Merryl Goldberg hand-encoded names, addresses, and other details of the Phantom Orchestra, a group of Jewish refuseniks and Christian activists trying to help Jews and others escape the USSR, in composition notebooks - hidden from the prying eyes of Soviet officials. - Wired
The announcement comes a week after the company abruptly cancelled this month's production. "Rep officials cited significant financial issues, the challenge of operating in an active construction zone at Horton Plaza and unexpectedly low ticket sales since its post-pandemic reopening last October for the closure." - The San Diego Union Tribune
It all seemed promising two years ago, when pianist Anne-Marie McDermott was hired as artistic director to replace the orchestra/concert presenter's retiring co-founders. Now McDermott has resigned, key staffers have been fired or fled, and the organization's largest donor has walked away in disgust. - Santa Fe New Mexican
At 41, Alexandra Suda will be the youngest director in the PMA's history, and she comes to Philadelphia after three years at the helm in Ottawa. She succeeds Timothy Rub, whose 12-year tenure in Philadelphia included both a $500 million renovation/expansion and considerable staff turmoil. - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Through its lengthy development process, A Strange Loop underwent countless loop-the-loops of revisions, workshops, and more revisions. Here, its key players detail the dizzying path to production — and the sense of déjà vu that drove its success." - New York Magazine
“I don’t think anyone has any idea of the cultural impact that small data set is having on the country as a whole,” says the APTN’s Jones. Coles has some idea. One of the findings that surprised her most was how much an “imagined audience” was used to justify decisions “laced with racism, sexism, homophobia.” - The Walrus
It is now more than half a century since the heyday of political modernism and the sociological project that accompanied it. Are we still, today, postmodern? Are we really still grappling with the fallout of 1968? - London Review of Books
Fans are increasingly demanding a return for the precious resource of their attention, their clicks and eyeballs and adulation. We may call celebrities influencers, but we want to influence them too. We are the customers, and our gaze is money. - The New York Times
“Clickbait” has long been the term for misleading, shallow online articles that exist only to sell ads. But on today’s Internet the term could describe content across every field, from the unmarked ads on an influencer’s Instagram page to pseudonymous pop music designed to game the Spotify algorithm. - The New Yorker
Arts administrators are starting to try to measure things like mental and even physical wellbeing as a gauge of how successful their programs are, and are using terms like "impact framework." The idea, at heart, is that the arts are a means to an end, rather than being an end in themselves. - Axios
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives." - Slate
There’s so much focus on sweeping claims that aren’t actionable, or unfounded claims we can contradict with data, that are crowding out the harms we can demonstrate, and the things we can test, that could make social media better. - The New Yorker
The growth of British literary festivals over the past few decades has been an exponential development. It has also changed the idea of what people expect from authors. - The Critic
Institutional bureaucrats, not billionaires, have the power to constrain the possibilities for aesthetic development in the present. The figure of the contemporary artist we know today is an invention of the bureaucrats. - Tablet
With 60 million active users, Boomplay is the most popular music streaming service in Africa. Leading the pack, it is one of a bevy of homegrown music streaming and content platforms that are offering alternatives to the on-demand global streaming model. - Global Voices
Though the number of Americans who said that they personally were “doing at least okay” actually rose slightly from 2019 to 2021, their evaluation of the national economy plummeted in that time frame. - The Atlantic
‘In answer to the question, “Who do you make work for?” people will say, “I make work for everyone – for anyone.” But when you say, “Well, what are you doing to ensure that outcome?” the answers start to narrow considerably. - ArtsHub
Half of all public and private grants now pay administrators’ salaries – only a quarter fund arts production. Even if many are wonderful, managers are collectively the greatest obstacle to balancing budgets. - The Stage
