Annapolis Symphony executive director Patrick J. Nugent and concertmaster Netanel Draiblate write about why and how they started the Annapolis Symphony Academy, “a culturally diverse after-school program to identify and nurture talent in youth regardless of ability to pay” that launched last September and has already doubled in size. “By design, half are African American or Latino and half (regardless of ethnicity) met the family income criteria to receive full tuition scholarships.” – The Baltimore Sun
Reviving And Preserving Indigenous Hawaiian Language And Culture Through Theatre
Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker: “Kanaka Maoli [indigenous Hawaiian] theatre artists are grounded in our homeland, our language, and the stories, beliefs and ways of our ancestors. This series explores the fundamental elements of Hawaiian theatre while highlighting the elevation and expansion of hana keaka (Hawaiian-medium theatre) across our island chain.” – HowlRound
The Life And Loves Of Clara Rockmore, The Diva Of The Theremin
She had had quite a life even before she became the first superstar virtuoso of an electronic instrument: she was a child prodigy on the violin who toured with her pianist sister until injury (and a screaming Leopold Auer) derailed her, she happened on Leon Theremin and his invention at a party at the Plaza Hotel, and she turned down his marriage proposal. – Tablet
Louisville Ballet Did A Piece With A Same-Sex Relationship — And Got Even More And Nastier Mail Than They’d Expected
“We knew by promoting a love story between two men we would make some people uncomfortable,” said company officials of Human Abstract, “but we were not prepared for this grotesque display of hate.” (They say that positive response outweighed the negative.) One particularly vicious email got its author, a research cardiologist, fired from editorship of a science journal. – The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Why English Won’t Be Replaced As The World’s Lingua Franca Anytime Soon
The reason is inertia, basically: “[English] got there first, and there is no major expansion of globalization to shift the balance to another language. Today there are far more non-native English speakers than native speakers, and this means that English isn’t about the USA or the UK, but instead about its international use across cultures.” – Quartz (Quora)
English City Is Laying Off Every Curator In Its Museums
“[In] Leicester’s arts and museums service … four posts will be scrapped as part of a complete reshuffle of the department.” Five vacant positions were also eliminated. The savings: £320,000. – Leicester Mercury
Michelangelo’s Terracotta Study For ‘Pietà’ Identified
“Presenting a new book on their research, art historians revealed extensive documentation from the Renaissance that appears to prove the [terracotta] statue” — which surfaced about two decades ago in northern Italy — “was made by Michelangelo, as well as striking similarities between the object and other, confirmed masterpieces by the artist.” – The Telegraph (UK)
Broadway Gets A Tech Startup Accelerator
Alongside venture capital firm Exponential Creativity Ventures and tech training company IT Mentors, the Shubert Organization is launching a startup accelerator that will provide companies with funding, training and the ability to test products in Broadway theaters or within the Shubert ecosystem. In exchange, the Broadway Tech Accelerator will take an equity stake in each company. – Broadway News
26,000 Students, Millions In Student Tuition, Loans, Gone In Default Of A Chain Of Colleges
The affected schools — Argosy University, South University and the Art Institutes — have about 26,000 students in programs spanning associate degrees in dental hygiene and doctoral programs in law and psychology. Fourteen campuses, mostly Art Institute locations, have a new owner after a hastily arranged transfer involving private equity executives. More than 40 others are under the control of a court-appointed receiver who has accused school officials of trying to keep the doors open by taking millions of dollars earmarked for students. – The New York Times
Uh Oh: Why Did San Francisco Opera Just Lay Off Its Directors Of Communications And Development?
For the past two years, withdrawals from the endowment reached 9 percent: Shilvock said that trend cannot continue and deficits must be controlled: “To bring expenses into line with realistic revenues, we determined that expense budgets need to be reduced by $5M per year, and that we cannot affect our core mission: [presenting] compelling, inspiring opera at the highest level of excellence.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
The BBC Isn’t Into Netflix’s Claims About ‘The Crown’
In what seems a twist worthy of season 65 of the Netflix show The Crown, the BBC has started mocking the numbers, or rather lack of numbers, Netflix shares about one of its most expensive shows. The Beeb’s director general acknowledged that Netflix had a huge budget compared to the BBC, and also urged the BBC to get ready for people never to watch live TV. – The Guardian (UK)
Inside The ‘Magical’ Studio Of Kiki Smith
Smith is “known for her seriality, spinning concepts and images into one work after another, until something new piques her interest. Her sources of inspiration remain in flux, but Smith’s work itself tends to revolve around the body, death, mythology, and nature. Rumpelstiltskin may have been able to weave hay into gold, but there’s no alchemy to Smith’s practice: just hours of making, year after year.” – Artsy
Why Do We Care Who Actually Wrote Nancy Drew?
