"The orchestral sector and the opera and ballet sectors are facing a funding crisis at the moment, which might mean that the focus is not really on changing the culture but just on survival. But that’s not an excuse." - The Stage
It's not clear that the toxins (which likely came from wine, food, and ointments) were enough to kill the composer, but they were certainly enough to explain his severe, chronic gastrointestinal problems and, most likely, his deafness. - The New York Times
The stunt at the Pompidou Center Metz was organized by performance artist Deborah de Robertis (the one who was arrested in 2018 for getting naked at the Lourdes pilgrimage site). Ironically, the Metz show includes a photo of de Robertis displaying her own vulva under the one painted by Courbet. - France 24
"We feel that our reporting is good enough to exist globally and we feel that it's important to add a different perspective than the dominant American perspective on global news, because the global language is English. And as we all know, two people reporting on the same story don't write the same story." - The Media Mix
"(The Madrid museum) said in a statement the work, titled Ecce Homo (Latin for 'Behold the Man') by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio will go on display from May 27 until October as a special one-piece exhibition following an agreement with its new owner, who has not been identified." - AP
Professors and students have a right to express themselves on campuses but universities have restricted when and how they can do so, with limitations on things like amplified sound outside classrooms. But when it comes to punishing or censoring particular ideas "that to me is inconsistent with the First Amendment and academic freedom.” - InsideHigherEd
"To explore how organizations’ bottom line and working capital have fared over the last few years, we analyzed data from FY 2019 to 2023 collected from 233 organizations through the Cultural Data Profile." - SMU DataArts
"The suggestion that the 45-year-old Abravanel Hall could be demolished or altered has been floated as Smith Entertainment Group — the company ... that owns the Utah Jazz and the state’s newly acquired National Hockey League franchise — begins planning for an 'entertainment district' adjacent to the teams’ home at Delta Center." - The Salt Lake Tribune
Kyu-Young Kim cited "recent organizational decisions and shifts in priorities" for his decision, though he will continue as concertmaster. Subsequently, the 28 members of the SPCO musicians' union voted unanimously against the orchestra's president/managing director, Jon Limbacher, who has reduced the number of both performances and venues. - Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MSN)
Cited for his "richly evocative and genre-spanning film criticism that reflects on the contemporary moviegoing experience," Chang worked at the L.A. Times for nearly eight years; this past January he moved to The New Yorker. - Los Angeles Times
Sorey takes honors this year after having been a finalist last year for his Monochromatic Light (Afterlife). Adagio, which "moves at a glacial pace, (yet) holds its subject in steady focus," is written for alto saxophone soloist and orchestra and was commissioned by the Lucerne Festival and the Atlanta Symphony. - NPR
The story of a middle-aged man suddenly laid off from his job at a bookstore, Primary Trust premiered last summer at New York's Roundabout Theatre Company. The other finalists were Shayok Misha Chowdhury's Public Obscenities and Here There Are Blueberries by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. - Deadline
Night Watch took honors for fiction, Nathan Thrall's A Day in the Life of Abed Salama for general nonfiction, Cristina Rivera Garza's Liliana’s Invincible Summer for memoir, Brandon Som's Tripas for poetry. Eig's King: A Life shared biography honors with Ilyon Woo's Master Slave Husband Wife. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Nicholson Baker is a professional writer who has become an amateur artist. It is hard to get good at one art form, harder still to make a living from it and hardest of all to get good at another. - The Wall Street Journal
