A former professional ballet dancer herself, Hellman was the board chair who oversaw the campaign that raised SFB’s endowment from $3 million to $33 million.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.21.17
Engagement Is Not . . .
There are, of course, many things that community engagement is not. High on that list is “a magical elixir to cure all of the nonprofit arts industry’s ills.” … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-02-21
Portland Brings Kids To Jazz
In the windows of a Target store on a busy street corner in downtown Portland is a display of art inspired by jazz. Scattered among classic album covers, the paintings are by … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-21
Spring break with Budapest jazz, photos
I went to Budapest for spring break — to introduce a photo exhibit by my Transylvanian-born friend Sánta István Csaba and help jury the 10th annual Müpa Budapest Jazz Showcase/Talent Exchange, … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-02-21
David Hallberg To Be Australian Ballet’s First International Resident Guest Artist
He injured his foot 2½ years ago – far more seriously than he first realized. More than a year afterward, when he realized he still couldn’t perform, he traveled to the other end of the globe and put himself in the hands of Australian Ballet’s physiotherapy team. They healed him, and he’s very grateful.
The 19th-Century Religious Movement That Led To The Prosperity Gospel And (Arguably) To Donald Trump-Style Christianity
A scholar of the history of Christianity writes about “New Thought” – developed by a Maine clockmaker whose most famous student was Mary Baker Eddy (who, of course, went off in her own direction) – and how it led to the uniquely American “prosperity gospel” (which dates back to 1925) and Norman Vincent Peale, who led the church attended by the Trump family.
The Gay Black Baritone Who’s Married To A Rabbi And Sings In Yiddish
Meet Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell.
The 19th-Century Chinese Script Only Women Could Write
In one rural county in Hunan province, women developed a phonetic writing system called nüshu, in which they wrote poems, letters, and even autobiographies. Lauren Young gives a brief history of nüshu and its rediscovery in the 1980s – and she debunks a couple myths about it.
How ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Outlasted Almost Every Star He Parodied
Some of it is that – to the surprise of many – he’s extremely quiet and focused in the studio. Some of it is that he’s extremely resourceful in trying to get singers to give permission for his parodies. And some of it is that he’s extremely nice: “I don’t want to be embroiled in any nastiness. … I take pains not to burn bridges.”
When Does (And Doesn’t) Film Music Qualify As ‘Classical’? Ask Philip Glass And John Corigliano
“Philip Glass and John Corigliano are both regarded as classical composers first and foremost despite their work for the cinema. But both, as Jed Distler found out, find that the lines between classical and film music are by no means clear-cut.”
General Director Who Stabilized Bolshoi Theater Gets Term Extended By Putin Himself
There was even more backstage drama than usual at Russia’s flagship opera and ballet theater earlier this decade – most famously, the acid attack on former ballet director Sergei Filin, but also on the opera side. Vladimir Urin was hired in 2013 to bring order to the house, and the President seems pleased with how Urin has done it.
Tracy Letts Furiously Wrote A Play In The Wake Of The Election (And Steppenwolf Is Bringing It To Broadway)
Steppenwolf artistic director Anna D. Shapiro: “The state of the world was really crushing me, and then Tracy got the script into my mailbox. I called him and said that we are lucky you write plays for us.” (And you know that a play by the writer of Killer Joe and August: Osage County is going to be furious.)