“The way we interact with music is very much in line with developing empathy, and how we put ourselves in the shoes of the musician. Our brains mirror what we’re seeing. So when we’re in sync, many of the rhythms of our brains and bodies entrain—heart and respiration rates, certain brain wave patterns. When you’re moved by music, we see levels of the attachment-hormone oxytocin increase. – Nautilus
Groups Sue To Stop Demolition Of LA’s Iconic Amoeba Music Building
Weeks after Los Angeles officials gave the green light for a new development on the Hollywood site now occupied by Amoeba Music, critics are suing the city to stop it, arguing that it would tear down a “cultural resource” that deserves protection. – Los Angeles Times
Kanders Slander: Trustees Resign Amidst Wreckage of Whitney Museum’s “Triple Chaser” Fiasco
The resistance got its way: Warren Kanders, whose weapons-related business activities were attacked by protesters, has resigned from the Whitney Museum’s board. Therein lies a big problem, not just for the Whitney, but for the museum field as a whole. – Lee Rosenbaum
Violinist Lara St. John Says Teacher At Curtis Institute Sexually Abused And Raped Her, And Dean Waved It Off
“St. John says she was repeatedly sexually abused by the man trusted to hone her talent, renowned violinist and teacher Jascha Brodsky. Then, she says, she was disregarded when she reported what had happened to an administrator at Philadelphia’s elite Curtis Institute of Music.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Baltimore Museum Of Art To Establish ‘Epicenter Of Scholarship’ For Matisse Studies
The museum, which is believed to house the world’s largest collection of Matisse’s work (more than 1,200 items), will open the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies, a 3,500-square-foot facility intended to be “something like a think tank focused on Matisse,” in 2021. – The New York Times
After Months Of Protests, Whitney Museum Vice Chairman Warren Kanders Resigns
“Protesters had demanded Mr. Kanders’s resignation, or removal from the board, after reports that [his company] Safariland’s tear-gas grenades had been used against migrants at the United States-Mexico border and elsewhere.” – The New York Times
‘Birds Sing Differently Here’: Bringing Hope to Iraqi Refugees in Minnesota
“How do theatre artists make art in this era of hate? A touring production of Birds Sing Differently Here, created by a cohort of Iraqi immigrants and refugees living in Minnesota, provides one answer. The mix of storytelling, movement, poetry, and music — a collaboration with director Taous Claire Khazem and playwright Dylan Fresco — combats ignorance with empathy by sharing a heartfelt, often funny, narratives of love, loss, war, and finding a place to call home.” – American Theatre