Dale Chapman, author of The Jazz Bubble: “Jazz is presently understood less as a commercially viable expressive form in its own right than as a symbol of something else: as an artistic practice that is seen as both ‘legitimate’ (in other words, as inoffensive to established institutions), and as contributing to multiculturalism, through its links to communities of color. Thus, jazz becomes the kind of genre that can give an imprimatur of both respectability and social inclusivity to a large redevelopment project, even while it may be of little interest to a prospective for-profit club owner.”
Cleveland Museum Invites The Musicians In To Be Inspired
“We’re in a very unique position at the art museum to be a tremendous platform or area for churning up ideas and inspirations. So what if we have composers in and say, with very few or no restrictions, ‘This is all here for you. What comes from this?’ And a broader, wider open space to think deeply about what moves us and what can come from that.”
Has Playwright Domonique Morisseau Had A Meteoric Rise? No – She’s Been Around A While
“A respected playwright for years, she is now a name playwright, a rising star. She ranked No. 5 on American Theatre‘s list of the 20 most-produced playwrights of 2017-18 — one spot above Arthur Miller … [and] Broadway is likely next.”
Hat & Beard, ‘Reinventing The Small Press For The Post-Crash 21st Century’
“It’s hard to avoid noticing that J.C. Gabel, a tall, almost burly transplant from Chicago, is — among other things — a bit of a ranter. … But the difference between Gabel, 42, and most people who declaim loudly on the patios of bookstores is that a) he’s generally — or at least arguably — right most of the time and b) he’s managed to put his money where his mouth is. … Surviving in the current publishing climate is impressive; thriving and expanding is almost bizarre. And Gabel and company have done it.”
It’s Time For British Arts Orgs To Prepare For ‘Catastrophic’ Hard Brexit, Warns Industry Group
“Creative organisations and businesses must now prepare for the ‘catastrophic’ possibility of losing employees, facing higher costs when trading goods and services and being denied access to European Union (EU) funding through a no-deal Brexit, the Creative Industries Federation (CIF) has warned.” A new guide distributed by the CIF warns arts organisations to carry out an audit and, if they find themselves highly dependent on the EU, to set up a branch in another member country.
Two Of London’s Top Orchestras Get New Summer Opera Gig
The Philharmonia Orchestra and the period-instrument English Concert have inked five-year partnership agreements, beginning in 2020, with Garsington Opera in Buckinghamshire. The Philharmonia will perform for two to three productions, with the English Concert playing for one or two; they will replace the current pickup group in the pit.
What Hollywood Could Learn From Success Of “Crazy Rich Asians”
Studios today gravitate more toward sequels and established franchises because they tend to be safer box-office bets. But audiences aren’t nearly as narrow-minded as the Hollywood development process might suggest. Time and again, films that appeal to a broader demographic range, or that belong to under-sung genres, sell many more tickets than predicted. Which is to say that multiple times every year, a film like Girls Trip, or Black Panther, or Crazy Rich Asians is dubbed a “surprise” success. But moving forward, industry experts—whether studios or box-office analysts—will have fewer reasons to be caught off guard.
This Is A Critical Time For LA’s Museum Of Contemporary Art As New Director Steps In
There’s been a lack of clarity in terms of the museum’s vision for 20 years now—it’s time for a plan that moves the institution forward. There’s also a critical mass of institutions of high ambitions now that makes for a very challenging and competitive landscape—Lacma is more engaged with contemporary art than ever before, and the Hammer [Museum] is at its most energetic and creative.
Have We Locked Ourselves Into Funding Only The Same Old Arts And Institutions?
“In Australia,” she told me, “we continue to have the debate about whether putting the majority of our cultural subsidy into the same 30 or so companies for more than 30 years, to produce works for the same audiences, in same venues, often with the same artists, is a good idea. It raises the same level of disbelief as our recent ‘referendum’ on marriage equality or whether the country should boot out Her Maj as our head of state and become a republic.
Nashville Is Becoming A Serious Place For Jazz
A couple of years ago I did some recon at ground level, meeting with players like Spivey, guitarist Andy Reiss and saxophonists Jeff Coffin and Evan Cobb. Everybody told me the same thing: that Nashville has always nurtured a small but serious jazz culture, and that its constituency, like so much else in this booming city, is growing at a prodigious rate.
‘Irony Poisoning’ – Yes, It’s A Thing, And We Should Take It Seriously
“Yes, at the moment the concept is seen as little more than another bit of self-referential young person slang, used only in the deepest recesses of the web. … But irony poisoning should be entered, we think, into the pantheon of social science concepts that are used to rigorously measure, study and perhaps one day understand how social media platforms can rewire your brain and alter society.” Max Fisher and Amanda Taub explore the concept and how it works.
