“Fra Angelico,” which opens Friday and runs through Jan. 25, is one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year. Bringing together more than 140 works in two venues, it hopes to cement Fra Angelico’s reputation as an A-list Renaissance master. - The New York Times
"Although cities develop new activities and abandon old ones, they do so in a way that keeps their coherence constant. This suggests that such transformations are constrained: although cities can develop new activities and drop old ones, while doing so, the set of industries they maintain seems to need to stay coherent.
Over the last several months, Harvard has made significant changes to identity-focused programming — eliminating or rebranding entire programs abruptly and with minimal, if any, public explanation. - The Crimson
The situation wasn’t good for the orchestra in the ‘00s and ‘10s: the messy opening of the Kimmel Center, difficulties with its conductors, musician contract disputes, a financial crisis which made the Philadelphians the first major U.S. orchestra to file for bankruptcy. How different everything looks now … - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“Instead of having to go build a prototype physically or a model room, you can take people on this journey and then make the decisions on what to tap left or tack right on before investing heavily in physical architecture. It also changes the role of the architect and the designer in the process. - Fortune
Of the symphony’s 20 classical subscription concerts, only two of them feature American works in those all-important, major-work slots. Both of those concerts will take place in June of next year. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In 2010, to boost an economy still reeling from a 2008 banking crisis, Iceland’s government took advantage of the global attention brought by a volcanic eruption (which disrupted air traffic for days) to start a major advertising campaign for tourism. That campaign worked all too well. - The New York Times
The 12th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary comes 22 years after the book’s last hard-copy update. To make room for the new words (including “hard pass,” “beast mode,” and “adulting”), publishers removed sections which listed and defined places (“Kalamazoo”) and people (“Rimsky-Korsakov”) which people no longer use dictionaries to find. - AP
Early this month, moviegoers who saw preview screenings of the horror movie Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, posted on Chinese social media that one of a male couple shown getting married in the film was digitally altered into a woman. - NBC News
“The bronze-painted installation, titled Best Friends Forever, depicts the two men smiling at each other, each with an arm and leg raised as if in mid-frolic. 'In Honor of Friendship Month, we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his 'closest friend,' Jeffrey Epstein,' reads the plaque.” - NPR
The 49-year-old Slovak conductor, previously chief conductor of Italy’s RAI National Symphony Orchestra and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, took up the position in Houston in 2022. This latest agreement extends his term through the 2027-28 season. - OperaWire
The contract between the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and New York City PBS station WNET — which has operated NJ PBS since 2011, when then-Gov. Chris Christie eliminated funding to state-run NJN — expires on June 30, and the two parties have been unable to agree on an extension. - Inside Radio
“Alexander Loxton, who played the ‘older Billy’ in the West End musical Billy Elliot as well as dancing with the Royal Ballet …, says he suffered a career-wrecking ankle ligament injury during an unjustified stop-and-search by Met Police in September 2016.” He is suing for £600,000 (roughly $800,000) in damages. - The Independent (UK)
In addition to prizes presented in ten categories, the 35th first annual award ceremony — the theme: digestion — featured appearances by actual Nobel laureates, a mini-opera titled The Plight of the Gastroenterologist, and the secret to preventing lumps in your cacio e pepe sauce (which won the Physics Prize). - AP
“Some clubs are charging £5 for a ticket, you get to the bar and it’s £12 for a double,” meaning cash-strapped students will stay in or pre-drink heavily to spend less later. By raising ticket prices to £10-£15 but allowing BYOB, students come out, knowing they can then drink at supermarket prices. - The Guardian
