ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

PEOPLE

Composer Alexander Goehr Has Died At 92

"If Goehr’s own music has come to seem less significant than his importance as a teacher of some of the leading British composers of subsequent generations, then his role in creating what became a genuinely new force in British music after the second world war cannot be overestimated." - The Guardian

The Warehouse Worker Philosopher (With A Podcast)

He never did get that high-school degree—let alone attend a doctoral program in philosophy. His layman’s approach to serious thinking has left him untainted by the self-regard that so often attaches to expertise. - The Atlantic

Tampa Bay Times Book Critic Signs Off

"As book critic I’ve read, on average, three books per week, about 150 per year, which adds up to about 2,500 books over 17 years. My home decorating theme is bookshelves, accented by piles of books." - Tampa Bay Times

Acclaimed Jazz Guitarist Russell Malone Has Died, On Tour In Japan, At 60

Malone, who played with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall, "was highly regarded for his versatility: He was able to support a variety of singers and instrumentalists in a range of styles, but he also had his own well-defined sound as a bandleader and soloist.” - The New York Times

What Emmy-Nominated Actor Anna Sawai Gained From Being In Season One Of Shogun

Sawai says that while filming, “I didn’t understand the intensity of what I was mentally going through, and how much it had affected me, but it speaks volumes now. I want to approach all my projects the way I approach Mariko.” Alert: Spoilers in the article. - The New York Times

Hettie Jones, Supporter And Publisher Of The Beats, Has Died

Jones  was “a poet and author who with her husband, LeRoi Jones, ... made her household a hub for Beat writers and other artists — but who was often described as a footnote in the rise of her famous spouse as ‘the white wife’ he disavowed.” - The New York Times

Did Brian Eno Really Use Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” As The Urinal It Was Originally Manufactured To Be?

He's certainly happy to claim that he did, having told the tale several times with plenty of backstory and detail. And he has quite an answer when asked if he did any damage to the piece. That said, there seems to be no independent evidence that Eno actually went through with it. - Artnet

Walking Around The Bronx With Ian Frazier

Dan Kois writes that their excursion showed him just why Frazier may be, in Kois's words, "the Greatest Nonfiction Writer in America." - Slate (MSN)

Ian McKellen Says His Fat Suit Saved Him From Injury During Recent Stage Fall

"It was in the battle scene. My foot got caught in a chair, and trying to shake it off I started to slide on some newspaper that was scattered over the stage, like I was on a skateboard." - Saga

Publisher Is Selling George Orwell Papers, Breaking Up Valuable Collection

The treasure trove that is the extensive archive of correspondence and contracts amassed by Orwell’s original publisher, Victor Gollancz, could be scattered to the winds in what has been described as an act of “cultural vandalism”. - The Guardian

Harold Meltzer, Composer And Contemporary Classical Evangelist, Has Died At 58

"(He) set aside a career as a lawyer to create a highly regarded body of energetic, colorful chamber, vocal and orchestral scores that mixed accessibly melodic themes and rich ensemble textures with the sharp-edged angularity of modernism." - The New York Times

French Actor Alain Delon, 88

Mr. Delon, who vaulted to fame with his performance as the murderous opportunist Tom Ripley in “Purple Noon” (1960), was sometimes called “the male Brigitte Bardot” for his smoldering good looks. - Washington Post (MSN)

Phil Donahue, 88

Across the years — he moved from Dayton to Chicago in 1974, and then to New York in 1985 — he interviewed presidential candidates and Hollywood stars, consumer advocates and feminist pioneers. He also televised a child’s birth, an abortion, a reverse vasectomy and a tubal ligation. - The New York Times

Woman Arrested For Trying To Fraudulently Sell Graceland

Federal authorities on Friday arrested and charged a Missouri woman in connection with the scheme to fraudulently auction Elvis Presley’s historic Graceland mansion. - Los Angeles Times

A Star Cellist’s Long Road Back From Long COVID

As he began preparing, his body and mind rebelled. He would start shaking as he played. “Not great for anybody,” he said, “let alone a cellist who relies on steady hands.” - The New York Times

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');