The station draws about 170,000 listeners a week in New Zealand, heavily skewed towards those aged 65 and older, according to the broadcaster. But fans mobilised last week when Radio New Zealand proposed to throw out its classical arm’s FM station in May, replacing it with a youth radio channel in August. Some 18 jobs would be eliminated, with new roles created at the youth station, RNZ said. – The Guardian
Author: Douglas McLennan
This Particular Moment: A Culture Of Meanness
“Our contemporary moment is a culture of meanness. It’s not based on facts. It’s not based on conversation… it’s destructive to our democracy and our institutions. Notice the bags under my eyes? That’s what it’s about.” – Artnet
Montreal Has Two Major Orchestras Led By Star Conductors. And They’re Thriving
Nowhere else in North America can you find two symphony orchestras (as opposed to chamber orchestras) with touring schedules and substantial discographies led by conductors of international repute. Both enjoy government and corporate support. And if they attract different audiences, this dynamic can be taken as complementary rather than adversarial. – Montreal Gazette
Do What You Love? There’s A Dark Side To That Idea
Nothing exemplifies the promises and perils of self-actualised work better than the cultural conversations around ‘do what you love’. The injunction to ‘do what you love’ has had no shortage of critics, who point out its classist nature, advocate for a clearer delineation between work and life, and remind us that burnout might just be the flipside of self-actualised work. Not all agree that work should be a calling or that we should devote ourselves wholly to work. – Aeon
Why Some Artists Are Participating In Saudi Arabia’s DesertX
The murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi at the purported direction of crown prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2018 led several prominent board members to withdraw from the government-backed event. Now, the participants who remain are left wondering whether the world will be able to see through the shadow of the crime to the art. – Artnet
How Cleveland Ballet’s Partnership With A Local Hospital Works
“How is their pelvis shifting? How is their back moving? Is their foot collapsing in as they’re plieing? Is their weight over as they jump onto one foot?” They’re finding points of weaknesses before they turn into problems. – News 5 Cleveland
Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Plans To Be A National Leader
New OSF director Nataki Garrett has big plans. In the next few years, she plans to push technology-driven initiatives, like the launch of a digital archive and an OSF app. She’s also developing a residency for artists across different mediums as well as forging an alliance of West Coast theatres. As she marches toward her one-year anniversary, Garrett continues to think about OSF’s expansion and catalyzing larger shifts in the American theatre. – Playbill
Phil Kennicott’s Ruminations On The Power Of Music Amidst Grief
“When grief loosens its hold, you return to the world you once knew, only to find it transformed by the thing that is missing; when, at the end of the Goldberg Variations, Bach repeats the aria with which it began, it is utterly transfigured. It is like the river in which one can never step foot twice, and Bach seems to say: ‘You’ve never heard this thing you think you know so well’.” – Van
Disney’s “Hamilton” Movie Strategy: A Lucrative New Franchise
The modern retelling of founding father Alexander Hamilton’s life is a full-blown cultural phenomenon, one that has rolled out like a well-planned military campaign. The target? The hearts and minds of America, and the world, as part of that thing every studio executive wants: hilariously lucrative branded IP. – IndieWire
Inside The Trump Administration’s Populist Campaign To Change Federal Architecture
If adopted, the executive order would be the most significant attempt yet to insert the new politics of populism into the world of art, aesthetics and design. – Washington Post