Author: Matthew Westphal

Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.23.16

Emerging, emergent, emerged?
One of the best arts conferences I attend each year is only steps away from my office door. This is convenient, and also completely awesome. TheEmerging Arts Leaders Symposium, which will be held … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2016-02-23

What Texas City is a National Cultural Showcase?
For the past decade I have enjoyed the privilege of regularly collaborating in “Dvorak and America” festivals with Kevin Deas, one of the supreme African-American concert artists of our day. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2016-02-23

Change the world, one hero at a time
From dude to dodo is a trick of vowels and imagination. Maybe, if we’re tired of seeing men dominate our stages, we need to exercise our imaginations, especially when it comes to casting. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-02-23

Chicagoans’ albums reviewed, author’s edition
My reviews of recordings  by Chicago pianists Larry Novak, Laurence Hobgood and Robert Irving III, percussionist Art “Turk” Burton, and saxophonists Caroline Davis and Roy McGrath appeared in DownBeat‘s January issue, but the print edition … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-02-23

Griffin/Geffen & the Art Institute of Chicago’s Edlis Misstep
Last year, while he was chair and curator of modern and contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago, the museum’s new director, James Rondeau, made a Faustian bargain that could come back to haunt him.  … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-02-22

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Coping With Culture Shock Through Pictograms

“When graphic designer Yang Liu moved from Beijing to Berlin at age 13, she found herself in culture shock. ‘I discovered – almost on a daily basis – that things were quite the contrary of what I was used to, starting with social customs and extending all the way to fundamental ways of thinking.” (pictured: “Sunshine” and “Leisure Time”)

‘Hamilton’ Wins $100K Award For Historical Drama

“The hit Broadway show, which uses hip-hop and other contemporary musical styles to chronicle the life and death of Alexander Hamilton, seems tailor-made for the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, which, as its name suggests, seeks to honor ‘a new play or musical that enlists theater’s power to explore the past of the United States.””

The Risk Of New Story Ballets

This month, Christopher Wheeldon’s Strapless and Justin Peck’s The Most Incredible Thing got an unusually negative reception. “There’s a similar harshness in the takedowns of these two works (from both critics and audiences) that caught my attention. You don’t typically see such severe reactions to non-narrative works. Why are people so upset by these pieces?” Jennifer Stahl explains.

Revived New York City Opera Announces Rest Of Its First Season (And It’s Way More Interesting Than ‘Tosca’)

“The reorganized company, which began its first, abbreviated season last month with a consciously old-fashioned production of Puccini’s Tosca as a nod to the first work City Opera performed in 1944, chose [Daniel Catán’s Florencia en las Amazonas] and two other contemporary pieces to round out the season.”