“Some composers are more interested in composition itself, just to find a different technique, which is also interesting, but [I want to know] how does it express what’s happening in life? Contemporary music, in that sense, to me is very important.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
ISIS Is Driven From Palmyra; Archaeologists Think Some Of The Destruction Can Be Reversed
“Syrian troops on Sunday regained Palmyra, and for the first time since May 2015, when ISIS took the city famed for its 2,000-year-old temples and Greco-Roman ruins, the extent of damage inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site became apparent. ‘We were expecting the worst,’ Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s antiquities chief, [said]. ‘But the landscape, in general, is in good shape.'”
Fort Worth Symphony Musicians Occupy Management’s Offices
“Fort Worth Symphony musicians staged a sit-in at symphony offices near Bass Hall on Thursday after management canceled upcoming contract negotiation meetings, they said. Symphony management and union representatives met earlier this month and had agreed to additional meetings over the next two weeks. However, the meetings were canceled without being rescheduled.”
Library Scofflaws – Why Some Get Fined, Some Get Forgiven, And Some Get Arrested
“Over the years, libraries have fined patrons for not bringing back books and offered no-questions-asked return periods. They’ve published the names of book scofflaws in local newspapers. They’ve paid personal calls on people who hold onto books past their due dates, and even sicced the police on particularly recalcitrant readers. And they still don’t really know how to get their books back.”
When Julie Kent Runs Washington Ballet, She’ll Actually Have A Lighter Schedule Than Before
“The new job’s best perk: weekends. She and [husband Victor] Barbee will work Monday through Friday for the first time in their professional lives. (ABT’s workweek is Tuesday-Saturday, meaning Sunday is the only day the family has together.) Their workdays will end at 6 p.m., rather than at 7 with ABT. The two [currently] travel separately some 10 weeks of the year – she to audition students, he to accompany ABT on tour – meaning more splintering of the family.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.28.16
The Old and the New Dancing Together
In a program essay by Susan Yung for the Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance season (through April 3), guest choreographer Doug Elkins mentions that Taylor’s Esplanade was the first dance he ever saw on PBS’s Dance in America and … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-03-28
Once in a lifetime
I went to see the Paul Taylor Dance Company (it’s changed its name, but I can’t get used to the new one) at Lincoln Center on Saturday afternoon. Regular readers of this blog may recall … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-03-28
Indy Decides to Outsource Exhibition Decisions
For the last few years, the Indianapolis Museum of Art has, it seems to me, been on a crazy trajectory. As soon as it does something smart, it turns around and undermines itself. Now it… … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-03-28
The Strange Case of Orwell’s Typewriter
My curiosity was aroused by this sentence: His manual typewriter — rather suitably, in the light of his faint anarchist leanings — was later bestowed by Sonia on the 1960s hippy-radical news-sheet, the International Times.… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-03-28
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New Biopics Of Jesus Use Artistic License To Fill Gaps – Just As Gospels Did
“Though the idea might seem heretical to some, modern film-makers are doing what the Gospel writers did: showing and telling. By filling in the gaps, they are inventing their own non-canonical Gospels, in which they ask Jesus who he might be, and whether he thinks he is who some say he is.”
Sir Peter Moores, Arts Philanthropist Who Funded Opera In English, Dead At 83
“There was nothing dilettantish about Moores’s commitment. His tastes were discriminating and his knowledge extensive – particularly in the field of opera – and he was personally involved in every funding decision.”
London’s Royal Court Theatre At 60
“London’s powerhouse of new writing is celebrating its 60th birthday. Explore some of the Sloane Square theatre’s key productions through extracts from the Guardian and Observer archive, alongside new recollections from Wole Soyinka, Ann Jellicoe, Amanda Redman, Sally Hawkins and others.”
Charity Bookstores Beg: Please Stop Bringing Us ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’!
“With almost enough copies of Fifty Shades of Grey to build its own sex dungeon, a branch of Oxfam in Swansea has asked people to stop donating the erotic novel or any of its sequels.”