The plan: “January 19th will be a moment of gathering within a larger resistance to intolerance at all levels. We aim to create brave spaces that will serve as lights in the coming years. We aim to activate a network of people across the country working to support vulnerable communities. This is not a substitution for protests or direct action, but rather a pledge for continued vigilance and increased advocacy.”
Why Do We Love Great First Sentences? (It’s A Recent Phenomenon)
“The beloved first sentence is the product of dramatic changes one hundred and fifty years into the novel’s history. There are ample studies of the rise of the novel, but the move that would become the novel’s calling card has virtually no critical history.”
We Need A New Name For Classical Music. Is This It?
“I actually think there is a great new word for Classical Music, one that’s been hiding in plain sight, as they say. So with a bow of gratitude to Leonard The Great, who helped me and millions of others experience great music on its own terms and in all its wonder, I hereby propose it.”
Don’t Have More Female Choreographers Just For The Sake Of It, Says Akram Khan
“It is important to recognise that there is an imbalance, but there was an imbalance before for male choreographers. Pina Bausch, Martha Graham – the godmothers of contemporary dance – they were the big figures before, but for this generation it is slightly different.”
Diary Of An Indian Classical Dancer
Vidya Patel, a kathak dancer from Birmingham who made the finals of last year’s BBC Young Dancer competition, talks about studying the art form in England, continuing to train with her guru, and working with contemporary dancers on a new piece by Richard Alston.
Consciousness Isn’t Mysterious, It’s Just The Brain Describing Itself To Itself
Neuroscientist Michael Graziano: “This is why we can’t explain how the brain produces consciousness. It’s like explaining how white light gets purified of all colors. The answer is, it doesn’t. Let me be as clear as possible: Consciousness doesn’t happen. It’s a mistaken construct.”
Why We All Fall For Con Artists
“We never think we’ll fall prey to their wiles. We can spot a gimmick a mile away, while those who become victims are foolish, or greedy, or both. Well, that’s not quite the case. If the NSA can be hacked, so can the average – or even exceptional – human mind.”
This Victorian Photographer Turned Her Rookie Mistakes Into Art 150 Years Ahead Of Its Time
“Just six months after she was given her very first camera, Julia Margaret Cameron applied to join the Photographic Society of London … From the start, Cameron’s work was lambasted in the press. And the biggest cause of criticism was the thing that, ironically, would turn out to be the hallmark of her style and her enduring fame.”
Edinburgh Fringe Appoints A New CEO
“Shona McCarthy, who spearheaded the reign of Derry-Londonderry as UK City of Culture, … will replace Kath Mainland, who is leaving the post next month after almost seven years at the helm of the event, which now sells almost 2.3 million tickets, compared to 1.5 million a decade ago.”
Turns Out Tacoma Listeners Don’t Want To Sell Their Public Radio Station To Seattle
“After weeks of public outcry after the vote, the UW decided to allow an independent community group to make its own bid for KPLU, effectively giving the station a chance to buy itself out of the deal — if it can raise enough money to match UW’s offer.”
The ‘Not Without My Daughter’ Problem (It Drives Iranian-Americans Nuts)
“‘For Iranian men of my generation and American moms of my mother-in-law’s generation, this is a film that has seared itself into our consciousness,’ says Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American author and religious scholar. Upon the film’s 25th anniversary, it’s an interesting case-study of how early misrepresentations of an ethnicity in popular culture – one that the American public previously had no concept of – never really leave them.”
How Do You Get Millennials To Come Party At Your Museum *And* Stay True To Your Mission? Here’s How
“In recent weeks, the postings on Craigslist have taken on a desperate tone: ‘Looking for two tickets for … Jan 12th. Willing to negotiate price.’ … These hot tickets were for, of all places, the Franklin Institute – more specifically, Science After Hours, the museum’s monthly, no-kids-allowed science rave.”
