The average audience at Heinz Hall for the flagship classical series is roughly 1,450, just over half of the venue’s capacity and up 14% (!) from the previous season. Attendance at pops concerts continues to fall, but it’s rising at educational events and live-film-score concerts. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In 2023 Jerry Saltz said Refik Anadol’s Unsupervised at MoMA was just a fancy lava lamp. He took that criticism and turned it into Dataland, which is so immersive, so expansive and incredible, (it) feels like an official ushering into our new contemporary art world. - Artnet
"When I see people taking refuge for an hour in a supermarket, I say to myself: 'Why shouldn't the museum be a place of respite, rather than cafés or shops?' - Le Monde
Over chicken and gravy, Trump asked Bunch his opinion on four chandelier samples for the Oval Office; discussed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which Trump has proposed painting white; and talked about Republican calls to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex to Houston. - ARTnews
“Talk to authors, talk to prize judges, talk to critics and to editors and you hear versions of the same story. ... What might have been excellent books are marred by shoddy copy editing, flat-out errors, cursory proofreading — and, in some cases, an obvious lack of revision.” - The Guardian
“How did the new musical — long Broadway’s fundamental building block — become so scarce that the New York Drama Critics’ Circle opted to forgo an award this year for best musical, and two of the five Tony nominations for best score went to music composed for plays?” Well, several reasons. - The New York Times
The daughter of the founders of Houston’s Menil Collection, Christophe herself had a glittering social life filled with the arts and artists, and she funded career-establishing work by Robert Wilson, Twyla Tharp, Trisha Brown, and others. Her family life, on the other hand, was … well, fraught. - New York Magazine (MSN)
The show is Warriors, an adaptation of the 2024 concept album by Miranda and Elsa Davis. The source material is Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel The Warriors, which was adapted into the now-classic 1979 film. The Miranda-Davis musical, which makes the titular gang female, will start previews next March and open in April. - AP
“The Cartoon Art Museum has parted ways with Andrew Farago, the longtime curator and public face of the San Francisco institution who was arrested this month after Berkeley police said he secretly recorded guests using a bathroom during a party at his home.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“Fifty-five cultural institutions and 28 schools will benefit from grants ranging from $60,000 to $2 million,” with much of the money designated for buildings or infrastructure. “In previous years, the discretionary budget has been divided into small grants ... across sectors like the arts, public housing, social services and parks.” - The New York Times
The 55-year-old German composer-conductor has only been there for two seasons (he started in fall 2024), but the orchestra likes him well enough to extend his current contract for five additional years, keeping him through 2033-34. - Pizzicato
Gates: “If ... we found out that, let’s say, your daddy wasn’t your daddy but your daddy didn’t know, I have an ethics protocol; we would reach out to your publicist and say, ‘We’ve learned something in our research we need to discuss directly.’ And everybody knows it’s not good news.“ - The Hollywood Reporter
“I knew nothing about music,” he once said, looking back at his entry into the record business. Yet his instincts made him one of the surest spotters and nurturers of talent in pop history, with a long — and varied — line of success stories. - Los Angeles Times
She is creating a final solo work for herself — her first time onstage in 13 years — as a farewell, and she officially departs as artistic director of Lucy Guerin Inc at the end of this year. The company, based in Melbourne, has toured widely, from Paris to New York to Shanghai. - ArtsHub (Australia)
From the start of the second Trump administration, the entire Smithsonian had been a target of those on the MAGA right who are preoccupied with expunging what they understand to be “wokeness” from prominent institutions. - The Atlantic
