Month: September 2020

‘Conceptual Virtuosity’ — Clever Classical Musicians Are Treating Their CDs As Brainy Mixtapes

“Among the smartest recording labels, one-composer programs — the norm since the arrival of the LP record in the early 1950s — are giving way to conceptual collections of music that juxtapose the ancient and modern, progressive and retrogressive, as well as the familiar and the obscure. … Is this fusion cuisine, classical music style? I prefer the term ‘conceptual virtuosity,’ since these programs often have an intellectual depth that goes beyond any Spotify algorithm.” David Patrick Stearns examines some recent examples. – WQXR (New York City)

A Last Chance To Save Music Venues

“Music venues, theaters, and movie houses help make cities desirable, interesting, and economically humming—but they simply cannot operate in a pandemic. Following one of them through the past six months reveals a lot about how America’s economic relief left many kinds of businesses behind—and how much worse off these places will be unless a presently gridlocked Congress does something.” – Slate

Company Gives Ballet Dancers Whose Studios Are Closed A Place To Keep Their Technique Up

Says Festival Ballet Providence director Kathleen Breen Combes, “I kept getting these emails of dancers saying they just need a place to train this year. I thought, What if we could provide a space for dancers to get stronger, experiment and try new things in a nonjudgmental and no-pressure environment?” And so the company’s Leap Year program was born. – Pointe Magazine

Tim Egan: Why Seattle Is A City Of Readers

“Nature, in the form of the predominant gloom that pervades our skies for much of the year, forces us inward — to a creative frontier that matches the geographic one. Thus, an obscure poet at a midweek reading on a winter’s eve, hoping for an audience beyond a few bookstore employees, will be happily shocked to find the room packed. People in Seattle love to come in out of the rain and tell stories, or to hear them.” – Crosscut

Managers At WAMU Kept Trying To Fire Repeat Sexual Harasser. American University Overruled Them.

Two senior executives at the Washington, DC public radio station lost their jobs — general manager J.J. Yore had to resign, and former chief content officer Andi McDaniel had to give up the position she was about to start in, general manager at WBEZ in Chicago — after it came out that WAMU traffic reporter Martin Di Caro was kept on for over two years after violating the first of what would be two “final warnings” over wildly inappropriate behavior towards female colleagues and associates. Newly leaked documents show that Yore and other execs at the station tried to fire Di Caro and were overruled by the Human Resources department and General Counsel at the station’s license-holder, American University. – DCist

Banksy Loses Trademark Claim Over His Work

“The artwork, which depicts a masked protester throwing a bouquet of flowers, appeared on a wall in Jerusalem in 2005. It has since been reappropriated by the UK card company Full Colour Black, which has used the artwork on cards. In 2014, Banksy successfully applied for an EU trademark for the work, which was then challenged by Full Colour Black. The company argued that the artist was not entitled to the trademark as he did not wish to use it for trade purposes or for branding.” – The Independent (UK)

Why Cities And Towns Are Suing Netflix, Hulu, And Disney+

“Throughout the nation, one American town after another is struggling to figure out how to pay overtime for the city workers who disinfect public transit plus come up with funds so that schools can buy laptops for children learning remotely. Many officials have concluded that streamers should be contributing more for local government services and are shirking legal obligations by not doing so.” – The Hollywood Reporter