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Christian Boltanski, Who Turned Found Objects Into Haunting Art Installations, Dead At 76

"Boltanski's installations often make grand statements about death, particularly as it relates to the Holocaust, World War II, and the lingering effects of these events on Europe. … At times, these cold works bore out some relationship to Boltanski's own complicated biography." - ARTnews

Donald Pippin, San Francisco’s Pied Piper Of Opera, Dead At 95

For 40 years, he and his resourceful company, Pocket Opera, used young singers, small instrumental groups, and librettos in English to bring unfamiliar works to thousands of new audience members. His dozens of libretto translations are still in use all over the globe. - San Francisco Classical Voice

Master Bluegrass Fiddler Byron Berline Dead At 77

"Weaving elements of pop, jazz, blues and rock into an old-timey approach to his instrument, Mr. Berline contributed instrumentals" to recordings by Bob Dylan, The Band, and The Rolling Stones. Yet "he was considered a musical visionary in his own right" as well. - The New York Times

Meet Andrew Lloyd Webber, Activist

Lloyd Webber — who redefined musical theater with shows like “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats,” and served for years in the House of Lords — has been harassing Britain’s conservative government. - The New York Times

Vijay Gupta’s Path To Music

Being “in dialogue with an audience that otherwise would never have access to that music” opens up what Gupta calls “a mutual space of listening.” - Strings

Thomas Cleary, Who Translated Classic Works Of Eastern Philosophy, 72

Cleary "translated scores of Buddhist, Taoist, ancient Chinese and other texts into English, greatly broadening access to these works in the West." - The New York Times

One Of The Last Members Of Auschwitz’s Women’s Orchestra Has Died

Esther Bejarano played the accordion in the orchestra and then "dedicated her life to music and to the fight against racism and anti-Semitism." - France24

New Yorker Cartoonist Danny Shanahan Dead At 64

Over three decades he published more than 1,000 witty single-panel cartoons in The New Yorker and other magazines, with characters ranging from cats and monkeys to Lassie and Batman. But he spent his final year under a serious cloud. - The New York Times

Rebel Filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. Dead At 85

He built a cult following in the 1960s underground with inventively odd satires, then hit the mainstream in 1969 with Putney Swope, in which a Black Power activist takes over a New York ad agency, followed by Greaser's Palace, the life of Christ as a spaghetti Western. - Variety

Jivan Gasparyan, Who Entranced The World With An Armenian Shepherd’s Pipe, Dead At 92

"What he accomplished was remarkable — not just in terms of his personal achievement, but also what he accomplished for his instrument's profile. … He transformed the duduk from a purely folk instrument … into a force on the concert stage," recordings and film scores. - NPR

Dilip Kumar, Bollywood’s First Great Realistic Actor, Dead At 98

"In a career that spanned five decades, Kumar is widely regarded as the finest actor India has ever produced. Starring in some of the all-time classic films of Indian cinema, Kumar's versatility and command of his craft allowed him to excel across genres." - The Hollywood Reporter

Discovered: Evidence Van Gogh Was A Founder Of A Brass Band (Still Playing Today)

In 1884 Vincent van Gogh helped set up a band in the village of Nuenen, where he was living with his family and developing his skills as an artist. - The Art Newspaper

Composer Louis Andriessen Dead At 82

He combined Philip Glass-style minimalism with influences ranging from jazz to Baroque music to Stravinsky to hard rock, not to mention leftist politics. He also taught two generations of notable composers, including Missy Mazzoli, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, and David Lang. - NPR

‘La Madre De La Telenovela’, Delia Fiallo, Dead At 96

She started out writing radio serials in 1940s Cuba, switched to TV, fled the Castro regime in 1966 and started over in Miami — going on to write scripts for 40 of the popular Spanish-language prime-time soap operas and becoming the genre's first superstar author. - MSN (Washington Post)

This Is The Reason Bill Cosby Got To Walk Out Of Prison

Why did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturn the 83-year-old star's 2018 sexual assault conviction? Because of the Fifth Amendment and a bait-and-switch. Here's a legal explainer. - The New York Times

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