Author: Matthew Westphal

Now Even World-Famous Art Installations Like The Rain Room Have Chinese Knock-Offs

Ever since Random International’s wildly popular Rain Room was shown at a Shanghai museum in 2015, unauthorized copies have been spreading across China (there were two of them in the city before the museum show even closed), and now there are agencies where you can rent a one. Shanghai now has a permanent one at what seems to be an art-installation theme park – it also has knock-offs of Yayoi Kusama’s Dot Obsession and Infinity Rooms and a Van Gogh Starry Night hall of mirrors.

A New Riff On ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ (The Piano Version) From George Crumb

New-music nerds of a certain age will remember Crumb’s haunting García Lorca song cycle Ancient Voices of Children or his anti-Vietnam War piece for “electric string quartet,” Black Angels. They may have been weird, but they were cool. Now the grand old man of the American avant-garde at age 87, Crumb is still composing away – most recently, Metamorphoses Book I, a cycle of piano works based on his favorite paintings. Avant-garde diva Margaret Leng Tan gave the premiere in D.C. on May 7, and David Patrick Stearns was there.

A New Riff On ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ (The Orchestra Version) From Dirk Brossé

The Belgian composer-conductor, music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, decided to write his own, all-new take on the concept of the Mussorgsky-Ravel favorite. (Unlike George Crumb, Brossé didn’t come up with a new title.) So he took a special tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and ultimately chose seven paintings from the collection – from Thomas Eakins’s The Gross Clinic to Man Ray’s Fair Weather – as his inspirations. Peter Dobrin met with Brossé to talk about the artworks and how Brossé found the music in them.

How Can Performing Arts Organizations Engage Gen Y And Millennials? Here Are A Few Ideas

There’s definitely hope for doing so, argues Olivia Carr: “Both [groups are] united in that they find value in experiences rather than material possessions. Live entertainment is a commodity that the latest long-form TV series cannot compete with, and is something that young people will continue to seek out.” First, though, she has a warning: “More than other generations, young people are hyper-aware of being sold to, and quickly zone out in the face of one-way sales messages.”

Should Dancers Have To Pay A Fee To Audition?

“In other industries, paying a future employer for an interview would be considered unethical. Yet in dance, it is common practice. Many companies offer the explanation that it is expensive to hold open calls and in exchange for that fee, they are providing a class. Now, cash-strapped dancers and even some company leaders find themselves questioning this norm.” Candice Thompson looks at the two sides of the debate.

A Woman Takes Over From A Man In New York City Ballet’s First Gender-Neutral Role – How’s It Working Out?

Justin Peck selected his old friend (and company star) Robert Fairchild to dance the lead in the premiere run of his The Times Are Racing. But he conceived it as a unisex part, and he chose Ashly Isaacs to take over from Fairchild for the current season. Alastair Macaulay reports on how she looks in the role. (Very good.)