“As we make our way to two million, there’s the 35,000-foot level where the role for artists to play is quite significant and very much needed. That’s more on the philosophical side: Why arts are a must-have, not a nice-to-have, in my opinion." - Calgary Herald
It’s not just because of the intensity of the competitors, though that counts for a lot. Stefan Fatsis recounts a contested play at last year’s North American championship and the confusion arising from — let’s call it a breakdown of lexical authority. - Unabridged
After hitting a peak of $4.4 billion in 2022, spending on film and TV production in Georgia has tumbled, reaching just $2.3 billion in the last fiscal year, as total productions dropped from 412 in 2022 to 245 last year. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
The time when every musical event, every world premiere, every opera opening, was the spark for a lively public discussion is gone. In its place we have, or soon will have, silence. - On a Pacific Aisle
The company’s end wasn’t planned, but it became necessary when its artistic director and co-founder, Tina Finkelman Berkett, decided to step back from her role, citing fundraising fatigue and a desire for change. - Los Angeles Times
She won an Olivier in 1979 and a Tony in 1981 for the title role in Piaf; alongside film and television roles — including a starmaking performance as Marie Curie in a BBC miniseries — she had a long career as an admired classical stage actor, in particular with the Royal Shakespeare Co. - The Guardian
Early last year, the Basque maestro — former chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and the Cincinnati May Festival and a very busy guest conductor — revealed his diagnosis. He has now announced that the disease has progressed and that, following final concerts this month, he is ending his career. - IMG Artists
“The British street artist’s identity has been debated, and closely guarded, for decades. A quest to solve the riddle took Reuters from a bombed-out Ukrainian village to London and downtown Manhattan — and uncovered much more than a name.” - Reuters
Caelainn Hogan: “I am a freelance writer who, like most artists, has always had to work outside my creative focus to afford to live. ... As such, the basic income was life-changing. Only months into the scheme, I found out I was pregnant.” - The Guardian
“The 1850 daguerreotypes, a precursor to modern-day photographs, are of an enslaved man named Renty, his daughter Delia and five others known as Jack, Drana, Alfred, Fassena and Jem. … Harvard University turned the photos over to the International African-American Museum in Charleston after a seven-year legal fight.” - AP
Next season, 2026-27, will be the last for both the Boston Philharmonic and its associated youth orchestra. The identity of the organization is thoroughly bound to that of Zander, the conductor who founded both ensembles and is now 87. - Boston Classical Review
In response to a statement to The Boston Globe by GBH’s CEO proposing a merger, WBUR CEO Susan Low said that she and the station’s board have “very closely” examined the idea but that “WBUR and GBH are also very different organizations. And we believe the community benefits from that.” - WBUR (Boston)
The CEO of GBH, which operates one of the U.S.’s leading PBS television stations as well as a public radio outlet, says that merging with WBUR would end competition for donors and more efficiently utilize resources in the wake of federal defunding of public broadcasting. - The Boston Globe
The climate crisis has caused devastated cacao farming in West Africa, causing huge price spikes and volatility in the cocoa commodity market — leading companies like Hershey’s and Cadbury, which manufacture inexpensive chocolate products for ordinary consumers, to start using other ingredients. - The Guardian
By some measures, there are as many as 1 million books published annually in the US, and it’s a number that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The result is that there is intense competition for the small slice of the review landscape that remains. - Book Work
