A succinct statement and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is essential to arts organizations for internal and external reasons. This post is a response to the increasing number of such statements I am seeing. – Doug Borwick

Early in my career, I had two contrasting contacts with Donald Marron, the much admired art connoisseur, philanthropist and financial-markets professional, who died on Friday at age 85. Both of those experiences left me impressed with Marron’s energy, empathy and acuity, even though I was on the hot seat during our second encounter. – Lee Rosenbaum

Emily Cass McDonnell, who stars as Hilda in the New York premiere of Lucas Hnath’s The Thin Place, knows that it works because of magic. An important part of the experience happens near the beginning of the play when Hilda engages an audience member. But not in any usual way. – Margy Waller

Talking NY Phil: “I’d wish for less attention and money to be squandered on overhauling the hall and more on improving the mix of musicians (guest soloists and visiting conductors) and on reimagining the programing, to make it more innovative and eclectic.” – Lee Rosenbaum

Richard Kostelanetz has produced many titles in his Archae Editions line of books over the past eight years via Amazon’s print-on-demand publishing service. But a few weeks ago they suddenly disappeared from the Amazon site. … – Jan Herman

The latest piece by choreographer Allison Orr — known for creating dances performed by forklifts, sanitation trucks, and the like — is From the Ground Up, made for Wake Forest University’s Facilities and Campus Services departments. Hundreds of people gathered at the Quad to watch lawnmowers waltz, housekeepers twirl and heavy equipment dance. – Doug Borwick

Any burglarized homeowner knows that a five-minute response time isn’t good enough when you’re dealing with grab-and-go criminals. Art museums should not be lured into false complacency with high-tech gadgetry. They are no substitute for the most basic, essential component of art stewardship — human guards. – Lee Rosenbaum

Our Thanksgiving team of William S. Burroughs and Norman O. Mustill has been a longtime happy pairing. It still is. So here they are again, sweetened by Heathcote Williams’s words in a narration-cum-montage by Alan Cox. – Jan Herman

How do you capture the scale, the struggle, the elemental extremity of mountain climbing? In the theatre? It’s simpler than you think. After all, they both use the same kit. – David Jays

Some major organizations have been trying to figure out how to help communities use the arts and culture to create strong, shared values. – Margy Waller

At Bloomberg, Tyler Cowen has a short post on some unintended consequences of a wealth tax, and his is (let’s say) an unusual take. – Michael Rushton

For me, the most jaw-dropping instance of curatorial (and directorial) trend-chasing was the Met’s announcement that the Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman had been commissioned by the museum to create two monumental paintings for the museum’s Great Hall. – Lee Rosenbaum

My work in the Pennsylvania city came in the middle of a long-term project of commissioning murals for the city. In October one was completed that impressed me so much I had to share it here. – Doug Borwick

Dozens of records, stacked and ready for selection. Before the walkman, spotify and sodcasting, they let you decide your own mood music. Public yet personal, sweetly selfish – the jukebox flourished in the 1950s, the decade in which Master Harold … and the boys is set. A box of delights, a cabinet of chrome and light and your favourite melodies. – David Jays

David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction (Origin)
“From the Portland, Oregon, sinecure in which he thrives when he’s not touring the world, bassist Friesen has been performing at home and abroad with his Circle 3 Trio.” – Doug Ramsey

Today’s announcement by the Metropolitan Museum about the “exceptional bequest” by trustee emerita Jayne Wrightsman (who died in April at 99) omits mention of a crucial way in which this windfall of some 375 objects, along with “substantial [but unspecified] additional funding,” is indeed “exceptional”. – Lee Rosenbaum

At last week’s very sparsely attended press preview for this week’s major auctions, I got a chance to chat about Sotheby’s era of uncertainty with four of the company’s principals. – Lee Rosenbaum

The Estonian kannel is primarily a plucked folk instrument, but these two young ladies — both of whom have studied music academically — had not played it until they found one, and decided to see what would happen if they approached it fresh. Their outside-the-box attitude here yields unexpectedly sophisticated and orchestral arrangements. – Michal Shapiro

Given the emphasis on increased diversity of representation for artists featured in the permanent collection — female artists, in particular, are more abundantly represented in the current hang and stand up to comparison with their more renowned male colleagues, and two special exhibitions reflect the museum’s increased attention to African-American artists — the apparent failure to include Native Americans in the new MoMA’s inaugural displays is beyond comprehension. – Lee Rosenbaum

To my ears, Porgy and Bess is the highest creative achievement in American classical music. Conrad L. Osborne is not convinced. A crucial sticking point is the anomaly my book exposes: it is an opera with two endings. – Joseph Horowitz

It was a coincidence that could not have been more welcome if it had had been planned; One day, the mailwoman brought two new albums that feature pianist Bill Mays. – Doug Ramsey

I’ve never bought a copy of Rolling Stone. but I did buy The Rolling Stone Record Review, a mass-market paperback that came out in 1971, and I read it until the glue dried up and the pages fell out. The first record that one of that book’s reviews made me go right out and buy was this one. – Terry Teachout

The following is an incredibly thoughtful response written by Carter Gilles to my post The Chasm of Disbelief. I am particularly grateful to him for pointing out the important role that doing the arts, participating in the arts, can play in overcoming disbelief. – Doug Borwick

Most props, most props, you could hold them in your hand. A suitcase. A tooth. A (shudders) doll. They’re part of the pleasure of theatre, the imagination made palpable. But sometimes, sometimes they stay imaginary. – David Jays

This was one the now-forgotten Warner/Reprise “Loss Leader” albums, a series of low-priced sampler albums by Warner/Reprise artists that was one of the most ingenious and effective promotional ideas ever to be devised by a major record label. – Terry Teachout

The first Wal-Mart outside Arkansas opened in 1968 in Smalltown, U.S.A. Its record section had three bins of classical albums, many of them from Victrola, RCA’s budget line, which featured reissues from the golden age of 78s. For me that meant, first and foremost, the man B.H. Haggin called the greatest of all orchestral conductors. – Terry Teachout

“Arthur Farwell is probably the most neglected composer in our history.” This assessment, by the late composer/critic A. Walter Kramer in 1973, rings ever louder today; Farwell has been deemed untouchable. Hounded by the watchdogs of “cultural appropriation,” he has fallen prey to dictates of political rectitude. – Joseph Horowitz

Sir Jonathan Miller’s direction of The Mikado — his staging, dating all the way back to 1986, is now back — is the source of the treasure-hoard that has allowed English National Opera’s survival for most of my opera-going life. – Paul Levy

The alto saxophonist has long found that the nine-piece-ensemble format stimulates his creativity, and over the years, he has made several nonet albums. – Doug Ramsey

My father had no knowledge of or interest in classical music himself, but he brought home a record for me whenever he passed through Memphis on business. This is the one I remember best. – Terry Teachout