Ann Powers: “I’m officially tired of writing about music that recognizes women when gender is the topic, but when music itself is the topic, almost always returns its focus to men. Talking about this problem with Jill [Sternheimer of Lincoln Center] and then with several of my colleagues at NPR, I began to wonder if focusing on what women have done in music, instead of constantly remarking that wow, they exist, might be a way to begin correcting this pattern.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Where SoundCloud Went Wrong: The Inside Story
“SoundCloud was once a platform beloved by listeners and creators, whose leaders hoped to revolutionize the music industry. Hamstrung by management mistakes and fierce competition, they never did. Here’s the story of how it all came crashing down.”
Do You Really Need A Fine Arts Degree? And Other Questions Answered By Star Arts Pupils
“Three graduates of New World School of the Arts in Miami” – composer and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen), actor Cote de Pablo (NCIS), and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy and the screenplay for Moonlight) – share advice for students interested in pursuing a dream.”
Remember The Good Old Days When NPR Was Weird?
“In March of 1983, a listener would have clicked on the radio hoping to hear an update about Reagan’s plans for what the media was calling ‘Star Wars.’ Instead she would have heard the whoosh of tires, the voice of a hospital intern in North Carolina trying to figure out how to care about all his patients, the sound of a man taking swigs of whiskey as he drives to Florida to see his mom one last time before she dies, and the voice of Scott Carrier describing the light bounce of the red rocks of Arizona.”
London’s Next Hot Male Ballet Star Bangs The Drum For His Art Form In His Homeland
Isaac Hernández, now a principal at English National Ballet after stints with ABT II, San Francisco Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet, grew up taking classes from his father with his 10 siblings in a studio in their house in Guadalajara. Now, in between his company work in London and on tour, he flies home to Mexico and organizes both professional ballet performances and a pair of dance schools in poor barrios.
Police Seize 2,300-Year-Old Greek Vase From Met Museum
“For decades it was proudly displayed in the Greco-Roman galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art … Today it sits in an evidence room at the district attorney’s office in Manhattan after prosecutors quietly seized the antiquity last week based on evidence that it had been looted by tomb raiders in Italy in the 1970s.”
Stolen 17th-Century Italian Altarpiece Was Rolled Up In A Carpet (Yes, It’s Damaged)
The 10’x6′ painting by Guercino was stolen from its home in a Modena church in 2014 and found and seized by police earlier this year in Casablanca. Officials say it has lost 30% of its pigment.
Philippe Jordan Named Music Director Of Vienna State Opera, One Of The Toughest Jobs In The Business
“Mr. Jordan, 42, a well-respected, charismatic second-generation conductor who is music director of the Paris Opera and the Vienna Symphony, will succeed Franz Welser-Möst, who abruptly resigned in 2014. Mr. Welser-Möst was the most recent in a long line of eminent musicians who left the post early, whether by choice or not – a roster that includes Mahler, Richard Strauss and Herbert von Karajan.”
How They Make Swimming Pools, Drill Halls, Soccer Fields, Car Parks And Other Weird Spaces Safe For The Edinburgh Fringe
“Since every one of these spaces will be open to the public, each one has to meet the kinds of safety standards that are common in theatre buildings across the country … And ensuring that this vast archipelago of pop-up spaces comes up to the mark requires a huge amount of work.”
Italian Cities Are Banning Everything Clueless Tourists Like To Do
Milan has just banned bottles, cans, food trucks, and selfie sticks in one of its most popular neighborhoods; Florence now forbids sandwiches or picnicking in its cathedral square; Rome will tolerate no toe-dipping in or eating near its historic fountains or drinking outdoors after dark; several cities are trying to chase kebab vendors out. Why? As Feargus O’Sullivan reports, the laws are “part of a larger nationwide struggle over the future of Italy’s urban centers – not just clamping down on trash and petty crime but also attempting to control who does and doesn’t have rights of access to key parts of the city.”