“Listening among Morning Edition‘s audience, for example, has declined 20 percent among people under 55 in the past five years. As audiences drift to newer on-demand audio sources such as podcasts and streaming, the bonds with local stations – and the contributions that come with them – may be fraying.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Sound Without Barriers: Recording Contemporary Music
“No longer do composers require the endorsement of a large corporation to get their music recorded and released as they did 50 years ago; as a result, the diversity and quality of the recordings that listeners have at their fingertips has never been greater.”
France Plans To Offer ‘Asylum’ To Antiquities Threatened By ISIS
“Jean-Luc Martinez, the president of the Louvre, has drawn up a 50-point plan to protect cultural treasures around the world. He was asked to do so by President François Hollande and one of his key recommendations – that France offer ‘asylum’ for artefacts under threat – is immediately being pushed through as law.”
We Need More Welders And Fewer Philosophers, Says Marco Rubio. Let’s Ask A Philosopher Who Used To Be A Welder
“I know there is currently a shortage of skilled welders, but which is more likely: that the machines will someday replace all the welders or that the machines will someday replace all the philosophers?”
Public Battle Over Leadership Of San Francisco African-American Arts Center
“In San Francisco, a call last week for the dismissal of the executive director of the African American Art and Culture Complex has created a firestorm, adding a public relations challenge to already-existing tensions around mission and finances.”
Ballet CEO Accused Of Embezzling Resigns; He And Company Sue Each Other
In August, Joburg Ballet chief executive Dirk Badenhorst was suspended by the company’s board following allegations that he had misappropriated R890,000 ($63,000). Last week, Badenhorst resigned just as a disciplinary hearing was about to start; now he and Joburg Ballet have each announced civil suits.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky Talks About His Brain Cancer Treatment, Recovery, And Return To The Opera Stage
“I’ve turned half-bald. Lost all hair on the back of my head. At a US hospital in Rochester I underwent a mighty biopsy under general anesthesia. … In fact, I had holes drilled in the base of the skull. If you bring your hand close enough to the irradiated area, you will feel it is warmer than others. Occasionally, when blood rushes to this place, I have strong pulsations there. Feel[s] pretty close to hearing music.”
Unexpected Faulkner Work Rediscovered: A Play – And A Light Comedy, No Less
“Written when the future Nobel laureate was in his early 20s, ‘Twixt Cup and Lip was discovered in the University of Virginia archives by The Strand Magazine managing editor Andrew Gulli, who over the past few years has also tracked down long-lost and obscure works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and many others. The play appears in the Strand‘s holiday issue, which went on sale Friday.”
Want To Know How To Speak Shakespeare? Listen To Rap, Says Mark Rylance
“If I have a general criticism, which is true of my Shakespeare acting and most Shakespeare acting I hear, is that it’s too slow. It’s too reverent. It’s like taking a rap song in 400 years from now, that we think is really wonderful, and deciding it really should be said slowly so all the lovers of rap can hear every word.”
Joseph Silverstein, 83, Longtime Boston Symphony Concertmaster And Utah Symphony Music Director
Said one longtime friend and colleague, “Above and beyond being just an incredible musician and perhaps the greatest concertmaster ever, he was a very, very humane person. … The music was never about himself, as it is with many conductors and violinists. It was always about the music. In that regard, he was very humble. He always took a backseat to the composer.”