Lithuanian conductor Giedrė Šlekytė, 37, becomes Music Director Designate immediately and fully assumes the job in the fall of 2027. Current music director Thomas Søndergård, who is also music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, will take an emeritus title. - Bachtrack
The Joseph Jefferson Awards present two sets of honors, one for Equity productions and another for non-union shows at the area’s storefront theaters. The Jeff Committee is suspending consideration of non-Equity shows opening after June 1 due to backlash over an award in March to a director accused of abuse. - WBEZ (Chicago)
“In a lawsuit filed Monday, The Cultural Landscape Foundation said the administration’s moves to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without undergoing relevant reviews ran afoul to federal preservation laws governing historic sites.” - AP
“The investigation began after the suspect was stopped by police in Paris on April 28; he was allegedly driving with a forged license. Officials said the man's phone was accessed after that traffic stop. … The Interior Ministry said … the man was arrested before details of the attack had been fully formulated.” - ABC News
“Called National Theatre Nationwide, the initiative will see one National Theatre production tour annually direct from its London run with its original cast, … (to) 12 venues across England,” among them venues in Sheffield, Coventry, Salford/Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Newcastle. - WhatsOnStage (UK)
One study found that the best predictor of whether someone could imitate a new accent was being able to execute a tongue-twister. A good ear for music and openness to new experiences also correlate with skill at accents. - BBC
Maybe these two weren’t wildcatters or captains of industry, but their contributions to the cultural life of Houston and its global reputation as a destination for the arts are significant. - Texas Monthly
“I think the public’s relationship with dance has changed, to the point where for the generation coming up, dance is associated more heavily with TikTok than with the Royal Ballet. I think that is what has really opened up the doors and taken away the stigma.” - The Guardian
This previously undisclosed diplomatic push to keep Israel in Eurovision was just one aspect of a drama that unfolded over the past year around the world’s most watched cultural event. - The New York Times
The Minack Theatre at Porthcurno pulled a planned production of Léo Delibes’s Lakmé after a US-based Hindu campaigner described the opera as “shallow exoticism based on prejudice”. - The Telegraph (MSN)
Part of the appeal is that calling someone resilient in the endurance sense sounds kind. It feels like encouragement rather than judgment. But communicating kindness without taking any responsibility is just a way to make yourself feel more comfortable – that everything will be OK. - Psyche
“For a major release, paying for travel, accommodations and security for A-list talent … can run into seven figures. At a time when the U.S. entertainment industry is still in a period of contraction, … Cannes is an easily expendable line item.” - The Hollywood Reporter
More than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style. - The Guardian
Hackers who had previously targeted Google and Ticketmaster had purposely chosen now, when college finals are happening, to threaten Instructure, the company that makes Canvas, that they would leak the personal information of 275 million Canvas users. - The Atlantic
Artificial intelligence has made its way into almost every corner of professional workflows, prompting the architectural industry to rethink how it works. To adapt to this shift, firms are now facing the limits of a model that has changed very little over the past few decades. - ArchDaily
