“Increasing fees in the sector is one of Stage Directors UK’s first priorities. It will also represent directors on issues such as royalties, contracts, digital rights and copyright, as well as leading on training initiatives.”
U. Srinivas, South India’s Master Of The Mandolin, Dead At 45
“Bringing the mandolin into Carnatic music was still a new – and later, frequently criticized – endeavor when U. Srinivas picked it up at age 5. … He brought a liquid sound to his instrument that is arguably untouched by mandolinists working in any genre. Along the way, he became one of the most globally beloved South Indian musicians.” (includes video and audio)
“The Airbnb Of Classical Music”
“Groupmuse – started in 2012 and run by [Sam] Bodkin, Ezra Weller and Kyle Nichols-Schmolze – matches Groupmuse users looking to host a concert with willing musicians needing a venue to perform. Once a match is set up, other ‘Groupmusers’ are invited to attend, creating an event that’s part house concert, part party, part social platform.” (includes video)
Social Trust And Personal Trust: What Policymakers Can Learn From The Self-Help Gurus
“Even some of the most seemingly unemotional forms of trust can be deeply emotional. In other words, policymakers who want to improve our faith in others should take a page from the self-help crowd and do more to build a sense of social intimacy and promote what neuroeconomist Paul Zak once called the ’empathic human connection’.”
You’ll Finally Be Able To See All Of Michelangelo’s Work At The Sistine Chapel
“Michelangelo was said to have mixed the pigments for his work and painted the frescos using natural light, and for centuries, the only illumination came through the few windows in the chapel or from candlelight. In modern times, Vatican officials blocked off the windows for fear the sunlight would damage the frescos. In the 1980s, the museum installed a halogen system that emitted low-level lighting to protect the artworks.” Now, things are changing.
This Woman Worked As A Teamster To Support Her Daughter And Her Writing – And Won The American Book Award
“J. California Cooper, an award-winning writer whose black female characters confront a world of indifference and betrayal, but find kinship there in unexpected places, died on Saturday in Seattle. She was 82.”
Portlandia Soon Won’t Even Know What (Kind Of Development) Hit It
“Instead of more two-story homes with lawns, punctuated by the occasional condo, now we seem to be making almost nothing but urban buildings. City buildings. Buildings for people who walk fast and ride the streetcar and take taxis, and stay up late and order takeout.”
If Cadmium Red Gets Banned, European Artists Might Just Revolt
“The EU is weighing a restriction on the chemical following pressure from Sweden, which argues that artists pollute the food chain when they rinse their brushes in the sink. Cadmium ends up in sewage sludge and is then spread on agricultural land.”
Founders Of Frieze Fairs Step Down
“Victoria Siddall, in addition to her current role as the director of Frieze Masters, has been appointed director of all three fairs, completing the senior management restructure less than a month before its two London fairs are due to open in Regent’s Park.”
So Art Is What We Say It Is. And That Is?
“Fame is craved by some and feared by others. For what the famous gain in visibility, they lose in anonymity and they find hard to do some of the everyday things that the rest of us take for granted.”
How A Troupe Of Deaf Dancers “Hears” The Music
“The vibrations move through their arms and into their bodies. And when the students move away from direct contact with the sound, they maintain contact with the rhythm via the vibrations in the wooden floor. That’s why we always dance barefoot.”
Why MOOCs Still Have A Future In Education
“Now, countries as diverse as France, China, and perhaps most surprisingly, Saudi Arabia, have launched national education platforms powered by edX. In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Labor is using Open edX to educate more women, disabled citizens, and people living in rural areas.”
Richard Branson Lets Employees Decide How Much (And When) Vacation Time They Want To Take
“While technology has made remote work a cinch and has also made certain staffers reachable around the clock, Branson concluded that, at the end of the day, completed work was a healthier focus than the number of hours clocked.”
Why Unlimited Vacations Might Not Be A Good Idea
“People take less time off because they feel they’re not sure if this is really a commitment to them or that this is more a PR thing.”
Karl Miller, 83, Founding Editor Of London Review Of Books
“After stints as literary editor of both the Spectator and the New Statesman, Miller co-founded the London Review of Books in 1979, editing it until 1992 and, according to an essay by his former colleague Andrew O’Hagan, once correcting the great Seamus Heaney, a long-time friend of his.”
The Maldives Will Now Require All Books To Pass Censor Board
“The regulations are intended to ‘standardise all literature … publicised and published in the Maldives in accordance with laws and regulations of the Maldives and its societal etiquette’, and to ‘reduce adverse effects on society that could be caused by published literature’.”
“Wolf Hall” Confirmed For Broadway Run
“Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s hit adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s best-selling novels about Henry VIII and his chaotic court, will open on Broadway next spring at the Winter Garden Theater, the show’s producers announced on Thursday.”
Another Italian Opera House Loses Its Music Director: Luisotti Leaves Naples
Nicola Luisotti, known in the U.S. as music director of San Francisco Opera, has resigned from the same post at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Unlike other recent departures, Luisotti’s statement was soft-spoken and cordial, saying only that his other commitments don’t permit him to stay on. Yet things are rarely so simple in Italian opera houses, and two other senior staff members have left recently as well. (in Italian)
Directors Of Florence’s Museums Under Investigation For Abuse Of Office
“Three weeks after handing in her resignation, the superintendent of Florence’s museums, Cristina Acidini, is under investigation by the Italian authorities for abuse of office. Also under investigation are the city’s former superintendent Antonio Paolucci, now the director of the Vatican Museums, and Marco Fossi, another employee in Florence’s soprintendenza (now renamed the Polo Museale).”
Will Quebec Close Its Regional Music And Drama Schools? Not Exactly
The arts community in the province has been up in arms since the leak of a document suggesting that the government planned to close the five regional branches of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, leaving only the schools in Montreal and Quebec City. (The network is running a $14m deficit.) In the face of public pleas and protest concerts, the province’s culture minister has promised that all instruction currently offered will remain available, though the buildings may close. (in French)
If Only The Subjunctive Didn’t Trip Everyone Up
Consider this sentence: Even Rupert Murdoch, who opened a new London headquarters for his UK newspapers last week, is insisting that each of the titles turns a profit, rather than relying on subsidies from other parts of his media empire.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.25.14
Why we don’t do it
AJBlog: Sandow | Published 2014-09-25
Mission Accomplished: Another Delaware Deaccessioning
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-09-25
To send or to trash
AJBlog: The Artful Manager | Published 2014-09-25
Switching Sides in the Digital War
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-09-26
[ssba_hide]
Prominent American Composers Weigh In On Atlanta Symphony Lockout
“We write as a group of American composers in loud support of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its unique and important place in American concert music. We unanimously encourage those involved in its management, board and funders to do whatever necessary to keep this great orchestra vital and thriving. The ASO must not be allowed to degrade, piecemeal, into a second-class entity.”
NYCity Ballet Star Heads To Broadway
“It’s wonderful for Broadway to get a dancer of Megan’s caliber because this isn’t necessarily the same audience that goes to the ballet. They don’t know this powerhouse of a dancer and I think they’ll fall in love with a big dance musical. And, hopefully, they’ll then say, ‘Let’s go to the ballet.'”
Comcast-Time Warner Merger Debate Rages
“The continuing stream of statements underscores that the merger review is a free-for-all grandstanding opportunity for companies, orgs and individuals with all manner of agendas. The frustration with the situation is evident in the tone of Comcast’s lengthy replies to critics of the deal that would unite the nation’s two largest cable operators.”