"The musicians, all connected to the country’s network of youth orchestras, performed a roughly 10-minute Tchaikovsky piece outdoors under the watchful eyes of independent supervisors with the job of verifying that more than 8,097 instruments were playing simultaneously." - Washington Post (AP)
While some on this list are obvious, others may inspire an artistic pilgrimage - though Milan "is a chaotic hotchpotch of buttresses, pinnacles and a reputed 2,245 statues, part gothic, part classical. Like an overdressed model on a Milan catwalk." - The Guardian (UK)
From Google Doodle. Hensel "composed more than 450 pieces of music, most of which show a deep reverence for Johann Sebastian Bach. But she struggled with the societal constraints on the roles of women at the time and was overshadowed by her more famous brother." - CNET
Grossman "was unusual even by the standards of the Chelsea, the storied haven for quirky artists." Her apartment "had become so crowded with her accumulated artwork — largely abstract, highly conceptual drawings, sculptures and photographs — that ... she slept in her hallway on a lawn chair." - The New York Times
The targeted books are often by Black authors or other authors of color, and/or have queer content. Of course, the wannabe burners are calling the books "pornographic." - NPR
That two-year stint on The Crown wasn't the easiest for the multiple award-winning Colman, but "it wasn’t the actual Queen she found the hardest act to follow – it was Claire Foy, who had played the same character at a younger age in the earlier series."- The Guardian (UK)
"Slipcovers are what you put over a tired sofa or tatty armchair to refresh and resuscitate the worn-out object’s useful life. After the quarter-ton steel Die, Isermann’s light textile cube performs a resurrection ... avowedly secular and unequivocally domestic in form." - Los Angeles Times
Ahead of talks with Boris Johnson, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, "Our position is very clear. The marbles were stolen in the 19th century; they belong in the Acropolis Museum and we need to discuss this issue in earnest." - The Guardian (UK)
For instance, global heating "conveys 'more emphatically the seriousness of climate change caused by human activity and the urgent need to address it.' After all, global warming connotes a kind of coziness when there is nothing cozy about a heating planet." - CBC
French theatre is massively lacking in diversity, so "Le Mois Kréyol, which was created in 2017 by the Caribbean-born choreographer Chantal Loïal, also celebrates French Blackness — and is a reminder of what the country’s mainstream theater is missing." - The New York Times
Musician Melanie Charles wants to revitalize knowledge of, for instance, Betty Carter - whose "improvisational approach to singing that influenced generations." She was one of the first jazz artists with her own label, founded a jazz program at BAM, and brought up countless musicians. - Washington Post
Deaths are rare, but they're hardly unknown; however, music promoters like Live Nation, for instance, say that the rarity "proves that most shows are perfectly safe." - The New York Times
And that is ... an indictment of toxic masculinity? Sure, yes, absolutely. "Messing up, it must be said, is very much part of the Marvel hero’s DNA." - The Guardian (UK)