San Diego Symphony Plans Permanent Outdoor Venue On Waterfront
“The San Diego Symphony won unanimous approval Tuesday to move forward with a $25 million, 10,000-seat waterfront concert venue on San Diego Bay. … Instead of a stage that must be set up and torn down each summer, the permanent facility would include a 4,800-square-foot stage large enough to house all the symphony musicians and covered by an acoustic bandshell.”
Vinyl Records May Be Cool, But From A Practical Listening Experience, C’Mon…
Uncool as CDs may be to a swath of music consumers these days, they retain certain advantages over vinyl. Analog purists can talk about ineffable “warmth” all they like, but CDs reproduce perfect digital sound every time across a far wider frequency range.
Forgery As An Art Form In The Age Of Digital Reproduction
An exhibition in Shenzhen – China’s Silicon Valley and its counterfeit capital – considers the fading of the distinction between “real” and “knockoff” as well as the genuine benefits that the latter can provide.
‘He Was One Of The Naughtiest Of Great Artists’ – Gerard McBurney On Pierre Boulez
“His humour, like that of many amusing people, is hard to recapture in written words. It depended on his twinkling eyes, his perfect timing, his infectious schoolboy giggle, and his reckless compulsion always to say what the other person would not expect. And, when speaking English, on his Inspector Clouseau accent, which he sometimes played to the hilt.”
Why Broadway Is More And More Using Chicago To Try Things Out
“Over the last several years, Chicago has emerged as the go-to city for Broadway tryouts, consolidating a key position in the commercial theater industry as a stream of new musicals try to find their footing here. The reasons are manifold.”
You Think “Sesame Street” Will Change When It’s On HBO? Read This And You Judge
“I think the people in charge right now are from a completely different culture and don’t fully understand what they’ve been put in charge of. Hopefully, in time, and by being surrounded by all that fur and all those googly eyes, they will somehow have a Road to Sesame awakening where all the comical throwable rubber fish scales fall from their eyes and they can see clearly which way the Street runs.”
What, Ultimately, Is Prayer Meant To Accomplish?
“Prayer is religion’s hermit crab; it scuttles recognisably from age to age and purpose to purpose, while attempts to refute or confirm are left to grasp its shells. It endures, shaping the mind, altering the body, or reflecting and resisting the forces of modern life. In its irreducible variety and seeming gratuitousness, it remains a puzzle. But if prayer itself resists explanation, it can still be illuminating to map its dimensions.”
Study: Being Exposed To The Color Green Boosts Creativity
“The results suggest there are simple ways to manipulate a classroom environment to boost students’ innovation—even in inner-city schools, where, as far as the kids are concerned, the natural world is a distant rumor.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.12.16
Art for Art’s Sake Revisited
One of my most widely read (and/or infamous) posts is Art for Art’s Sake: There’s No Such Thing. The thrust of that essay was that art always does something and is always for someone and … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-01-12
How all classical concerts should be
Dancing violinist! Pandemonium in the audience!
Here’s a story from my friend David Snead, formerly Vice President of Marketing, Brand and Customer Experience at the New York Philharmonic. And now President and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society, the plainly terrific chorus and period instrument orchestra in Boston. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-01-12
Thought for Morton Feldman’s Birthday
As late as 1986, the year before his death, he confessed, “I have no complaints about my career, but I always wondered why it really doesn’t take hold.” … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2016-01-12
“You can’t do what you want, but anything goes”
Wow – speaking of Julius Eastman and Morton Feldman, the SUNY Buffalo Music Library has made available the tape and a transcript of the speech John Cage made at June in Buffalo in 1975, when … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2016-01-12
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American Ballet Theatre Names A New Executive Director
“Having joined Lincoln Center in 2007, Kara Medoff Barnett is currently the managing director for Lincoln Center International, which provides consulting services in planning, building and running performing-arts centers around the world. It also offers arts-management training.”
Jacob’s Pillow Picks A New Leader
Pamela Tatge has served as the director of the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., overseeing programming and artistic initiatives for dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.