Carolyn Keene didn’t exist; nor did Franklin W. Dixon, purported author of the Hardy Boy series. Who the writers actually were isn’t germane, really. “What was important was the author as a brand—a shortcut for readers to know that they were getting a consistent product—and arguably, in the case of Nancy Drew, a more consistent product than they might have received if Carolyn Keene had been a single individual. A real Carolyn Keene might have become bored of the project, she might have died, she might have decided to alter Nancy—make her older, marry her off, or gasp, even have her meet her end with the roadster plunging off a cliff.” – CrimeReads
The Latest For Donors Is Traveling Like A Musician, Ballerina, Or Conductor
And by that, we don’t mean “worrying about your instrument all of the time,” but rather, if you have the money, “you can simply donate money to your favorite nonprofit — amounts seem to start at around $2,500 — in exchange for the opportunity to tag along on an international tour with the organization.” – The Washington Post
In The UK Translated Fiction Outsells English Fiction. It’s All About Collaboration
Of course, translating isn’t only the business of people who get paid to do it. Around 300 languages are used daily in London, and New York may be home to as many as 800, according to the Endangered Language Alliance. Yet any talk of translating literature—rather than shopping lists or doctors’ orders—is oddly esoteric. – Prospect
Steven Pinker Enthuses About Humanity’s Progress. So Why Do So Many People Hate Him?
The dismissive term “Pinkering” has been coined to describe applying a too-sunny gloss to world events. A cartoon strip published in Current Affairs shows a crazed-looking Pinker staring into a mirror: “Remember,” cartoon Pinker says to himself, “no matter what people say it’s statistically impossible for you to be the worst person on the planet.” In addition, a surprising number of detractors have referred to Harvard’s Johnstone family professor of psychology as “Peven Stinker,” which, while not exactly an argument, does capture a certain disdain. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Peabody Essex Museum Names New Director
“After a five-month search, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem has hired Brian Kennedy as its new director and CEO. Kennedy, now 57 years old, was born in Dublin and has worked for museums on three continents, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College and the National Gallery of Ireland. He currently heads the Toledo Museum of Art, where he’s been since 2010.” – WBUR (Boston)
Can Shostakovich Help You Run Faster? (We’re Dubious)
When you hear music — or any rhythmic sound — it activates the portion of the brain that coordinates and times movement, the same neural pathways that regulate your running pace. While any upbeat tune has been proven to aid exercise, music timed so that you’re running in sync with the beat allows for a smoother experience. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt On Understanding Versus Advocating
“The mission of a university I believe should be to understand. And if you do a great job of research, that can be the basis for all kinds of activism later. But if you start with a commitment to a certain way of seeing the world, and you start with a belief that some people are good and some people are bad, I think it makes it very hard to understand real social systems.” – Nautilus
The Frustrating Circular Firing Squad Of Some Wikipedia Sourcing
So Wikipedia cites a source for a piece of information. The source cites Wikipedia. And around and around it goes. Trying to find out the original sourcing can be a frustratingly circular exercise. – Slate
Virginia Walcott Beauchamp, Who Pioneered Women’s Studies As A Discipline, Dead At 98
“In her research and teaching, she pored over the records left by women who received little if any public attention during their lives but whose diaries, letters and other writings vividly revealed the eras in which they lived.” – The Washington Post
The Stevens Spielberg And Soderbergh Are The Twin Poles Of The Movie Theater-Versus-Netflix Struggle — Or Are They?
Soderbergh has made a feature for Netflix and released his work in all sorts of ways; he says “I really don’t care how people see my movies, as long as they see them.” Spielberg is trying to ban Netflix from the Oscars and says that “movie theaters need to be around forever.” Critic Ann Hornaday writes that the root of Spielberg’s anxieties is something that Soderbergh understands. – The Washington Post
Ukraine Has A Censorship Problem, But It’s Not Caused By The Government
“Paramilitary groups, the most active of which is called C14, have existed as a form of ‘art critics’ since 2009, when they first burnt down the Gudimov Centre for its presentation of a book with a provocative name: 120 Pages of Sodome. Since then, they have intended to impact Ukraine’s cultural life, censoring the topics of gender, sexuality, and politics in art.” – Hyperallergic
Library Of Congress Chief Has Plan To Pull In Many More Visitors – But Will It Still Be A Library?
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden’s master plan involves a makeover of the main building, including its beloved Great Hall and Main Reading Room, to add exhibition space. But some staffers and observers worry that the extra activity and foot traffic will change the nature of the place — as the leader of the staff union local put it, “All of us are interested in having people in the library. We don’t want to see it turned into an events center just because it’s beautiful.” – The Washington Post
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Ideas For Fixing What Ails Orchestras
“The good thing is that the actual material we are dealing with on a daily basis is fantastic — [some of] the best things humankind has ever produced.” So what are the problems? Two, Salonen says: “the grid” (the week-in-week-out subscription format) and the messaging. – The New York Times