For every composer affirming authority in their work, opera’s history offers counterexamples: creators so committed to establishing a new world order in sound that they resisted all conventions and invented their own instruments, their own ensembles or their own theaters. - The New York Times
The turmoil began after the MSO canceled a concerto appearance by a pianist who made a statement about Gaza from the stage. Musicians objected to that move but also called for the resignation of managing director Sophie Galaise for more general "poor communication, a lack of accountability and declining morale." - Limelight (Australia)
The destruction of so much of their culture has not just pushed Ukrainians farther away from the Russian-dominated cultural space they shared for decades under Soviet rule. It has also awakened a hunger for their own culture, described by one daily newspaper as a “Ukrainian cultural boom”. - BBC
"The collection — consisting entirely of works by L.A.-based artists — has been accumulated by (Jarl and Pamela Mohn) over the last two decades and is being called the Mohn Art Collective: Hammer, LACMA, MOCA, or MAC3. The gift is accompanied by a $15-million to $20-million endowment." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
Company soloist Ellen Hummel filed suit earlier this month against SF Ballet and a volunteer physician, alleging medical negligence and "reckless disregard" for her condition, resulting in career-ending injury. Former principal Mathilde Froustey filed a similar lawsuit, still in discovery, last year. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
New company director Anthony Roth Costanzo has raised over $7 million since he took over on June 1, and he says, "That fundraising is not only subsidizing this ticketing model, but a lot of it is inspired by this ticketing model." (Patrons who can afford more have a pay-what-you-wish option.) - WHYY (Philadelphia)
"The decision came as the clock ticked down on the time frame within which his group had to finalize a firm offer" — last week he bid $4.3 billion, then raised it to $6 billion — "that could be a viable alternative to Skydance Media’s pending ($8 billion) takeover agreement." - Variety
Le Monte G. Booker, currently CFO of Chicago's Field Museum, follows Charles Venable, who resigned in 2021 after controversy over one astoundingly ill-chosen word in the job description for the museum director, and Colette Pierce Burnette, who was hired to succeed Venable and abruptly resigned last November after 15 months. - Mirror Indy
"If Goehr’s own music has come to seem less significant than his importance as a teacher of some of the leading British composers of subsequent generations, then his role in creating what became a genuinely new force in British music after the second world war cannot be overestimated." - The Guardian
Last summer, the Russian soprano sued the company for cancelling all her engagements after she refused to denounce Putin following his invasion of Ukraine. A Federal judge has tossed out her claims for breach of contract, defamation, and discrimination due to national origin, permitting only her gender claim. - AP
"It emerged on the eve of this year’s festival that Creative Scotland faces cuts of up to £10m this year, amid widespread spending reductions across the public sector following the general election." Protest messages have been read onstage at both the International Festival and the Fringe. - The Guardian
The intent you form, the person you are, is the result of all the interactions between biology and environment that came before.… Each prior influence flows without a break from the effects of the influences before. There’s no point in the sequence where you can insert a freedom of will. - Hedgehog Review
He never did get that high-school degree—let alone attend a doctoral program in philosophy. His layman’s approach to serious thinking has left him untainted by the self-regard that so often attaches to expertise. - The Atlantic
These scores, which had never been publicly shown together, offered an uncommon perspective on the Ballets Russes productions that defined and transformed a generation of artists. The scores, by Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and others, many heavily annotated, “give a visceral sense of the working process.” - The New York Times
