“For decades, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System have overcome similar threats. But this year, 'the attention and intensity’ of the calls to defund public media seem greater.” - Seattle Times (NYT)
“His music speaks to something timeless: the longing for connection, and the pain at not finding it. He gives voice, and then consolation, to that part of us that feels alone in the world even when surrounded by people who care for us.” - The New York Times
“She was one of the first to transcend the Danish repertoire, making her mark in ballets like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty and touring abroad widely.” - The New York Times
“Choir singers have lived in two handsome terraces of silvery-pink-stoned medieval houses beside Wells Cathedral for more than 650 years. But the gated close – which is thought to be the most complete and continuously occupied medieval street in Europe – is now in desperate need.” - The Observer (UK)
“Breaking has evolved greatly since he spun on cardboard in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Today’s B-boys and B-girls are more diverse, athletic and powerful than ever.” - The New York Times
"Known for his incisive and socially conscious storytelling, … (Benegal) left an indelible mark on the film industry, blending art with activism and bridging the gap between mainstream and (art) cinema. He was instrumental in shaping India’s New Wave cinema movement, also known as Parallel Cinema, in the 1970s." - Variety
A bias toward contemporary art has pervaded museums across the globe for decades now, but as this year proved, work from past eras can just as much define the present as pieces made in the past couple years. - ARTnews
Many researchers find another reason to worry about the spread of English: the prospect of cognitive hegemony. Languages, they argue, influence how we perceive and respond to the world. The idiosyncrasies of English—its grammar, its concepts, its connection to Western culture—can jointly produce an arbitrary construction of reality. - The New Yorker
Early on, many in the Protestant movement saw organ music as just another Popish frippery; even Luther disapproved of it at first. He changed his mind, of course, and the presence of the organ in church became a major point of conflict, and even identity, between Lutherans and Calvinists. - History Today
Elite education has lost the trust of many Americans, in no small part because of how it solidifies the advantages of wealth. The fact that many schools still give preferential treatment to children of their alumni just adds insult to injury. - The New York Times
Adam Moss sits in on rehearsals and talks with the five-time Tony-winning director and his actors (including Audra McDonald and Joy Woods, of course) on how much Wolfe changed the show while changing so little of it. (And no, it's not all about race, though that's certainly part of it.) - New York Magazine
The problem is that we’ve taken the practice of celebrating industriousness too far. We’ve gone from commending effort to treating it as an end in itself. We’ve taught a generation of kids that their worth is defined primarily by their work ethic. - The New York Times
Culture dictates human action far more than individual humans dictate cultural production. To understand great works of art as human achievements is just as backward as understanding the beauty and variety in nature as the work of divine hands. - The New York Times