In Search Of A More Inclusive Plural Form Of Address Than ‘You Guys’
“There are, of course, plenty of people — including many women — who have no problem being addressed as ‘guys,’ think the word has evolved to be entirely gender-neutral, and don’t see a reason to change their usage. But others aren’t so sure. … In the course of reporting this story, I heard from teachers who wanted a better way to get students’ attention, an ice-cream scooper who wanted a better way to greet customers, and a debate coach who specifically encourages his students to use ‘y’all.’ These are representatives of a broad coalition of people who have contemplated, and often gone through with, excising ‘guys’ from their vocabularies.”
Students Are Dropping The Humanities In Droves
“Five years ago, I argued that the humanities were still near long-term norms in their number of majors. But since then, I’ve been watching the numbers from the Department of Education, and every year, things look worse. Almost every humanities field has seen a rapid drop in majors: History is down about 45 percent from its 2007 peak, while the number of English majors has fallen by nearly half since the late 1990s.”
Disney Will Give Up Tax Breaks To Avoid Paying Disneyland Workers A Living Wage
“The Walt Disney Company came under heavy fire on Thursday for a decision to walk away from hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks for its southern California theme parks, a move critics are characterizing as an extraordinary last-ditch effort to avoid paying a living wage to thousands of workers.”
Orlando’s New Ballet Company Will Go Out Of Its Way To Protect Its Dancers’ Bodies
Joseph Gatti’s vision for his new troupe, United Ballet Theatre (which debuts this weekend), was inspired by a fracture in his foot three years ago: “The injury really opened my eyes to the organization of a company and the care and treatment that needs to be addressed constantly. I wanted to create a company that’s treating the dancers not just as artists but as athletes.” His plan, the Gatti Method, is “to build strength training, conditioning, recovery time and physical therapy into UBT’s daily schedule.”
New App Makes Bollywood Movies Accessible To Millions Of India’s Blind
“XL Cinema [is] an app developed in India that can synchronise an audio description of a movie with its cinema audio track. … Before the app’s arrival, the only way to watch a movie with audio description was to wait months after the film’s release to order a DVD from [the NGO] Saksham, if [it] had created one for that film.”
Can North America’s Shakespeare Theatres Expand Their Audiences Without Losing Their Reason For Existing?
Peter Marks: “One can sense, in visiting … companies and talking to leaders of classical theaters across North America, a revolution in how to package Shakespeare is not only gradually gaining momentum but is also being viewed as essential. At Stratford, for instance, an ethos prevails of theater as not simply a passive entertainment. More and more, it’s a conveyance for other social and intellectual activities on the sprawling festival campus.”
For Orchestras, Programming Music By Women Isn’t Just Doing The Right Thing – It’s Smart Audience Development
Peter Dobrin: “This is not about righting a social injustice, though programming more women is clearly that. … The predilection for passing through the graduated hoops of listener to subscriber to donor hinges upon emotion … [and] it means a lot to listeners when they see their own identity reflected in what their orchestra does.”
Troubled Newseum Loses Yet Another Top Exec
“Scott Williams is leaving the struggling Newseum after six years — including the past six months as the journalism museum’s president — to lead the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn. Williams is the latest of a string of senior executives to depart the struggling institution that last August began exploring the sale of its Pennsylvania Avenue building or closing entirely.”
New Crowdfunded Press Publishes Quick-Turnaround Books By Journalists On Current Affairs
Byline Media, a London-based crowdfunded platform for independent journalism, has launched a book-publishing arm. Byline Books’ first release, A Virtue of Disobedience by Asim Qureshi, “was typeset, proofed, and printed within five weeks of the fundraising effort’s end date, April 25.” Journalist Mark Piesing talks to Qureishi and to Byline Media co-director Stephen Colegrave about the venture.
Leonard Bernstein At 100
He was born 100 years ago on Aug. 25, and his centenary is being celebrated as his achievement — and the smilingly confident place and time he symbolized — seems ever more unrepeatable. Who today could write both “West Side Story” and three thorny, searching symphonies? Who could bring together Brahms and the Beatles on national television, and have millions watch? To what maestro’s left-wing political dalliances would New York magazine devote a cover story in 2018?
Headed Toward The Weekend And Still Catching Up
Fred Hersch Trio, Heartsongs (Sunnyside)
Sunnyside’s reissue of Hersch’s 1989 sessions reminds us how impressive the pianist was in his recording debut as a leader at the age of 34.
Frick Collection Makes Rare Purchase, Then Italy Tries To Block It After The Fact
“The Frick, which adds only sparingly to its collection, described the portrait” – a seven-foot-tall image of Prince Camillo Borghese (Napoleon’s brother-in-law) by François Gérard – “as its most significant painting purchase for nearly 30 years when it announced the acquisition last December.” Now the Italian culture ministry, saying that the portrait is important to the national patrimony, has canceled the export license for the work and is trying to get it returned.