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One Of America’s Hottest Young Playwrights Is Putting Down Syndrome Onstage

Corsicana, the latest script by Will Arbery (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), is "the rare play to feature both a lead character — and a lead actor — with Down syndrome." (Arbery himself has a sister with Down syndrome.) - The New York Times

What Radio Hosts Bring To Classical Music

Throughout the country, radio hosts play a key role in bringing classical music into the everyday lives of listeners and connecting them to the classical community. - Strings

Has A Stolen Altarpiece From Italy Been Sitting In The Cleveland Museum Of Art For A Century?

"At least, that was the assertion made by a group of nine Italian senators in a July 2020 parliamentary session. (They) urged the Minister of Cultural Heritage to pursue the restitution of the artwork to Italy." The Cleveland Museum says this is the first they've heard of it. - Artnet

This String Quartet’s Board Fired Them. Now The Board Has Been Replaced And Musicians Rehired

The resolution was reached with help from two attorneys who read about the plight of the fired quartet members – cellist Myles Jordan, violinists Ferdinand “Dino” Liva and Lydia Forbes and violist Kirsten Monke – and wanted to support them. - Portland Press Herald

Keeping Jazz Alive In Detroit

You cannot tell the history of jazz in America without also telling the history of jazz from Detroit. From the mid-20th century until the present day, Detroit has been one of the primary feeders of talent to the national scene. - Jazz Times

“Fundamentally, It’s Just Really Beautiful”: Reviving The Music Of The First Published Black Composer

Born in 1520 to (most likely) a Portuguese father and African-descended mother, Vicente Lusitano published three volumes of highly accomplished sacred works and music theory. (Performers call his motets "top level polyphony," "opulent," and "really gorgeous.") Why was Lusitano forgotten? It wasn't only racism ... - BBC

Nashville (!) Has Developed A Thriving Early Music Scene

"(Historical performance has) been ebbing, flowing, and growing in Nashville for nearly 20 years. The city is home to two HP ensembles ... (and) there are (two) churches ... that serve as regular venues for early-music performances, along with choral groups that routinely perform Renaissance and Baroque music." - Early Music America

Okay, Who At Netflix Thought It Was A Good Idea To Turn “Squid Game” Into Reality TV?

Granted, the losers in the reality-show version won't be killed, but still.  In his announcement, the suit who greenlit this thanked the original series's director for "his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment."  (Maybe he should be a contestant.) - Newsweek

The Washington Post Now Has A Hollywood Deal

"The Washington Post and Imagine Entertainment have entered into a strategic partnership to create scripted and non-scripted film and television properties culled from The Post's vast archives, current reporting, and ongoing investigations." - Deadline

Kevin Spacey Arraigned In UK On Four Charges Of Sexual Assault

"The 62-year-old is also facing a fifth charge of causing a man to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He was not asked to enter pleas for the alleged offences from 2005 to 2013 ... (and was) given unconditional bail."  (Pleas will be entered on July 14.) - BBC

Director Of Paris Opera Ballet Resigns Following Years Of Criticism

Aurélie Dupont, who is 49 and has been at the company since the age of 10, was appointed hastily following the resignation of Benjamin Millepied in 2016; two years later, an internal survey revealed extensive discontent and dysfunction.  She departs on July 31. - Le Monde (in English)

A Zen Priest Wins The 2022 Women’s Prize For Fiction

The novel has the rather Zen title The Book of Form and Emptiness, and its author is American-Canadian novelist and filmmaker Ruth Ozeki (who, yes, is a Zen Buddhist priest). Among the other finalists for the ÂŁ30,000 award were Elif Shafak and Louise Erdrich. - BBC

Why Do Dictators Have Such Bad Taste?

Their palaces and possessions are their trophies and their way of bragging to the world that they have succeeded. And they become the physical manifestation of their immunity from prosecution or public opinion. - The Art Newspaper

Welcome To The Cheech: Major Chicano Museum Opens

Cheech Marin has amassed a collection of more than 700 paintings, drawings, sculptures and mixed-media works by Chicano artists. In art-world circles, Marin’s trove of Chicano art is believed to be the largest such collection in the world. - The New York Times

A Fluxus Pioneer Explains It All

On June 21, Nye Ffarrabas turns 90. She is "in the midst of several new Fluxus projects". When asked whether she had any advice for her 20-year-old self, without hesitating she smiled and said, "Forget the 1950s."

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