“So which is it? Is academic philosophy in danger of withdrawing ever further into itself? Or is philosophy, in daily practice and in the academy, at a high point—accessible to more people than ever, and spilling over its disciplinary boundaries?”
Author: Douglas McLennan
How Iván Fischer Became A Great (And Unconventional) Conductor
“The so-called great orchestras – the old, great orchestras – like to preserve certain musical values such as their sound. They think: ‘This is us, this is our trademark.’ Now a conductor comes and he has limited influence on the so-called great orchestra. So they attract conductors who love to wave their hands while not changing anything. Sometimes when you go to famous orchestras, you feel as if you are working with a prima donna singer who has her sound, and your only role is to be impressed by it. I would much rather go to an orchestra that is receptive to my ideas because I can then create something.”
Two Years After Life-Threatening Crisis, Atlanta Symphony Reports Budget Surplus
“The ASO announced yesterday that it closed the 2015-16 fiscal year with a budget surplus for the second straight year. ASO spokeswoman Tammy Hawk said the final budget numbers won’t be released until a final audit is complete. In addition, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Musicians’ Endowment Fund has raised over $20 million and is expected to reach its $25 million goal this year.”
Why Do Some Composers Want To Write Music To Drive Us Crazy?
“Satie knew that the prospect of performing this composition was so daunting, he wrote a note above the score that said one should “prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities. It’s as if he knew he had devised an art piece that is a cudgel to lay up against the side of the listeners’ heads with a force and fervor they can’t deserve.”
Who’s Really Buying Vinyl Records? Old Lonely People, Mostly
“Those who have recently purchased a vinyl album are most likely to be aged between 45 and 54, apparently. In fact, those in the 18-24 age group are the least likely. It is not just an act of hoarding by hobbyists, either – it has emotional significance: older vinyl buyers are slightly more likely to keep their feelings to themselves (56% of vinyl buyers versus 53% of all UK adults) and enjoy being alone (69% of vinyl buyers versus 66% all UK adults).”
Why The Music Industry Is Going To War Against Internet Platforms
“Rampant piracy is the narrative being pushed by the music industry in its letter to Congress, but the truth is more complicated. Read between the lines of the letter, and a larger, more lucrative and familiar problem appears: The royalties that an artist or songwriter gets each time a stream of their song is played are declining.”
A Full-Throated Defense Of Humanities In A Skills-Obsessed Education Economy
“Economic arguments for the value of a humanistic education will not save the humanities, and we should stop making them. The value of the humanities as the heart of a university education does not lie primarily in “transferrable skills” nor in the “critical thinking” that employers presumably want. Instead, a core education in the humanities gives students the intellectual space to grapple with questions of enduring importance.”
Theatre Repertory Companies Have Mostly Disappeared. But When You Experience Them…
“Seeing plays in repertory sparks conversations in the mind between shows, between periods. And it’s also distinctly satisfying — sometimes even astonishing — to watch an actor you’ve seen in, say, a Shakespeare tragedy performing a day or so later in a classic American musical.”
TV Reporters Press CBS TV Exec: You’re Doing Terrible At Diversity!
“You guys have been aware of this diversity problem for a while. We’ve been talking about it at press tours for years. How can you come up with a slate where every star is a white male? You don’t have any showrunners of color, and you’ve had years to fix this.”
Warning: Oversupply Of TV Shows Could Deflate TV’s Second “Golden Age”
With a greater supply of U.S. television than can be profitably produced, the industry is “ballooning into a condition of oversupply” that will likely peak in the next two years and then slowly deflate.