In the classical music world, this tension between prioritizing diversity and emphasizing the traditional system of meritocracy is one of the greatest sources of friction, mirroring a similar cultural argument taking place in other institutions and industries around the country. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The composer himself had an intensely mathematical brain. He would sign his name in music, and would even hide little references to the numbers 14 and 41, which acted as his numerical signature, in his works. - ClassicFM
They ‘must not be far-fetched, or they will be difficult to grasp, nor obvious, or they will have no effect’, as Aristotle already noted nearly 2,500 years ago. For this reason, artists – those skilled enhancers of experience – are generally thought to be the expert users of metaphors, poets and writers in particular. - Aeon
"In the 1990s, the halftime show started to draw more viewers than the game itself by featuring performances from the biggest pop artists in the world. … But it’s a short, high-risk, unpaid gig that offers little chance to demonstrate musicianship, while opening performers up to jokes, gaffes, and political approbation." - Quartz
“So many years I haven’t done ballet. And then suddenly Jennifer comes and tries to bring everything up. To me, it was like a shock.” - The New York Times
Portman, who plays a method actress in May December, called method acting "a luxury women cannot afford." But acting professor Evi Stamatiou points out that "most accounts of the method style focus on male actors misbehaving under the guise of the character" and there are much better approaches. - The Conversation (ArtsHub)
The effect of the national concorso system is that successful applicants may be placed somewhere geographically inconvenient or at odds with their own expertise. ‘You may have a collection of Renaissance art and you are sent a curator that specialises in performance art from the 1960s." - Apollo
"SCB’s Board of Directors released a statement sharing the news that the allegations eight of its former dancers made against artistic director Caroline Sheridan were deemed unfounded by an independent HR company" (one presumably paid by SCB). Those dancers have since formed a new company. - CNY Central (Syracuse)
The Akwesasne Freedom School, on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, on the St. Lawrence River where New York, Ontario and Quebec meet, teaches K-8 classes entirely in Mohawk. The school, run by a nonprofit, has both American and Canadian students but accepts no money from either government. - The Christian Science Monitor
Whether you want to write a book, run a marathon, or play a Beethoven sonata, here are three rules that can supercharge your effort—inspired by the 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and backed up by modern social science. - The Atlantic (MSN)
"The moves indicate a desire on the part of the new government to restore international credibility after years of culture wars, but they also reflect pressure from sections of Poland’s arts community to reverse the interventions of the previous right-wing PiS (Law and Justice party) regime." - The Art Newspaper
"Italy has donated a reconstructed Assyrian statue to Iraq in what (was) described as a 'miracle of Italian cultural diplomacy'. Constructed in the ninth century BC, the 5-meter-tall Bull of Nimrud was destroyed by ISIS fighters in 2015; Italian artisans made a copy of the monument using 3D-printing technology." - The Art Newspaper
"Not counting the short-lived 'popular film Oscar' which never came to be, this is the first time the Academy has added a category since Best Animated Feature Film was established in 2001. … The first statuette (for casting) will be presented starting with the 98th Academy Awards in 2026." - AP
"Cuban-American journalist and former Sundial host (Carlos Frías) filed a federal discrimination complaint Tuesday asserting that he and his staff experienced discrimination at the station, including being told by an editor that the show was 'sounding very Latino.'" The daily show was abruptly canceled last Friday, with its producers laid off. - Axios
