“We will definitely find you … and we will hang you side by side.” So said a column in Sovietska Belarus, the more-or-less official newspaper of the post-Communist dictatorship. The targets were Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, who fled to the UK as political refugees in 2011 but have continued to work long-distance with Belarus Free Theatre, which they founded in 2005 and which still produces and performs dissident drama in secret. – The Daily Mail (UK)
Why Have Sea Shanties Become A TikTok Sensation?
Why sea shanties, and why now? I do not have any concrete ideas about this; all I can tell you is that it’s happening. Apparently we’re doing sea shanties now. It makes as much and as little sense as anything else. – The Cut
When Yiddish-Speaking Puppets Roamed The World
Puppetry had never been part of the Yiddish theater tradition, but in 1920s America, they were all the rage. So in 1925-26, a pair of writers created a Purim shpiel (the Jewish equivalent of a Christmas panto) with puppets. It was such a smash success that the two men ended up creating a puppet company that put on Yiddish shows nine times a week year-round in New York City and toured the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest, Cuba, Britain, France, Poland, and, ultimately, the Soviet Union. Yet the whole odyssey lasted less than a decade. – Smithsonian Center For Folklife & Cultural Heritage
Howard Johnson, Pioneering Virtuoso Of Jazz Tuba, Dead At 73
“Before Johnson, in instances wherein the tuba was part of a jazz arrangement, it was typically confined to bass parts. Johnson demonstrated a prowess that allowed him to play melodic lines, even lead parts. … He was a featured player in the Mingus, Carla Bley, and Gil Evans big bands; he also put in time with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra (of which Bley was the music director). In 1975 he became a founding member of the Saturday Night Live Band.” – JazzTimes
After High-Profile Robberies, Germany To Spend Millions On Security For Arts Venues
“The German government has announced that it will hand out €32 million ($38 million) this year to national cultural institutions undertaking modernization projects, including updating security systems. More than 73 cultural venues across Germany” — and outside the big cities in particular — “will benefit from the grant.” – Artnet
Caligula’s Pleasure Garden Has Been Unearthed And Will Open To Public
The remains of part of the notorious emperor’s Horti Lamiani (as it was then called) were excavated from under the rubble of a derelict 19th-century apartment building. Starting this spring, Italy’s culture ministry will display those remains in what has been named the Nymphaeum Museum of Piazza Vittorio. – The New York Times
The Best-Selling Books Of 2020 – Obama Tops The List
“A Promised Land, the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoirs, was the top print title in 2020, moving nearly 2.6 million copies at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. That number is lower, however, than the 3.4 million copies of Michelle Obama’s Becoming sold in 2018, and the former first lady’s book hit the top 25 overall list yet again this year, selling almost 596,000 copies.” – Publishers Weekly
Is Simon Rattle’s Departure From London A Sign Of Things To Come Post-Brexit?
Although glamorous plans were unveiled in 2019 , the new hall is looking more and more like a fantasy. And now it is losing Rattle, its champion: it’s a kick in the teeth for London, a negation of that proud homecoming. – The Guardian
Is This Finally The End Of Broadcast TV?
How much of the telly you watch this year will be on a live, linear channel, at the scheduled hour, with millions of others tuning in at exactly the same time? For many of us, the answer is getting dangerously close to none. – The Guardian
Jazz Pianist Frank Kimbrough Dead At 64
“Casual of gesture but deeply focused in demeanor, [he] had an understated style that could nonetheless hold the spotlight in trio settings, or fit slyly into [Maria] Schneider’s 18-piece big band. In many ways, his playing reflected the Romantic, floating manner of his first jazz influence, Bill Evans. But his off-kilter style as both a player and a composer also called back to two of his more rugged bebop-era influences: Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk.” – The New York Times
Earliest Recording Of Allen Ginsberg Reading ‘Howl’ To Be Released
“A ‘lost’ recording of Allen Ginsberg reading his then-fresh epic poem ‘Howl’ in 1956 will be released for the first time in April, thanks to a personal connection between Reed College, where the performance was recorded 65 years ago, and the archivally oriented label Omnivore Recordings.” – Variety
Gov. Cuomo Announces Plan To Revive New York’s COVID-Devastated Arts Scene
“[In his State of the State address, Cuomo] announced on Tuesday a statewide program of indoor and outdoor shows over the coming months that will feature upwards of 150 performers — among them Hugh Jackman, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, Amy Schumer and Chris Rock. The public-private partnership, which Cuomo called the ‘New York Arts Revival,’ commences next month and is the most ambitious attempt yet by any state to promote and advance a return to live performances.” – The Washington Post
CNN Is Shutting Down Its Airport Channel
“The steep decline in airport traffic because of COVID-19, coupled with all of the new ways that people are consuming content on their personal devices, has lessened the need for the CNN Airport Network and we had to make the very difficult decision to end its operation [as of March 31],” the cable news giant announced. – Variety
San Francisco Art Institute Cannot Sell Its Diego Rivera Mural: It’s Being Landmarked
“The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to initiate landmark designation for the 1931 Diego Rivera mural The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City located inside the San Francisco Art Institute’s Chestnut Street campus. … The SFAI board of trustees was considering removing and selling the mural, appraised at $50 million, to cover the institution’s looming $19.7 million debt.” – KQED (San Francisco)
Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” Reimagined To Account For Climate Change
“Like the original music, some of the representation is fairly literal: Instead of hearing strings play what sounds like a thunderstorm once, you might hear it repeatedly, illustrating the extreme rainfall that some cities will experience. Much of the score, though, is meant to evoke the feeling of each season. Vivaldi’s “Spring” was intended to be joyful; the new version sounds discordant.” – Fast Company
The Subversion Of The Digital World
“I always go off of this dancing logic: for every system of control that establishes itself in a very direct and very antagonizing way, or in a very pervasive and ubiquitous way, there will always be subcultures or underground communities that will try to dismantle them in some way.” – Howlround