“Men and women could buy cases decorated with geometric designs in enamel, eggshell, and lacquer, as well as portable lighters, a relatively recent innovation.”
Report: Toronto Symphony Negotiating With Former Cleveland Orchestra Boss
“Inside sources say the TSO is playing Let’s Make a Deal with Gary Hanson, a globally respected Toronto-born veteran of the classical music business who retired last year as executive director of the Cleveland Orchestra. In Cleveland, he was lauded for overseeing the magnificent renovation of Severance Hall, increasing attendance and boosting fundraising.”
An Indian Immigrant Struggles With The American Penchant For Small Talk
Karan Mahajan: “‘How’s it going?’ I ask the barista. ‘How’s your day been?’
‘Ah, not too busy. What are you up to?’
‘Not much. Just reading.’
This, I have learned, is one of the key rituals of American life. It has taken me only a decade to master.”
Progress: Number Of Nonwhites Working In The Arts In Britain Up By 59% In Past Five Years
“Around 19,000 [black, Asian and minority ethnic] workers were employed in music and the performing and visual arts in 2015, compared to 12,000 in 2011 – a bigger change than in the wider creative industries (44%). Despite the surge, the 2015 figures means just 6.6% of all those in music and the performing and visual arts were black, Asian or from an ethnic minority, compared with 11.3% of those in the UK economy as a whole.”
This Week in Audience: Boston Ballet’s Dive Into Data
This week: Boston Ballet has done some serious data diving to produce a successful season at the box office… NPR is finding gold in podcasts… When news becomes unmoored from its sources, do we care?… A “young” (didn’t know it was a noun, eh?) declares what will get “youngs” to the arts… Will the machines eventually determine our tastes in art?
What’s The Point Of Orchestra Touring, Asks British Council Exec
“Who now wants a touring orchestra that’s just going to turn up, play, and go? Not many! So, if you are running an orchestra with shrinking public subsidy and are looking to tour, look around you, take account of the best practice from across the world including the UK, and mark your score with an accelerando.”
Lessons Learned Running My Little Free Library
“Not only was I not a librarian, I wasn’t even really dealing in reading material. That the objects in our Little Free Library happened to be books was beside the point. The salient fact was that the items were free. We may as well, I suspected, have been offering plastic spoons, Allen wrenches and facial tissue. I tested this hypothesis by mixing in non-book items including an instructional DVD on how to use an exercise ball, and a few packets of echinacea seeds.”
America’s “Gatekeeper” Problem In Spreading Big Ideas
“There’s a very narrow doorway through which big ideas get to audiences,” said Chris Jackson, the editor-in-chief of Random House’s One World imprint. But as mainstream culture looks increasingly unlike America, there’s reason to hope cultural gatekeepers will soon be forced to expand their horizons.
There Is No Such Thing As A Distinct Scientific Method
James Blachowicz argues that what we think of as the scientific method is basically the same as the process by which one edits a poem or hones a philosophical argument.
Seven Ways To Find Meaning At Work (Actual Good Ideas From David Brooks)
Two professional conservatives, the New York Times Op-Ed columnist and Arthur Brooks (no relation), president of the American Enterprise Institute, offer some ideas convincing enough that the leftish Atlantic is willing to post them.
Boston Ballet Just Smashed Its Previous Box Office Record – Thanks To Some Smart Data-Crunching
“Crediting a host of new techniques that include variable pricing, alternating repertoire, and an enhanced social media presence, Boston Ballet is reporting that last season marked the company’s highest attendance levels in more than a decade and its best ticket revenues in the company’s 53-year history.”
Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, 76, Leader Of Iranian New Wave
“Kiarostami, whose subtly enigmatic films” – among them A Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, Certified Copy – “play brilliantly with audiences’ preconceptions, was considered one of the greatest directors in contemporary world cinema.”
The Best Film Festival You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of
“At the 30th edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna’s annual celebration of restored and rediscovered cinema, the bonus addition to the bill was not a film-maker, or a movie, but a projector. The machine in question was a British model, made in 1899, but now once again in perfect working order.”
We Three Khans: This Trio Of Superstars Has Bollywood’s Release Schedule In A Headlock
“Each dominates a different annual holiday. Shah Rukh Khan, a favourite of the middle classes, is the hero of the Diwali weekend. Aamir Khan, more highbrow, dominates Christmas.” And Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadan, is the territory of Salman Khan.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.04.16
The Future of Orchestras (Cont’d): Would the Philharmonic Sing Palestrina?
Frankly, the consolidated thread of considered comments elicited by my mega-blog on the future of orchestras has taken me by surprise. These are informed comments from inside the orchestra world. I have also been deluged with emails whose content must remain private. They, too, register the thoughts, frustrations, and anxieties of musicians, educators, and administrators. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question >Published 2016-07-04
Resonance
I’m off to Seattle this week for a couple performances of Resonance by the Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS). Resonance is scored for violin and three cellos, and I’m really fortunate to have an outstanding group playing it: … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-07-04
“I dreamed of blue fireballs”
I have nothing but pleasant memories of my mother’s family’s Fourth of July cookouts, which rank among the highlights of my small-town youth. … In 1991, a quarter of a century ago, I published a memoir in which, among many other things, I described those Fourth of July cookouts. This is part of what I wrote. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-07-04
[ssba_hide]
Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ You Shouldn’t Miss
This week: Alas, hard work probably doesn’t trump innate ability… It’s tempting to believe extravagant claims for technology, but there are limits… Yes, by all means let’s talk about equity, but be sure you know what it means… A real-world experiment in ticket pricing (and some surprising results)… The death of the mid-budget Hollywood movie.
If They’d Made A Musical About Tammany Hall, Would Its Auditorium Be Under The Wrecking Ball Right Now?
“Liberty Theaters L.L.C., which owns the building and used it until January as the Union Square Theater, is reconstructing the four-story hall as a six-story office building, marketed by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank as 44 Union Square. The auditorium space will be demolished. A two-and-half-story glass dome will be erected on the rooftop.”
Alex Ross Looks At Music Used As A Weapon
“The intersection of music and violence has inspired a spate of academic studies. On my desk is a bleak stack of books examining torture and harassment, the playlists of Iraq War soldiers and interrogators, musical tactics in American crime-prevention efforts, sonic cruelties inflicted in the Holocaust and other genocides, the musical preferences of Al Qaeda militants and neo-Nazi skinheads.”
‘Game Of Thrones’ And The Politics Of 2016
Emily Nussbaum: “Season 6 … felt perversely relevant in this election year. It was dominated by debates about purity versus pragmatism; the struggles of female candidates in a male-run world; family dynasties with ugly histories; and assorted deals with various devils. George R. R. Martin surely didn’t intend his blockbuster series of fantasy books … to be an allegorical text for U.S. voters in 2016. But that’s what you get with modern water-cooler dramas, which so often work as an aesthetic Esperanto that lets us talk about politics without fighting about the news.”