"Orchestra After 5" concerts begin with a cocktail hour in the Kimmel Center lobby, followed at 6:30 by a one-hour concert with an informal chat afterward. "If the goal was to lure listeners beyond the traditional base," writes Peter Dobrin, "it was a wild success." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
"The movie has come at a time when new authors of color are engaging with the same questions posed by Erasure — and publishers have paid substantial sums for novels that satirize the literary world’s racial inequities." - The New York Times
There's always been an audience for dance there, but for many years fans were content with visits from touring companies. Now, Los Angeles Ballet (founded in 2006), Benjamin Millepied's L.A. Dance Project, the new Hollywood Ballet and contemporary company Bodytraffic all thriving, homegrown dance has taken root. - The New York Times
Yes, the Hallmark Channel. After all, some have claimed Jane Austen’s extensive novels of manners (and so much more) as “romance novels,” and after all, Hallmark has declared this month “Loveuary." - NPR
Last week intruders stole every single piece of equipment, including the transmitter, from WJLX-AM in Jasper, Alabama, then somehow cut down, disassembled and took away the transmission tower. - Inside Radio
"A special rate of £269.50 a week is being offered for a private room within the shared student accommodation on the campus, which includes a self-catering kitchen. … The Fringe Society is joining forces with Queen Margaret University to run the venture" roughly 5 miles from central Edinburgh. - The Scotsman (MSN)
"Some of the world’s most renowned museums" — among them the British Museum, SF-MOMA, MFA Boston, and van Gogh Museum — "have been using the marketing research technique to fine-tune exhibitions, develop marketing materials and ensure they entice the broadest possible audience." - The New York Times
"HB417 would allow ... public school employees to be charged with a class A misdemeanor if they keep materials specifically deemed 'objectively sensitive' available to students. … If found guilty, they could be fined no less than $500 and jailed for a term lasting no fewer than 30 days." - The Salt Lake Tribune
The declaration was made because of a severe outbreak of dengue fever, a potentially lethal mosquito-borne disease which causes high fever, rashes, nausea, and muscle/joint pain. While special measures are being taken, the outbreak isn't currently expected to derail Carnival, which starts Friday. - AP
"Vittorio Sgarbi has stepped down amid a rising tide of controversies. He is currently being investigated over allegations that he laundered stolen art. Last week, he shocked the nation by verbally attacking two journalists who raised the matter. … He is also accused … of accepting lucrative fees to appear at cultural events." - Artnet
"While the ensemble will remain the same in size and membership, it has a new name, a new music director and a program aimed at drawing more diverse audiences. The Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center ... will convene in July for its first season under conductor Jonathon Heyward." - The New York Times
Elaine Martone won Producer of the Year, Classical, for a bouquet of albums including Third Coast Percussion’s Between Breaths, Seth Parker Woods’ Difficult Grace, and the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst’s Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5. - WRTI
“Half my drafts are muted now,” says Madeline Macrae, a Swift fan and TikTok creator. While initially frustrated by the change, Macrae thinks there might be positive impacts. Even though many ardent fans value the online community built through social media, some are also uncomfortable with the flattening of poetic songs into 60-second memes. - Wired
While you might look at your daylist and think that Spotify knows your music tastes intimately, it is equally the case that the algorithm has shaped those tastes over time. - The Conversation
Is art for one thing only? Do we need—why do I feel the need?—to formulate a Grand Unified Theory of art, one that would reconcile its various and sometimes contradictory purposes, that would proclaim, finally, that art may be for this or that, but this is what it’s really for? - Salmagundi
