“Sahba Aminikia is an Iranian-American composer, pianist, and educator born in post-revolutionary wartime in Iran. Aminikia first explored immersive, visceral music in a successful performance career before pivoting to artistic direction of Flying Carpet Festival, an international music festival serving refugee children in Turkey.” – I Care If You Listen
The Benefits Of Modesty
“If modesty sucks so bad, then why did I spend so much of my time thinking about it? Because, despite all the unsavoury accumulated baggage that modesty has acquired over the years, I think there is something there that is not only one of the important goods in life but is actually quite life-affirming. Seeing this means taking a short detour through some recent thinking on what modesty is, and what might be good about it.” – Aeon
Understanding Early Rembrandt – Not Much To Know
Only “a few dozen documents have survived: entries in administrative registers (bonboeken) relating to his family, the house and the mill… in which he was raised and notarial instruments. We have not a single letter, diary or notebook.” – New Statesman
Just What Are “Sensory-Friendly” Performances?
Producers turn down house lights about halfway, rather than putting the audience in complete darkness; vocalization from the audience is accepted; seating is limited up to 80% to allow audience members to get up and move around; people are allowed to exit and enter as they desire; and pricing is usually set at a general admission fee. – LEOWeekly
The Culture Story In Los Angeles This Year? The LA Philharmonic
Mark Swed: “The biggest story of all has been the stellar rise of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, becoming surely the most successful arts organization of the century so far through an insurmountable belief in the value of music to the betterment of humanity. The vision has been if you build a better concert hall, make new music widely available, and view the world through the lens of music and give it to kids who wouldn’t otherwise have it, good things happen.” – Los Angeles Times
Why Authors Like Austen Became Canonical: Cheap Books
“Cheap books make authors canonical.” Thousands of mid-century readers consumed “yellowback” versions of Austen’s novels, so-called because of the yellow paper stuck to the back of them on which advertisements were printed. The sheer proliferation of cheaply produced editions of Austen’s fiction has been invisible because very few of these books have survived. – The Guardian
Traditional Music Theory Teaches Inequality As A Matter Of Course
The majority of music students in the US don’t listen to classical or “Western art” music at all, except in classes. For those who teach music theory, questions emerge: “How can we justify our near-exclusive reliance on traditional pedagogy, especially in situations where it isn’t necessary to do so? What biases do we create in our students when we declare Western art music to be mandatory knowledge for anyone pursuing formal studies in music? What biases does this reveal in us?” – New Music Box
Fiction Versus Fake News
“Fake news stories have proved irresistible for readers. Studies have shown that people spread false news on Twitter six times faster than news that is true. Unlike novels, which create complex narratives that take time to consume and understand, fake news delivers ready-made conclusions to consumers with little or no context. These are sensational bits of information that do not provide nuance and do not invite interrogation.” – Columbia Journalism Review
The Truth About Facts (And Checking Them)
The great truth of fact-checking: while facts are sacred to writers, readers, and, above all, editors, they are sometimes more work than they’re worth. The importance of fact-checking—particularly when it comes to inconsequential detail—is based on the long-held theory that if you’re fastidious about the little things, the reader will trust you with the big things. But the history of fact-checking suggests that too often, the accumulation of verifiable minutiae can become an end unto itself. – Columbia Journalism Review
English Music? Why Do We Think Of It As Nostalgic?
Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the UK has suffered a collective breakdown over national identity and our relationship to Europe, and it should perhaps be no surprise to see the 48/52 divide reflected in our musical tastes. – The Guardian
The Importance Of Stalin Jokes
“By the 1980s, Soviet political jokes had become so widely enjoyed that even the US president Ronald Reagan loved to collect and retell them. But, 50 years earlier, under Stalin’s paranoid and brutal reign, why would ordinary Soviet people share jokes ridiculing their leaders and the Soviet system if they ran the risk of the NKVD (state security) breaking down the door to their apartment and tearing them away from their families, perhaps never to return? … And yet, countless diaries, memoirs and even the state’s own archives reveal that people [did].” – Aeon
The Feedback Loop Of Notoriety: How ‘Punk Organist’ Cameron Carpenter Ran Aground
Just a few years ago, he was getting intrigued, often admiring press for his rocker persona, uninhibited commentary, and astonishing technical skills. (Video of his manically flying feet at the pedalboard made him something of a YouTube star.) And he’d spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (and gone into debt) developing his Virtual Touring Organ, the electronic instrument to end all electronic instruments. Then, in 2014, Sony Masterworks released a documentary about him that became, frankly, a disaster. – Van
San Francisco Opera’s Hiring Of Eun Sun Kim As Music Director “Historic”
Kim’s appointment doesn’t just bring a musician of obvious artistry and interpersonal gifts to the company. The hiring of an Asian woman is also a historic advance for diversity, a badly needed development in a field where white men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions. – San Francisco Chronicle
At What Point Does Memoir Become Biography And Biography Become History?
