical market of the time.” – The New York Times
- Competitive Chess Is Wearing Down Its Champions
Life in chess has always been a struggle, never more so than today. During the two-year battle for the 2024 world chess championship, I saw tantrums, I saw tears, I heard one top grandmaster muse about leaving the game for a career in fashion. – The Walrus
- The Best Thing About LACMA’s New Building
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. – Los Angeles Times
- The Independent Philanthropist Changing The Future Of Brazilian Filmmaking
The Brazilian film industry has plenty of infrastructure for film production, but there was almost none for the early stages of development. So Olga Rabinovich founded, and singlehandedly funds, Projeto Paradiso to provide that support. During the Bolsonaro years, however, Rabinovich had to expand Projeto Paradiso’s remit. – Variety
- “The Marriage” – Enacting Gustav Mahler’s Demise and Alma’s Indecision
My play The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York was just premiered (as a work-in-progress) at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor. It’s my good fortune to be working with a terrific actress and director: Esther van Zyl and Jack Tamburri. We next produce the play (this time with lighting design)
- Needed: A NATO Alliance For American Universities
“We need a NATO for universities,” said Lee Bollinger, president emeritus of Columbia University. “When one university is attacked, everyone commits to coming to their defense. We need less capacity of individual institutions to make decisions about where we should go in defending universities and more power in a system.” – InsideHigherEd
- FCC Opens Investigation Into TV Ratings System
- What’s Really Wrong With Trump’s Arch: A Symbol Of Autocracy
What’s really wrong with Trump’s arch isn’t something that is always wrong with victory arches but, rather, something that is always wrong with all the architecture of autocracy. – The New Yorker
- What, Really, Will Result In The Ticketmaster/LiveNation Verdict?
“I can’t wait for the judge to get hit with a $45 ‘Verdict Convenience Fee,’ a $30 ‘Gavel Processing Fee,’ and an $80 ‘Digital Print-at-Home Ruling Surcharge,” a Reddit user cracked. (After the verdict, Live Nation said in a statement, “The jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter.”) – The New Yorker
