Author: Matthew Westphal

Dvořák Was Sure ‘Negro Melodies’ Would Be The Foundation Of American Classical Music. Why Did It Remain So White?

There was a point at which a number of African-American composers were writing serious, important work, writes Joseph Horowitz. “Racial prejudice, personal and institutional, obviously inhibited the potential success of a Dett, Dawson, Still, or Price. But a subtler prejudice was aesthetic.” – The American Scholar

After 40 Years, ‘For Colored Girls’ Returns, As A Celebration And As A Weapon, To The Theatre Where It Was Born

Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf “has been part of the canon since it became a Broadway hit in 1976. Still, [the play] doesn’t get a lot of professional productions; it’s been much more a staple of college theater. … But at a moment when race and gender are so prominent in the tumultuous civic dialogue — and when black playwrights, particularly women, are pushing both the content and form of contemporary American drama in new directions — the time seems right to revisit Shange’s text.” – The New York Times

‘Unmanly Grief’ — Performing A Trans Hamlet

“Jenet Le Lacheur — a transfeminine Brit who earned recognition, before coming out, in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — has … [recently starred] as Hamlet in Daniel Winder’s dystopian production of the Shakespeare play … The fact that Winder’s Hamlet was nonbinary and transfeminine was largely subtextual — a subtle but important thread running through the production.” – HowlRound

Behind The Feud Between DC’s Mayor And The City’s Arts Commission

“The latest episode is tied to the fight for control of the commission, which will shift from the mayor’s office to an independent agency Oct. 1,” pursuant to legislation by the city council. The council did this because, “last year, [Mayor Muriel Bowser] proposed creating a broader office for the arts, which would include culinary and other creative endeavors, and making the commission an advisory council.” – The Washington Post

Facing “Severe Cash Flow Issues”, Nevada Public Radio Lays Off All Staffers In Reno

The Las Vegas-based network, which operates a classical station in the city and a news station which is re-transmitted throughout the state, expanded into Reno (a market that already had two NPR affiliates) when it bought an available frequency in 2017 and operated it as a “music discovery” station. (That station, NV89, will now air a direct feed from the Las Vegas news station.) Nevada PR CEO Flo Rogers, an 18-year veteran, has resigned. – Reno Gazette Journal

New Jersey Becomes First US State To Offer Arts Education To All Students

“The state has reached the benchmark for ‘universal arts education access’, meaning each one of its public schools provides some type of school-based arts instruction during the school day for all students.” However, as one official said, “Our work remains undone”: as of 2018, only 81% of students were actually enrolled in arts instruction of any kind. – Hyperallergic