“[Biography] was once thought, as Michael Holroyd called it, ‘the shallow end of history’, unable to provide sufficient context and with a tendency to exaggerate the role of individuals in the passage of time. … Many a biographer still falls in love with his or her subject, making the hope of objectivity even dimmer than for conventional history. And arguably the whole conceit is flawed.” – History Today
How The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Balanced Its Budget
The chamber orchestra is known for its low ticket prices; half go for $15 or less. That’s partly thanks to two programs: With a Netflix-style membership, people can pay just $9 a month to attend unlimited concerts. And, since 2016, children and college students get in for free. About 19.8% of the nonprofit’s income in 2019 was “earned,” a category that includes ticket sales, down from 22.4% last year. About 62.8% of its income came from contributions from people, companies and foundations, up slightly. The other piece of the pie — $1.9 million this year — comes from the SPCO’s endowment. – The Star-Tribune (Mpls)
How Reese Witherspoon Remade Herself Into A Genuine Multimedia Mogul
“Tired of dreadful scripts and degrading magazine spreads, the Oscar-winning actress, producer, entrepreneur and activist built an empire on her own taste and work ethic. Now she plots projects all over Hollywood and responds to critics of her paychecks: ‘Does it bother people when Kobe Bryant or LeBron James make their contract?'” – The Hollywood Reporter
Arkansas Repertory Theatre Went Dark Last Year. Now It’s Come Back From The Dead.
“The theatre, which has a current operating budget of $4.5 million, stopped producing last year to focus on tackling its [$2.6 million in] debts … As they planned to reopen, … the board focused on three elements that make the Rep ‘sacred,’ and that were a must for future sustainability: being affordable to attract audiences, producing relevant shows, and maintaining professional status [as an Equity house].” – American Theatre
What Classical And Jazz Concerts Offer That We Need So Badly These Days
Howard Reich: “Step into Orchestra Hall or the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Carnegie Hall or the Village Vanguard in Manhattan, Palais Garnier or Duc des Lombard in Paris, and you are entering sacred spaces where listeners seek something other than noise and sensation. … This means everyone in the audience must do something that increasingly is becoming a rarity: keep quiet and listen. Our individual voices, our opinions, our fervently held beliefs, our prejudices are not to be voiced here, at least not until concert’s end.” – Chicago Tribune
World’s Oldest Paintings Of Figures — 44,000 Years Old — Discovered In Indonesia
“The 4.5-metre-long panel … seems to depict wild pigs found on Sulawesi and a species of small-bodied buffalo, called an anoa. These appear alongside smaller figures that look human but also have animal traits such as tails and snouts.” – Nature
David Bellamy, Naturalist, Television Host, And Environmentalist, Dead At 86
“Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the BBC’s ‘Bouncing Botanist’ was a television regular, leaping over ‘wocky pwotuberwances’, enthusing over ‘twee pherns’ or plunging his hands lovingly into evil-looking sludge to declare it a ‘bweeding gwound for amazing organisms’. … [He] did for botany and ecology what David Attenborough did for biology.” In later life, though, a series of very controversial statements brought him into serious conflict with mainstream environmentalists. – The Telegraph (UK)
DEI Statements
A succinct statement and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is essential to arts organizations for internal and external reasons. This post is a response to the increasing number of such statements I am seeing. – Doug Borwick
The Late Donald Marron & Me: An Affable Collector with a Keen Eye for Contemporary Keepers
Early in my career, I had two contrasting contacts with Donald Marron, the much admired art connoisseur, philanthropist and financial-markets professional, who died on Friday at age 85. Both of those experiences left me impressed with Marron’s energy, empathy and acuity, even though I was on the hot seat during our second encounter. – Lee Rosenbaum
Klimt Painting Stolen 23 Years Ago Found Hidden In Gallery Wall
“The location of Portrait of a Lady, one of the world’s most sought-after missing artworks, has been a mystery since it was stolen in 1997. On Tuesday, a gardener clearing up ivy on an exterior wall of the Ricci Oddi modern art gallery, in the northern city of Piacenza, discovered a metal panel which, when opened, revealed a cavity with a painting in a bag.” – The Guardian
Thanos Creator Protests Trump Tweet Depicting Trump As Thanos (Clearly He Hadn’t Seen The Movie)
The scene comes from Avengers: Endgame, when Thanos says “I am inevitable” and snaps his fingers in an attempt to destroy all existing life in the Universe, only to discover his gauntlet no longer has the power. The responses on Twitter included one from historian and author Kevin M Kruse, who noted: “You’ve made Trump a supervillain and depicted him in the scene where his plan to kill everyone in the universe falls apart due to his arrogance and incompetence.” – BBC
Staged Trial Of Asylum Seeker Shines Light On EU’s Growing Refugee Problem
“Dutch asylum court is not exactly a well-trodden topic within performance art, but last week in Amsterdam, a one-off staging of a refugee trial asked the public to determine the fate of an actual case. The piece” — Ehsan Fardjadniya’s Refugee on Trial: Afghan Journalist Ali J vs. Netherlands — “asked questions about the role of performance in analysing complex social and legal issues, and with it how visual artists are using performance to platform issues often left hidden.” – The Art Newspaper
Portrait Of Zapata, Naked And In High Heels, Outrages Mexican Protesters
“Protesters stormed the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City on Tuesday over a painting showing revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata striking an unconventional pose. They shouted ‘burn it, burn it’, arguing that the painting, which shows Zapata in high heels and a pink hat, naked on an aroused horse, is offensive. … The work by Fabián Cháirez, called La Revolución (The Revolution), is part of an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Zapata’s death.” – BBC
How streaming, diversity, #MeToo shaped TV decade of change
“A bonus for viewers as they sort through the competing options: More programming doesn’t just mean more of the same. The decade has been marked by opportunities for diverse and candid voices.” – Yahoo! (AP)