Our consciousness roams, it can be focused on the here and now, or maybe the there and then, but it is always focused on something. Yet the experience of lulls in consciousness content challenges this assumption. - Psyche
For opera singers, the challenges are unique. I’m going to have to figure out how to deal with giving up a life’s work that has asked for my whole heart all the time. - The New York Times
After a string of fresh lawsuits and a landmark settlement in 2025, the new year promises to bring a wave of rulings that could define how U.S. copyright law applies to generative AI. - Reuters
“Twenty years ago, (Beth) Morrison had nothing in the bank. Just ambition, a belief in opera as theater and a high-flown goal to ‘change this art form.’ Still, she founded Beth Morrison Projects. Since then, she has worked nearly around the clock to shepherd dozens of new operas into existence.” - The New York Times
Here's a look at 15 landmark architecture projects scheduled for completion in 2026, including museums, performing arts venues and a face-shaped tower. - Dezeen
According to a YouGov poll released at year’s end, American reading habits stay in the toilet. Four in ten Americans didn’t read a single book during our last spin around the sun. And of the 60% who did venture to a library, most were frugal. - LitHub
The orchestra alleges that Hwang, who was sexually assaulted by a senior player in the orchestra in 2017 and 2018, breached an NDA she signed following the incident. - The Violin Channel
“In recent years, covers had been assessed as part of the best recording package category, which considers all physical materials and images. … Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. (said) the split is an effort to recognize the impact of cover art in the digital age.” - AP
To begin the new year at public schools across the state, Utah officials banned three more books. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. - BookRiot
One study found that people who danced frequently (more than once a week) had a 76 percent lower risk of dementia than those who did so rarely. - Washington Post
“The New York Times invited cast members of American Street Dancer to demonstrate the fundamentals of Detroit Jit, Chicago Footwork and Philly GQ.” - The New York Times
“The 73-year-old Bychkov agreed to a four-year contract (starting in August 2028) and will conduct two operas and six symphonic concerts per season, (general director Alexander) Neef said.” Until then, Bychkov will remain music director of the Czech Philharmonic. - AP
“Tarr became internationally in the ‘90s and ‘00s as his films” — among them Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies — “were shown more widely, partly because of their inordinate length and partly because of what appeared to be his definitive expression of middle-European black-and-white miserablism.” Yet he insisted his movies were comedies. - The Guardian
“The incident occurred on Monday morning, when the man approached the monument in Paris’s 8th arrondissement — with Joan of Arc dramatically riding a horse in mid-gallop — and committed a crime captured by a security camera.” - ARTnews
