“Whether a visiting music director joining one production at a time, or in his regular capacity as Resident Conductor at several opera companies, he brings musically impeccable credentials, a flair with the baton, and a reputation for finding and cultivating exciting young talent. Countless reviews testify to his well-acknowledged musical talents. Behind the scenes, however, lies a much darker story.” – Twin Cities Arts Reader
Author: Douglas McLennan
How “The United Nations Of Graffiti” Flipped The Switch On A Counterculture Art Form
In the early days, by creed, a graffiti artist would ask neither for permission nor compensation. Now, after courting the former, artists at 5Pointz were receiving the latter. Graffiti was once a countercultural threat that conservative forces roundly maligned as a racially coded stand-in for urban delinquency. Now, graffiti had not only helped catalyze gentrification of one of the city’s fastest growing neighborhoods, but was also being handsomely rewarded for it, with legal recognition by a judge and jury. – The New Republic
Study: A Dip This Season In Broadway’s Gender Parity Progress
Overall, there has been a dip in representation amongst female directors, with the study finding that women make up 13 percent of the roles available this season, contrasted to a slightly higher number of 18 percent in the last report. Choreographers also saw a decline in women creating works, though the percentage of female writers increased slightly from 82 to 85 percent. – All Arts
Colossal Art: Stockhausen’s Astonishing Masterpiece
Alex Ross: “Aus licht” turned out to be the kind of inexplicable marvel that one waits half a lifetime to see. It induced shivers not just in its awesome moments—trumpeters intoning a chorale from balconies; brass players engaging in military-style skirmishes in the aisles; angel voices singing an extraterrestrial liturgy—but also in its unexpectedly intimate passages, its glimpses of the composer’s shattered childhood. “Aus licht” was one of the great theatrical events of the new century.” The New Yorker
The Dilemma Of Creative Placemaking
The question of just how to execute creative placemaking without inviting gentrification sits at the forefront of creative placemaking circles. Jamie Hand, a researcher for ArtPlace America, says the friction between placemaking’s benefits and the onrush of gentrifying forces has happened frequently enough to spark vigorous discussion and dialogue on the efforts to walk a tightrope between uplift and displacement of the community. – NextCity
When The Machines Get Smarter Than We Are, Things Will Change
David Chalmers: “Once we have a human-level artificial intelligence, there’s just no doubt that it will change the world. A.G.I.s are going to be beings with powers initially equivalent to our own and before long much greater than our own. To that extent, I’m on board with people who say that we need to think hard about how we design superintelligence in order to maximize good consequences.” – The New York Times
America’s Museums Have Become A Political Battleground
Once ivory towers of culture, far removed from politics and controversy, museums have increasingly come into the spotlight as sites of protest and places where equity, diversity, and inclusion have become imperatives. – ARTnews
When Zeffirelli Went Wrong At The Opera
He was all about the lavish set. At their best, his productions induced gasps. But ultimately, these stagings were not just singer- and conductor-proof. They were drama-proof, almost like a parody of opera. – The New York Times
Renee Fleming’s Theatre Breakout
The past two years have been busy in the theatre, with non-operatic roles, some time in Carousel, and currently in The Light in the Piazza. – The Guardian
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Goes To Broadway To See “What The Constitution Means To Me”
Ginsburg got a standing ovation when her famous line about women on the Supreme Court was said by a cast member: “When will there be enough women on the court? My answer is, when there are nine.” – CNN