Cross-disciplinary education is in fashion right now, but I have the impression it’s more honored in the breach than the observance, at least insofar as music is concerned. My vantage point is limited but informative. As readers of this blog know, I have for years espoused using the story of Dvorak in America to sneak the humanities into Social Studies and History classrooms … [Read more...] about Teaching Music Across the Curriculum
Search Results for: music unwound
A Message for Young Musicians and Old Orchestras
I was recently entrusted with delivering the graduation address for the School of Music at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. I wound talking about the future of orchestras. My larger point was that this is a moment for young musicians – and not so young institutions – to hone their sense of mission. Here’s what I had to offer: A lot of the writing that I’ve done … [Read more...] about A Message for Young Musicians and Old Orchestras
“What if JFK had not been assassinated? People talk about: What would have been the impact in Vietnam? What interests me is: What would have been the impact on the American arts?”
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy has published an interview with me pondering the implications of my study of the cultural Cold War, “The Propaganda of Freedom.” You can read the full interview here. Excerpts follow: The book began one day when I attended an event at the National Archives about the Kennedy White House and Arts Policy. For the first time, I became … [Read more...] about “What if JFK had not been assassinated? People talk about: What would have been the impact in Vietnam? What interests me is: What would have been the impact on the American arts?”
The Boston Symphony’s Castigated Blueprint Makes Sense
Today’s online “Arts Fuse” carries a piece of mine commenting yet again on the Boston Symphony firestorm, which pits enraged musicians against the management and board – and turns Andris Nelsons, the outgoing music director, in a martyr. Excerpts follow. The read the whole thing, click here. A 14-page “State of the Boston Symphony Orchestra” manifesto, dated April 17, 2026 … [Read more...] about The Boston Symphony’s Castigated Blueprint Makes Sense
How AI Terminated 1,477 NEH Grants: A Naive Exercise in Casuistry
From 2010 until its sudden termination by DOGE last April, I directed Music Unwound, an NEH-funded national consortium of orchestras and universities. A letter from Michael McDonald, the acting NEH chairman, informed me that the demise of Music Unwound represented “an urgent priority for the administration.” It was ended “to safeguard the interests of the federal … [Read more...] about How AI Terminated 1,477 NEH Grants: A Naive Exercise in Casuistry