“If other people like our dancing then that’s nice, but the real impetus to keep dancing has to be internal and be motivated from within.”
The Dynamic Duo That’s Supercharged the Canadian Opera Co.
In barely more than five years, general director Alexander Neef and music director Johannes Debus have taken the casting, productions and marketing up two or three levels, making the Toronto company one of the most important in the Western Hemisphere.
Why Repetition Is Fundamental To Our Enjoyment Of Music
“Music didn’t acquire the property of repetitiveness because it’s less sophisticated than speech, and the 347 times that iTunes says you have listened to your favourite album isn’t evidence of some pathological compulsion – it’s just a crucial part of how music works its magic.”
How 20,000 Lines Of Code Became One Of The World’s Most Recognized Sounds
“The THX Deep Note was played in front of 4,000 movie theater audiences a day, or around once every 20 seconds. Yet despite its distinctive crescendo, the THX Deep Note wasn’t actually composed so much as it was programmed, which makes it a fascinating success story of early computer audio design.”
City Of Seattle Creates Musician Loading Zones
“Seattle’s music scene is a critical part of our city’s cultural draw and the quality of life in our city,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “We want to better serve local music venues’ needs and the musicians that play there.”
The Grandmother of Body Art
Carolee Schneeman, “the avant-garde artist who bared her buttocks for Yoko Ono, filmed herself having sex when movies still couldn’t say the word ‘vagina’, and made art out of meat long before Lady Gaga, talks to Steve Rose.”
Warning: UK Curators Leaving Country For Higher Pay In US
“Higher salaries in North America are attracting an increasing number of British curators, and insiders warn that poor pay in London will lead to a “brain drain” from the city’s museums unless conditions improve.”
How A Small Bay Area Theatre Became A Powerhouse
“Our audience is made up of many of the greatest scientists, computer engineers, cooks, urban gardeners, authors, environmentalists in the country, if not the world. They want their experience at the theater to reflect the complexity and thoughtfulness of their daily work.”
Where Were The Outstanding Women Jazz Instrumentalists?
“Were there no female musicians playing instruments or do we just not know about them? The truth is that there were plenty of capable and talented ladies, but social expectations for the household matriarch did not include frequenting dance halls at night and touring around the country for weeks in a bus full of men.”
Fifteen Of The World’s Most Beautiful Concert Halls
“More and more concert halls are being built that stand out by virtue of their eye-catching shapes, colors and materials.”
Remembering Gerard Mortier And His Influence In America
“I can think of no one more important than the crafty, brilliant Belgian impresario in making opera a uniquely telling, relevant, contemporary and meaningfully controversial art form in Europe. But it wasn’t only Europe and it wasn’t only opera in which Mortier’s influence has proven pervasive.”
Trey McIntyre Project Shutdown – Does It Say Anything About The State Of American Dance?
“To be certain, the company’s January announcement that it was shutting down as a full-time performing troupe drew plenty of congratulations from some circles. But there was also a good deal of consternation about what this would mean for the folks in Boise.”
Study: Reading Literature Can Make You Less Racist
“Narrative fiction offers a rich context in which exposure to out-group culture and (a process of emotional) merging can occur,” the researchers conclude. “Supporting this notion, there is growing evidence that reading a story engages many of the same neural networks involved in empathy.”
Minnesota Orchestra Board Wants Vänskä Back, But Not as Music Director: Report
“Vänskä might be asked to take a limited role as a principal guest conductor, leading perhaps eight to 10 concerts a season, but without administrative duties, two sources within the orchestra’s board of directors said Monday.” The same sources say that the board voted strongly in support of controversial CEO Michael Henson.
Minnesota Orchestra Fans Press Board Hard for Vänskä’s Rehiring (As Music Director)
“Members of Save Our Symphony Minnesota have made it clear they’re not going away now that the lockout has ended. More importantly, they’ve made it clear to the board that they want Henson gone and Vänskä back … But understand, many of the board members are corporate heavyweights. Most corporate heavyweights don’t react well to ultimatums.”
George Saunders Is First Winner of Folio Prize
For his short story collection Tenth of December, “Saunders, a former Guardian columnist, became the first winner of the £40,000 Folio prize, an award created by people in the books industry who felt frustrated by what they see as the shortcomings of the Man Booker.”
Musicals Storm Olivier Award Nominations
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Merrily We Roll Along take seven nominations each, while The Book of Mormon, Once and The Scottsboro Boys each get six. Meanwhile, in the best director category, women outnumber men 3-to-1.
Actress Wendy Hughes, 61
“Her career spanned four decades, from … iconic Australian television series Homicide and Number 96, through to numerous film projects including My Brilliant Career and Careful, He Might Hear You.
Christie’s Postpones Basquiat Auction Following Forgeries Lawsuit
“Christie’s has postponed its online-only sale, ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: Works from the Collection of Alexis Adler,’ as it faces allegations in a federal lawsuit filed by the late artist’s heirs claiming that works in the collection may be fakes.”
Death of a Creation Myth: Jackson Pollock’s ‘Mural’
“Despite claims made and repeated for decades” – including by Lee Krasner (Pollock’s wife), Peggy Guggenheim (who commissioned the work) and critic Clement Greenberg – “Pollock did not paint the epic canvas in one great, glorious burst of nonstop creative fervor.” Christopher Knight explains how the myth got busted.
It’s Official: Amtrak Is Now Accepting Applications for Writer’s Residencies
“On Monday the company announced that up to 24 writers, chosen from a pool of applicants, will be given a round-trip ticket on a long-distance train, including a private sleeper-car room with a bed, a desk, and electrical outlets. The trains promise the romance. The writers will have to do the rest.”
$100K Nemmers Composition Prize Goes to Esa-Pekka Salonen
In addition to the cash award, the prize, given by Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, will do four residencies at the school over the next two years and have a work performed by the Chicago Symphony.
Korean Food Porn Is a Big Online Hit
“Every night at 10, thousands of Koreans tune in to watch Choi Ji-hwan eating on streaming video. The chubby-cheeked 24-year-old offers up a cooking lesson and then, in his main online act, devours a dish like kimchi pork stew in a wild, comic performance meant to make clear how much he enjoys a good meal.” (includes video)
See the Languages English Has Pillaged for Vocabulary In One Cool Graphic
Philip Durkin of the Oxford English Dictionary gives us a cunning interactive timeline.
CNN Discovers That Ballet Can Be Manly
“Tutus have been replaced with bare chests and tights, pointe shoes have been tossed aside for slippers, and delicate décolletages have been swapped for beefed-up biceps. Once the traditional arena of lithe ladies, ballet is seeing an increasing number of all-male shows – in one of the biggest shake-ups in the history of the profession.” (includes video)