What the lens of the Piazza di Spagna webcam reveals, in its own intimate way, is that so-called bucket-list destinations are, and always have been, real places where real people live. With most of the world locked down, these public live streams offer a new perspective; with the tourists gone, places appear all the realer. – The Walrus
Was The Fall Of The Roman Empire Due To Plagues?
By its nature, Roman civilisation seemed to unlock the pestilential potential of the landscape. The expansion of agriculture brought civilisation deeper into habitats friendly with the mosquito. Deforestation facilitated the pooling of water and turned the forbidding forest into fields where mosquitos more easily multiplied… The Romans were environmental engineers extraordinaire. – New Statesman
Need To Diversify Your Reading?
Look to Black Bookstagram for recommendations on everything from history to science fiction to romance. – BuzzFeed
It Took Richard Pryor To Change How Comedy Sees The Police
Comedy culture before Pryor, that is, white comedy culture, depicted copys “as clownish bullies, and their violence, divorced from any racial context, played as a kind of shtick. When they swung their clubs, you never really felt the blow.” Then Pryor came along. – The New York Times
American Theatre Magazine Shuts Its Print Edition Through The Rest Of The Year
For the first time in its 36-year history, we at American Theatre have made the difficult decision to forgo printing and mailing hard-copy issues of the magazine for the next six months, or the remainder of 2020. – American Theatre
Composer Frederick C. Tillis, Who Excelled In Jazz And Classical Alike, Dead At 90
A precocious talent who began playing in Texas jazz clubs at age 12 and continued to perform for most of his life, he spent many years teaching theory and composition at UMass-Amherst and wrote more than 100 scores as well as 15 volumes of poetry and the influential textbook Jazz Theory and Improvisation. – The New York Times
Jenny Bilfield: Making The Transition To Meaningful Online
“There is every obstacle to creating art, and yet art is being created and art is being shared. It’s being done by both professionals and amateurs, by people in their homes in ways that you never would’ve expected it would thrive. Art is a portal into how we’re experiencing this.” – Washingtonian
Pay Cuts And Furloughs At Dallas Symphony
“Effective July 6, administrative salaries will be cut between 2.5% and 12.5%. Calling the moves ‘a very difficult decision,’ president and CEO Kim Noltemy will take a 25% pay cut. Sixteen staff positions will be furloughed.” DSO musicians will not be affected. – The Dallas Morning News
Boston Public Radio Station WBUR Lays Off 29 Staffers
Less than a week after management negotiated the first contract with newly-unionized employees, WBUR leaders announced a reorganization, which they said was made necessary by the COVID-related recession, that includes the reduction of staff numbers by more than 10% and cancellation of the nationally syndicated program Only a Game. (Similar job losses were announced this week at WBEZ in Chicago and at Minnesota Public Radio.) – Boston.com
Drive-in Performing Arts Gigs Are Catching On In The UK
“We have an extraordinary opportunity to still mount a show in a way that we fully expected to, not only without compromise, but actually potentially even with enhancements. We’re able to do things from a compliance point of view that feel like they are quite Big Brother.” – The Guardian
Why Satie Might Be The Perfect Composer For Now
It might seem an extraordinary thing that a late 19th/early 20th century French composer — and one whose music has had a history of having been dismissed for its seeming simplicity, seeming naiveté and seeming single-mindedness — resonates so effectively in our confused, upside-down world. But, then, in his strange music, his irreverent prose, his inexplicable mannerisms, his radical attitudes and his incomprehensible inconsistencies, Satie may just be what we need. – Los Angeles Times
Measuring The Pandemic Effects On Pittsburgh Arts
Jill Robinson, CEO of TRG Arts, said that in North America there is an active “engine of income” from new subscription purchases and philanthropy that has limited some of the financial impact of COVID-19. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
How I Co-Wrote An Opera About A Black Policeman’s Son Shot By Another Policeman
