There’s something profoundly cynical in the way ACE used the last government’s ineptitude as cover for its own anti-classical agenda: its cack-handed assault on English National Opera, and its slashing of touring companies to the point where several major UK cities now have no regular live opera. - The Critic
The publishing industry is suffering from a damaging gender imbalance. According to a recent UK publishers’ survey, 83 per cent of marketing, 92 per cent of publicity and 78 per cent of editorial staff in Britain’s publishing industry are female. - The Critic
The annual tax, currently £169.50 ($219) and mandatory for any household with a television or using BBC's iPlayer online, is the national broadcaster's primary source of funding. Younger people in particular seem willing to do without the BBC's content, worsening the network's financial woes. - The Guardian
They were famous for round-robin letters to newspapers commenting on world affairs, for clogging up prize shortlists and, as their books declined in quality — which nearly always happens — taking up review space which could profitably have been distributed elsewhere. - The Critic
The city of Gorizia/Nova Gorica was divided as the Iron Curtain arose after World War II, with an actual wall in place until 1994. At Mittelfest, an event created to help bridge the mental border that remains, the director staged an epic play about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. - The Guardian
According to the Boston Symphony, the orchestra gave 146 world premieres during his tenure, as well as another 86 U.S. premieres and many, many more performances of recent pieces he thought deserving of an audience. He led more than 300 works written by Americans. To those in his favor, he was a hero. - The New York Times
"Growing up in the province of Córdoba, in the Argentine interior, (Camila Sosa Villada) inhabited a first-person, female voice in the stories that she wrote and kept secret from her parents. … Years later, that voice would be celebrated. Sosa Villada’s work has collected international prizes and accolades." - The New York Times
More than a billion people are expected to watch the July 26 opening ceremony. But Thomas Jolly, 42, is no stranger to outsized projects in France, producing a 24-hour-long Shakespearean tetralogy in 2022 and reviving the favorite musical “Starmania.” - ABCNews
"'The Taliban tried to silence us,' said Ahmad Sarmast, the director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, in his new office in Braga," where he and his students were eventually settled after escaping the radical fundamentalist takeover of their homeland. "'But we’re much stronger and much louder than yesterday.'" - The Guardian
In London, the mood on the theater steps was upbeat and there seemed little concern that when this “Slave Play” transfer — including two Black Out performances — was announced in February, it drew the wrath of some British commentators, and got caught up in ongoing debates over race in British cultural institutions. - The New York Times
"(He) fashioned a 43-year career at The Inquirer that featured hundreds of influential stories about Philadelphia’s art and culture and the people who shaped them. He first covered cultural life ... in 1989 and, until he retired in 2022, focused as much on the newsmakers as the culture they created." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"(They) worry this is yet another attempt at gentrifying their art form and ways of life. (Breaker) Anne Nguyen … argues that the 'sportification' of breaking will push dancers to forego improvisation and individual spirit. 'Instead, they will be strategic, planning everything from A to Z, to get high scores.'" - Condé Nast Traveler
After 40 years, the festival seems to be acknowledging that it has outgrown its hometown. Last week organizers announced six finalist candidates for the new host city, and Nate Jones rates them. - Vulture (MSN)
"A multi-instrumentalist who sang and played guitar, keyboards and harmonica, Mr. Mayall was better known as a bandleader who had a superb eye for talent and a steadfast devotion to the purity of the blues." He also helped launch the careers of Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac. - The Washington Post (MSN)
"The US Justice Department has reached an agreement with Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, the former general counsel of Malaysia’s sovereign investment development fund (1MDB), to recover a $1.27 million drawing by Pablo Picasso … (purchased) using misappropriated 1MDB funds from a bond sale underwritten by Goldman Sachs." - ARTnews
