Stories

San Diego Symphony To Do Its First-Ever European Tour

The 116-year-old orchestra’s European debut will be in Barcelona in late April of next year, followed by performances in Toulouse, Hamburg, Paris and Dublin. Music director Rafael Payare will conduct, with pianist Javier Perianes as soloist in Spain and violinist Leonidas Kavakos featured on the remaining dates. - The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)

The Metropolitan Opera Auditions Boa Constrictors

Zoe Ziegfeld, a carnival performer who plays a snake handler in the Met’s Coney Island-inspired staging of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, tried out a number of snakes for this season’s revival of the production. This time out, she settled on a sun-glow boa named Princess. - AP

AMC Settles Lawsuit Over Profit-Sharing On “The Walking Dead”

“The lawsuit, initially filed in 2022, was about the profit participation rights for the original Walking Dead series, and its first spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead. AMC says that it will pay $120 million to resolve the lawsuit, including $85 million this month, with another $35 million next year.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Summer Season At U.S. Movie Theaters Sets All-Time Box Office Record

“Domestic ticket sales from May 1 through Labor Day on Sept. 7 stand at $4.76 billion, according to Rentrak. Revenues surpassed the long-held record set in 2013 with $4.755 billion, anchored by Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2 and Man of Steel.” - Variety

Today In French Museum Robberies: Thieves Take Renoirs From Museum On Riviera

Just a few days after the question of whether Pierre-Auguste Renoir was even a good artist re-entered public discussion, some “well-equipped” and “well-informed” burglars made off from two paintings from Renoir’s home in Cagnes-sur-Mer. (In their rush to escape, the thieves left two other works in the garden.) - AP

Kennedy Center Chairman That Trump Fired Buys Sculpture That Trump Had Removed

David Rubenstein, the billionaire philanthropist who was chair of the Kennedy Center’s board until Trump ousted him in early 2025, has purchased the Joel Shapiro sculpture Blue, which was carted away from the Center’s grounds last week. Rubenstein will loan the work to the National Gallery’s Sculpture Garden. - The New York Times

The Point Of Reading Pauline Kael

I don’t read Pauline Kael to track my sensibility with hers on an aesthetic oscilloscope. I read her because I think she—more than any writer I know, including Agee—brings the whole of herself to writing about movies.  - Hedgehog Review

How Art And AI Can Hold Each Other Accountable

Beyond pushing our concepts of “who” can make art, AI provides a new medium for art experience — it is immersive and participatory.  - Stanford

What We Didn’t Understand About Yayoi Kusama

When she died last month, 37 years later, Ms. Kusama — in her life and her art — was obscured, paradoxically, by too much fame. - The New York Times

Would A NYT Lawsuit Win Against Anthropic Be A Disaster For Smaller Publishers?

“If the administration’s position was accepted, it would result in an unprecedented, uncompensated transfer of IP rights from news organizations to tech companies,” said Matt Topic, a lawyer at Loevy & Loevy who is representing The Intercept in the case. - NiemanLab

UK Loans Parthenon Pieces To Germany

The British Museum will lend two fragments of the Parthenon sculptures to an exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, while Greece has rejected a request to lend nine Parthenon fragments from the Acropolis Museum for the same exhibition. - Greek Reporter

Officials Renew Calls To Close After Falling Ceiling Piece At Kennedy Center

A Kennedy Center Spokesperson called the partial ceiling collapse Friday “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed.” - AP

The Lucas Museum’s Populist Bet

It would be easy to describe the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which opens Sept. 22, as “unconventional,” a description the museum’s leaders seem to favor, though “oppositional” also comes to mind. - Los Angeles Times

Other Industry Leaders Say Not To Worry About AI, At Least If You’re A Designer

In Britain, “the head of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers said many people working in his industry were nervous about AI. He said design companies were more likely to use AI as ‘the intern in the office’ than as a replacement for skilled staff.” - The Guardian (UK)

Bill Gates, Yes, That Bill Gates, Sounds A Strong Alarm Over AI

“He laid out five broad areas of concern: jobs, biotechnology, cyberattacks, psychosocial harms and whether humans will be able to maintain control over the systems they are building.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

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