In May, The Song Company suddenly announced that it was ceasing business and beginning the bankruptcy process called in Australia Voluntary Administration. Then, in early June, the ensemble’s board chairman announced that, following “the intervention of a significant donor” and confirmation of government funding, “the company is in a good position to recommence trading.” – Limelight (Australia)
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Welsh Language Is Becoming (Could It Really Be?) Cool
There are Welsh-language songs and TV series racking up remarkable streaming numbers, the number of speakers has increased by 20% over the last decade, and people who’ve never been to Wales are learning the language using apps. – The Guardian
Farewell, Transparency? Sotheby’s Plans to Go Private (plus a possible glitch)
This flight from public accountability will deal a knockout blow to whatever transparency remains in “willing buyer-willing seller” auction transactions. Adieu, fair market value. – Lee Rosenbaum
Shades of Meaning
At the CircuitWest Showcase in Perth, Australia, I discussed with artists, producers, and presenters the issues around community engagement in a state (Western Australia) where, outside the capital, the cities and towns are small and far from each other, and the visits from touring artists are necessarily brief. – Doug Borwick
The Eka Trio: ‘O’
The young Scandinavians of the Eka Trio combine the relaxed sensuosity of trends in Nordic music with their underlying commitment to the adventurousness that goes to the heart of jazz. – Doug Ramsey
At This Ballet School, They Are Empowering Their Students With Important Life Skills
“The after-school program at the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet in South Miami … provides ballet, reading, math and etiquette classes along with access to mental health professionals. The program delivers professionally taught dance classes in multiple genres, at little or no cost to 500 students ages 5-11.” – Miami Herald
What Goes On Backstage At The World’s Oldest Theatre Collective
“Theatre collective” may seem a surprising way to describe the Comédie-Française (est. 1680), but it’s accurate: the company is owned and controlled by its actors and other members. Reporter Laura Cappelle pays a visit to see how it all works. – The Guardian
Brazilians Face The Fact That Their Greatest Writer Was Black
“The traditional historical photo of [Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis] shows a man whose skin is nearly as light as his crisp white dress shirt. … Machado was known to be the descendant of freed slaves, but the new rendering, which shows him as a black man, has shaken Brazilians, prompting some to reconsider how they previously read his work and angering others who feel his legacy had been whitewashed.” – The New York Times
Charles Reich, Author Of ‘The Greening Of America’, Dead At 91
“Reich was a popular Yale University professor whose students included both Bill and Hillary Clinton and a respected legal scholar when a 39,000-word excerpt from The Greening of America ran in The New Yorker in September 1970, generating a massive volume of letters. The book was published a few weeks later and sold more than 2 million copies, making Reich a middle-aged hero for a rebellious generation despite scorn from both conservatives and liberals.” – AP
An Oral History Of ‘Oh! Calcutta!, Which Premiered 50 Years Ago
“An erotic revue conceived by the English theater critic Kenneth Tynan, Oh! Calcutta! took it all off at the Eden Theater, a former pornographic cinema that had been renovated by the show’s producer. … [Tynan] solicit[ed] anyone and everyone to submit a titillating sketch. Nothing ‘about art or redeeming literary merit,’ he advised. A lot of the luminaries (Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Edna O’Brien) dropped out or were dropped, but the final, all-male lineup included Sam Shepard, Jules Feiffer and John Lennon.” – The New York Times