Tazewell Thompson, creator, with composer Jeanine Tesori, of Blue, which the Music Critics Association of North America has named best new opera of the year: “I wrote it from an obsessive need and sense of responsibility to tell an intimate story behind the numbing numbers of boys and men who are killed. But here we are now: art imitating life, life imitating art. Unfortunately, the themes in Blue have no expiration date. … Our eyes will never be free of tears.” – The New York Times
How Dallas Opera Became A Facebook Star
“Basically,” he says, “we needed to create something like ESPN or The Food Network.” You mean, I ask, you talk to chefs about the politics of food, but you don’t do the cooking? “Exactly, that was the premise.” – Art and Seek (KERA)
Relieved Yet Wary, Customers Start Returning To London’s Bookshops
This week book retailers in England have reopened to the public (with limits on how many people may be on the premises at a time) for the first time since the pandemic-induced shutdown began three months ago. Alex Marshall visited half a dozen bookstores around the capital to check on the mood. – The New York Times
Here’s The Group That Created The Google Spreadsheet Showing How Much Museum Employees Actually Make
“Founded at the end of May 2019 by a ‘nonhierarchical group of arts and museum workers who are friends and colleagues,’ Art + Museum Transparency prefers to answer questions collectively. ARTnews contacted the group to inquire about what it took to put the spreadsheet together, and the good they believe it can do.” – ARTnews
Audiences For Children’s Theater Are Quite Diverse. The Creators, Not So Much.
“A new study finds that about 80 percent of the shows presented around the country are by white writers, and 85 percent of the productions are led by white directors. Also of concern: Much of the industry’s diversity is concentrated in a small number of productions about people of color, while the shows that dominate the industry’s stages, generally adapted from children’s books and fairy tales, have overwhelmingly white creative teams.” – The New York Times
Organizers Of Woodstock 50 Sue Investors That Yanked Funding And Caused Event’s Collapse
“Woodstock 50 organizers are suing their former financial partner Dentsu Group and several of its affiliates, accusing the company of ‘destruction of the festival’ and ‘sabotage.’ … The [event, planned for last August,] was marred with a number of publicly aired setbacks and legal battles, including Dentsu and the festival legally severing ties last April, when Dentsu pulled its financial backing and also initially canceled the festival, which festival organizers argued Dentsu did not have the legal right to do.” – Rolling Stone
The Socially-Distanced Orchestra – What’s The Repertoire?
Schott/EAM, a publisher of contemporary composers, recently posted an inspiring list of works from its catalog appropriate for social distancing. Universal Edition put out an intriguing selection of opera and symphonic reductions. In a livestreamed panel discussion on Thursday, several innovative chamber orchestras will share repertory ideas. – The New York Times
Drillosophy: Using Drill Music To Teach Philosophy, And A Million Young People Sign On
“Young people who break the rules, who don’t want to conform, are natural social scientists. They’re natural philosophers, questioning what’s around them. You might not be channelling that in the right way right now – but I bet you’ve got the type of mind that we can talk to.” – BBC
A New Indie Online Bookstore Has Soared During Lockdown. Can It Continue?
Some wonder whether Bookshop will remain a viable player in the online retail ecosystem as stores begin to reopen, and customers who turned to the site during the shutdown revert to in-store and curbside shopping. Meanwhile, Amazon, which accounts for some 70 percent of online book sales, has strengthened its position as the world’s largest online retailer. The company reported $75.5 billion in sales during its most recent fiscal quarter, a 26 percent increase from the year-ago quarter. – The New York Times
Australia’s Largest State Set Aside $50 Million For COVID Arts Relief. None Of It Has Been Given Out
New South Wales was slow to establish a fund to aid struggling arts organizations, not even announcing a plan until May 24, about 10 weeks after shutdowns began. Even as Australia begins the early phases of reopening, none of the money has been awarded, and information even on how to apply or who qualifies is scarce. – The Guardian