How the math nets out in the end remains to be seen. Last season’s production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, for instance, had a higher average ticket price, but sold just 51% of available seats. Even if all three operas this season sell out, lower ticket prices will mean lower ticket revenue this season than. - Philadelphia Inquirer
"We’re the only company in the world that performs in three different opera houses (in one city). … One-hundred-and-twenty people work at this institution. When I arrived, I understood very quickly that making sure that they are all happy is just as important as the company’s performances and artistic vision." - Pointe Magazine
"We don’t necessarily need to repeal the laws of economics or solve Baumol’s cost disease to build as beautifully as our ancestors once did. We just need to see the world more humanistically and mystically, to regard ourselves as stewards and sub-creators once again." - The New York Times
The majority of your CDs have probably been downsampled perilously from studio to disc. And streaming has now righted that wrong; we can indeed enjoy ‘studio-quality’ music from the streams of the internet, given the right provider, the right source and the required bandwidth. -WhatHiFi
"As a sculptor he contributed to cathedrals both old and young, from survivors of the Middle Ages such as Exeter and Wells to the unfinished 19th-century behemoth of St John the Divine in New York. ... He also resurrected the art of grotto-making, dormant since the 18th century." - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
My daughter is a whip-smart kid, definitely smarter than I was at 12. But until I resorted to bribery, she’d never read an entire chapter book for pleasure. - The New York Times
"Wiley has already earned $23 million from AI deals and confirmed … that it is set to make a further $21m this financial year. A spokesperson confirmed that Wiley authors are set to receive remuneration for the licensing of their work based on their 'contractual terms'." - The Bookseller (UK)
"AI-generated songs lack the fluidity of music created by humans. But musicians who experiment with AI can give themselves an edge in an evolving industry. AI can expedite their own creative work and provide inspiration." - Washington Post
Theater stages are the diva’s holy playground, where complex characters and powerful performances ask audiences to question their received ideas. A new slate of shows this fall promises both rapture and reexamination. - Washington Post
The Philadelphia school, which closed down without warning on June 7, was notified two weeks later by "successor trustee" UMB Bank that, due to the university's cessation of operations, full payment on the 2017 bond series is due immediately. - Artnet
Sophie Galaise, the orchestra's now-former managing director, reportedly attempted, along with the board's deputy chairman, to oust MSO chairman David Li after he expressed doubt about Galaise's expenditures for travel and consultants. Li grew up in China, and Galaise's efforts included considerable red-baiting. - The Australian Financial Review
Matthew, Judy and Richard Perlman of Miami realized they had a problem when they brought some of the pieces to Christie's to sell and the auction house said they were probably inauthentic. The Perlmans are suing dealer Leslie Roberts and Miami Fine Art Gallery. - The New York Times
"ESPN and other Disney-owned channels have gone dark on DirecTV" — on the first weekend of college football season and halfway through US Open tennis — "after the sides failed to come to terms on a new carriage agreement, (an impasse reflecting) the broader economic pain spreading throughout the pay TV sector." - Variety
The two-year-old museum is moving from the Dogpatch neighborhood into "The Cube," a modernist landmark downtown owned 70% by Vornado Realty Trust and 30% by the Trump Organization. ICA SF will pay no rent or utilities for the first two years of its lease. - KQED (San Francisco)
