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When Musicians’ Bodies Turn On Them

The term dystonia is rooted in the Latin prefix dys, or difficulty, and tonus, meaning tone or tension. It refers to involuntary disruptions in muscle tone that cause spasms and shakes. It has been divided into many categories and subtypes, depending on the body parts affected and the age of the person when it began. - The Guardian

The Top Classical Music Radio Station In America? It’s In Portland Oregon

“We’ve received our ratings from Nielsen, and they said it is not even close,” said All Classical’s President and CEO Suzanne Nance. “We’ve been pulling a 6.5 market share, and the closest competitor is 3.0.” - The Oregonian

A Northern Ireland Orchestra: Peace Through Music

The key aim was to use music to connect young people from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds on both sides of the Irish border. Almost 30 years on, this remains the central goal of the 140-member orchestra. - BBC

Study: Why Art Seems Better When You See Something Of Yourself In It

A recent set of studies in the journal Psychological Science suggests that a more personal factor – specifically, how much a piece of art seems to relate, in one way or another, to you – can contribute greatly to its aesthetic power. - Psyche

CBC Ditched ExTwitter. Didn’t Make Much Difference

"The audience and engagement that we get from X is small. Among our social media platforms, X is among the smallest sources of traffic," a CBC spokesperson told The Canadian Press when asked why it hasn't fully returned. - Yahoo!

Why Does The California Arts Council Keep Changing Its Funding Guidelines Without Warning?

Since 2021, the agency has given general operations funding only to organizations with budgets under $250,000. In March, the CAC lifted that cap — and then reinstated it in August. Many larger organizations spent time completing the very involved application, then learned they weren't eligible after all. Why? - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)

Americans Are Cutting Back Their Streaming Subscriptions

Reports said that many Americans were paying for up to six streaming services. Since then, numbers have mostly returned to pre-pandemic with Americans paying for about three or four subscriptions. - Cordcutters News

I Reviewed The Most Popular Artist On Social Media. His Followers Came After Me. Here’s What I Learned.

Devon Rodriguez, known for his live drawings of subway riders, has millions of fans on Instagram and TikTok. Ben Davis reviewed Rodriguez's first solo show (whose opening was covered by CNN), and Rodriguez sicced his fans on Davis — who says this all "raises some larger issues worth thinking about." - Artnet

Cleveland Museum Of Art Sues Feds To Block Seizure Of Ancient Sculpture

The lawsuit comes two months after a New York judge issued a search warrant citing “reasonable cause” to believe the statue, which was legally acquired by the museum almost four decades ago, was stolen property. - CNN

The Wealthy San Francisco Matron Who Transformed Modern Study Of The Aztecs

"(Zelia Nuttall) was the first to decode the Aztec calendar and identify the purposes of ancient adornments and weapons. She untangled the organization of commercial networks and transcribed ancient songs. … Having taught herself Nahuatl, she was the first to transcribe and translate ancient manuscripts." - Smithsonian Magazine

New Tool Lets Artists “Poison” Their Images At The Pixel Level To Thwart AI

Using it to “poison” this training data could damage future iterations of image-generating AI models, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, by rendering some of their outputs useless—dogs become cats, cars become cows, and so forth. - MIT Technology Review

Washington Ballet Names A New Artistic Director

"Edwaard Liang comes to Washington after spending the past decade as artistic director of BalletMet, an esteemed midsize company in Columbus, Ohio. He is credited with nearly doubling the organization’s budget and choreographing 21 works during his time there, which also saw an expansion of BalletMet’s school." - MSN (The Washington Post)

The Twisty-Turny Saga Of The British Museum Thefts

So began an antiques whodunit—whose cast of characters includes an Oxford-based priest-cum-archaeologist, a handful of rare-gem dealers and some of the British Museum’s most august researchers—that has shaken the premise behind the museum’s most important reason for existing. - The Wall Street Journal

Why Investing In A Broadway Production Is Like Investing In A Tech Startup

The Indicator podcast from NPR's Planet Money features a tech exec-turned-Broadway producer who says that "the industry fully functions like venture capital. If you fail, it just goes (whooshing sound) to zero." The crucial difference is in how you scale up. (audio plus transcript) - NPR

Steven Lutvak, Composer Of “A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder,” Is Dead At 64

"Over the years, Mr. Lutvak wrote several musicals that were staged in regional theaters and Off-Off-Broadway. But none were nearly as successful as A Gentleman’s Guide.' … The show opened in November 2013 and ran for 905 performances over more than two years," winning four Tony Awards. - The New York Times

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