“Turkey’s culture ministry is moving ahead with the Museum of the 15 July: Martyrs and Democracy, with work due to start on the new institution [near Ankara] in June.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Where The Debate Around Black American And British Actors Is Going Wrong
Much of the response to Samuel L. Jackson’s complaint about the wave of black British actors playing high-profile African-American roles has been along the lines of Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya’s “I resent that I have to prove that I’m black.” Angelica Jade Bastién argues that this is not the issue: for one thing, “the black experience throughout the diaspora isn’t an interchangeable one,” and for another, there’s a group of black American actors as highly trained as any from Britain that still have trouble getting work.
Binge-Watchers, Don’t Feel Guilty – Academic Researchers Have Your Back
“For one thing, … our attitudes toward television have yet to catch up to the age of peak TV. In fact, … as shows have become increasingly complex in recent years, watching TV has become a more cognitively stimulating activity.”
How Michelangelo And Sebastiano’s Roman Chapel Was Recreated In London
An exhibition at the National Gallery includes “an almost-life size reconstruction of the domed Borgherini Chapel from Rome’s Church of San Pietro in Montorio, painted by Sebastiano, with the originating Michelangelo drawings displayed adjacent.” The model was made by the Madrid firm Factum Arte, which has created widely-admired replicas of several Caravaggio paintings and Tutankhamun’s burial chamber.
Roman Mosaic Discovered And Taken Away To Lab For Conservation – As Townspeople Flip Out
The ancient decorative floor, recently uncovered in the French town of Uzès, was transferred to a specialist government facility in Nîmes, and local groups had no faith that the mosaic would ever be returned. (The regional government has promised that it will be.)
NY Times Classical Editor Says LA Phil Is ‘The Most Important Orchestra In America. Period.’
Zachary Woolfe: “As it prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2019, the Philharmonic puts more energy into new work than any other orchestra. It presents a greater sense of the diversity of today’s music and its creators than any other orchestra. It ties its mission to education and social justice in its city more than any other orchestra. And, yes, more than any other orchestra, it combines a commitment to the future with a fresh eye on the past.”
Barkley L. Hendricks, 72, Pioneer Of African-American Portraiture
“Even more astounding than Hendricks’s astute color sense, and his intricate handling of his subjects’ sartorial choices, was the almost-preternatural skill he had for crafting portraits that exude psychic states.”
Without Warning, Music Director Of England’s Opera North Is Out After Less Than One Season
According to a statement on the company’s website, Aleksandar Marković “is currently on extended leave and it has been mutually agreed that he will not return to the Company for the remainder of the season.” He was to conduct a production of Turandot that opens in ten days.
Audience Brawl Breaks Out At Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord Of The Dance’
Police were called to break up an eight-person fistfight in the stalls at the Manchester theatre where the production is playing before beginning a tour of regional England.
Soprano Nadine Sierra Wins $50K Richard Tucker Award
The 28-year-old Florida native was the youngest winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. Among her predecessors as Tucker Award winners are Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Lawrence Brownlee, Michael Fabiano, and Jamie Barton. (includes video)