Matthew Westphal – Page 782 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Protesters Disrupt Philadelphia Orchestra Concert In Brussels

“Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Thursday night performance in Brussels, urging the orchestra to cancel the upcoming Israel leg of its tour. The protesters broke into a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with chants of ‘free, free, Palestine,’ and after about 30 seconds, music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin stopped conducting and the music came to a halt … Security removed the protesters, and the concert resumed about 25 minutes later.”

Los Angeles Times Blocks European Readers Because Of EU’s New Privacy Rules

Friday’s the day the new EU rules go into effect; that’s why you’ve been getting so many emails about GDPR (the new regime) and updated privacy policies. While most websites appear to have tweaked their data-collection policies and are updating their users about the changes in order to continue operating in Europe, some appear to be throwing in the towel completely — among them one of the biggest newspapers in the United States, the Los Angeles Times.”

The Problem With ABT’s New Women Choreographers Initiative

Lauren Wingenroth: “Hypothetically, this is a great idea. We’re all for more ballet commissions for women. But the way ABT has promoted the initiative is problematic. Part of it is the fact that they plan to provide these women with ‘guidance and feedback from ABT’s artistic staff.’ Though they surely mean for this to be supportive, not condescending, Debra Levine points out … that they wouldn’t dare suggest that male choreographers need ‘guidance and feedback.’ … But what’s really troubling is the way that ABT suggests that they’ve already been doing the work of supporting women, they’ve just now decided to ‘formalize it.'”

Head Of Major Vienna Museum Quits To Protest Interference By New Right-Wing Government

“Kunsthalle Wien director Nicholas Schafhausen … had an agreement with the City of Vienna to stay at the helm of the art center until the end of his ten-year term in 2022. But Schafhausen will instead leave next year, citing the fact that ‘advanced experiments in the arts’ in the country are being suppressed by the far-right government that took power at the end of 2017.”

Young African-American Maestro Wins Top U.S. Conducting Prize

“The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award is aimed at assisting outstanding young U.S. conductors in furthering their careers. The Minnesota Orchestra associate conductor [Roderick Cox] will receive $30,000 toward training and career advancement, plus professional introductions to both the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Lyric Opera [sic].”

China Says It’s Building Enormous New Arts District In Beijing Exurbs

“Hebei, the province surrounding Beijing, will get a massive arts district of its own next year. [Plans were unveiled] for Valley XL, an RMB 18bn (around $2.8bn) development designed by Arquitectonica across 400 hectares of Hebei’s Xinglong Valley. … The project is billed as an ‘eco-city’ that will include a Modern and contemporary art museum, an art education district and artists’ studios along with commercial and residential areas.”

Adelaide Festival Brings Ever More Money (And People) Into State’s Economy

This year’s edition of the festival generated an estimated $76.1 million (Aus) fot the economy of South Australia, up 9% over 2017. What’s more, “a staggering 19,825 visitors of the annual arts festival last year were interstate or overseas travellers, representing a 44 percent increase on the previous year. Visitor bed nights also rose to 138,021, a 50 percent increase on 2017.”

Marcel Proust’s Love Letters To The Composer Who Was His Secret Paramour

“The pair were the cultural beacons of their generation, but their relationship, known in their refined circle, was to remain secret from the public throughout their lives. In his missive, in scrawled and often barely legible handwriting, Proust, then 24, writes: ‘I want you to be here all the time but as a god in disguise, whom no mortal would recognise.'”

Authors Of Color Are Pulling Fantasy Fiction Away From Norse And Celtic Mythology Models – And Readers Are Following

“While the field was largely dominated by white men in decades past, today diverse writers are bringing new voices to the conversation, imagining futures based on more inclusive readings of the past, and creating multiethnic worlds that can help people understand their own. Certainly, speculative fiction writers since at least Octavia Butler – the first science-fiction writer to win a MacArthur grant – have looked beyond Europe for inspiration. But no longer can they be dismissed as niche. From the $1 billion-plus box office of Black Panther … to this spring’s breakout debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone, by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi, audiences and readers are flocking to well-drawn worlds inspired by African and Asian countries.”

Author: Matthew Westphal