“As one of the first initiatives under the leadership of new CEO James Daunt, Barnes & Noble has announced the shortlist for a new Book of the Year award. Books are nominated by B&N booksellers, who will also choose the winner. Booksellers are ‘voting for the title for which they are most proud to be selling,’ said Daunt,” who launched a similar prize at the UK chain Waterstones in 2012. – Publishers Weekly
Author: Matthew Westphal
DC’s National Symphony Is Launching Its Own Record Label
“In a collaboration influenced by [music director Gianandrea] Noseda’s role as principal guest conductor for the London Symphony Orchestra, the British symphony’s record label — LSO Live — will distribute the NSO’s new label.” The first release, with Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony and Copland’s Billy the Kid, is due on February 21. – Washingtonian
Zadie Smith Is Writing Her First Play, A Take On Chaucer
The Wife of Willesden will be a monologue giving Smith’s modern spin on The Wife of Bath’s Tale from Canterbury Tales. The piece will premiere next year in her home neighborhood, the northwest London borough of Brent, as part of its programming as London’s Borough of Culture. – The Guardian
The Movement To Turn Away BP’s Money Is Giving Britain’s Arts Fundraisers Heartburn
BBC arts editor Will Gompertz: “It has never been an easy task, but … what has become absolutely clear over the past 12 months is that arts organisations have to up their game when it comes to basic due diligence before accepting a sponsor’s money. It is no longer good enough to check the credentials of the sponsoring company. They now have to make sure the personal values of those who run and own it are compatible with their own charitable objectives.” – BBC
Cristian Măcelaru Appointed Music Director Of Orchestre National De France
Best known in the U.S. for his years as assistant and associate conductor and conductor-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra and as music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Măcelaru is currently chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne. He succeeds Emmanuel Krivine at the ONF in 2021. – OperaWire
Why Are There So Many Asian-American Hip-Hop Dance Crews? Community
“In many Asian countries, hip-hop rose to popularity as a form of self-expression and resistance, sometimes in the face of colonialism and oppressive regimes. … But the contemporary boom of Asian Americans in hip-hop seems born out of a different impulse — one of finding belonging and connecting with others who share your unique experience.” – Vice
Big Learning Curve for Sotheby’s New CEO in a Season of Lowered Expectations: My Q&As
At last week’s very sparsely attended press preview for this week’s major auctions, I got a chance to chat about Sotheby’s era of uncertainty with four of the company’s principals. – Lee Rosenbaum
Duo Ruut plays at the Sharq Taronalari Festival
The Estonian kannel is primarily a plucked folk instrument, but these two young ladies — both of whom have studied music academically — had not played it until they found one, and decided to see what would happen if they approached it fresh. Their outside-the-box attitude here yields unexpectedly sophisticated and orchestral arrangements. – Michal Shapiro
Shelley Duvall’s Performance In ‘The Shining’ Was Actually Brilliant
“Many viewers — even some who love The Shining — find Duvall’s acting strangely cartoonish with its wild expressions of anxiety and fear. … Stephen King himself … was downright offended by how the picture depicted Wendy, who was more proactive and heroic in his novel.” After re-watching the film on a big screen, critic Bilge Ebiri found a greater respect for the key aspect of Duvall’s performance: “the fear of [an abused] wife who’s experienced her husband at his worst, and is terrified that she’ll experience it again.” – Vulture
Inside The 1811 Louisiana Slave Rebellion Re-Enactment
“It took years [for the organizer, artist Dread Scott,] to raise the funds of over $1m, which included money from 500 individual donations, to pull off the spectacle. But as word of mouth about the project got out, African Americans from all over the country signed up.” Reporter Oliver Laughland joined the re-enactors as they marched 26 miles from the LaPlace, La. plantation where the original rebellion started to the center of New Orleans. – The Guardian